What Are the Types of Editing?

The question is more common than you think. Some years ago, before the team at ProjectKPub even met, I was writing my first book. When I wanted to look for an editor to look over the completed manuscript, I went to do some initial research.

You might think the answer to “what kind of editor do I need?” is a simple one. You would be wrong.

While browsing Reddit, we encountered the question: What are the 5 steps of editing?

If you aren’t in the industry, it’s easy to get terminology confused and overlap in definitions is common. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference between Line-editing and Copy-editing is, or the difference between Structural and Developmental — look no further.

A Streamlined Understanding

The first problem is that there’s significant overlap. Definitions vary slightly and even worse, sometimes they’re so subjective that the definition could apply interchangeably.

At ProjectKPub, we’ve streamlined these definitions and distilled them to something sensible. That is not to say that this is the universal truth, it is simply how we keep things straight.

Our team has broadly broken all editing down to Technical Editing and Creative Editing. Technical edits are generally rule-based and is a real simple binary of: ‘is this right or wrong?’ While creative edits are more subjective and can be agreed or disagreed upon as a matter of preference or opinion.

Technical editing encompasses: Copy-Editing, Line-Editing, and Proofreading.

Creative editing encompasses: Developmental/Structural Editing, and Beta Reading (which is not technically a form of editing but is part of the editing and revision process).

Copy-Editing

Copy-editing falls under the umbrella of technical edits. Simply, it is ensuring that the document is correct. An average copy editor will look for:

• Grammar and spelling errors.

• Correct punctuation usage.

• Common mistakes like double words, double spacing, erroneous capitalization.

For specific examples of what copy-editing will look like, and what sets a good copy-editor apart from a bad one, see our Copy-Editing post where we go into greater depth.

Line-Editing

Line-Editing falls under the umbrella of technical edits too. It is a higher level of technical edits that focuses on improving the quality of the prose. Whereas Developmental-editing looks at improving the whole story, Line-editing focuses on the paragraph and sentence-level when searching for improvement opportunities.

An average line editor will look for:

• Clarity weaknesses. Reduces ambiguity in a sentence to make it easier to understand.

• Fluency weaknesses. Awkward sentence structure or word choice can ruin the reader experience, and grind everything to a halt.

• Flow weaknesses. This can be sentence-level or apply to whole paragraphs. It usually takes the form of odd/weak pacing. An editor may attempt a rewrite or to propose deleting sentences wholesale.

For specific examples of what line-editing will look like, and what sets a good Line editor apart from a bad one, see our Line-Editing post where we go into greater depth.

Developmental-Editing

Developmental-Editing is a creative service, and we would argue that it’s more of an art where line-editing and copy-editing is something of a science. Developmental editors need to understand the story being told and then make changes to the plot, characters, and sometimes the setting of the book. At ProjectKPub, we currently offer Developmental-lite services in addition to the standard battery of editing.

Since it is more of an art. No two developmental editor has the same process. At ProjectKPub, we look for:

• Character weaknesses.

  • Insufficient arc.

  • Insufficient depth.

  • Underutilization in the story, themes, or in how they interact with the other characters.

  • Unlikability (assuming likeability is the intention).

  • Insufficient weakness and/or interesting traits

• Plot weaknesses.

  • Jarring/weak pacing.

  • Lack of setup-payoff.

  • Improperly managed Micro & Macro plot-lines.

• Setting weaknesses.

  • Opportunity to add further detail.

  • Lack of connectivity to plot and/or characters.

Proofreading

This is just a final pass. Often it is done quickly and meant to ensure that there are no glaring issues in the manuscript. Proofreaders will often check the editor’s work for continuity errors and ensure that grammar and spelling errors have been caught.

This is not to diminish the value of proofreading. Our position is: if the editor does a good job, a final check should not be necessary. But, we are only human, and humans make mistakes. As such, having a dedicated proofreader or at at least a dedicated proofreading pass is essential.

Structural-Editing

This definition is often used interchangeably with Developmental-Editing. For clarity, we just use developmental-editing.

Paragraph-level structural changes are often addressed by Line-editing while making flow changes.

You might have been reading along, and felt like a kid in a toy store; with each new aisle, you’re grabbing for something new to add to the cart. We understand the feeling. No one wants to publish a bad piece of work. Your story shouldn’t have to suffer because you can’t justify the math of spending thousands editing a book that might only make a few hundred dollars.

Go to our services page and place an order today. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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