Author and experienced editor Euan Mitchell explains the three levels of editing, and why all are important. Taken with permission from Euan’s excellent book “Your Book Publishing Options”, published by Overdog Press, and available as an ebook here, Alternatively, you can buy a printed copy directly from Euan for $35 (including postage within Australia).
1. Structural Editing
Also known as ‘substantive editing’, structural editing concentrates on the overall structure of a manuscript – the big picture, not the details yet.A structural editor assesses the content of a manuscript and the way it is presented, including order and length of chapters, consistency of writing style and choice of language throughout, the sense of flow between sections, and the overall clarity with which a writer has pursued their intentions.
A good structural editor can be the most valuable ally a writer has during the publishing process. This does not mean the structural editor merely lavishes praise over the entire manuscript, indeed, serious restructuring may be suggested. This can be confronting for the writer, even with the most diplomatic of editors. The writer might feel like bursting into tears. It can feel like having the wind knocked out of you. But that doesn’t mean the advice is to be avoided. On the contrary, carefully considered insights from a good structural editor may be precisely what a writer needs to hear in order to raise their work to a higher level. Think of it as tough love. Patience, open-mindedness and diplomacy from both editor and writer are the keys to working through a structural edit. This is easy to say, but often hard to remember in the heat of the moment when an editor is recommending substantial changes to a manuscript in which a writer has invested months or years of their life. The changes may mostly be reasonable, but emotions can still be difficult to manage.To complicate matters, a writer is not expected to passively accept all suggestions. Structural editors are not always right. And there can be unfortunate personality clashes. But writers should not stonewall every recommendation because they don’t like an editor’s manner. A balance needs to be struck through thoughtful negotiation. Remember to breathe and take your time to consider a different point of view, not lapse into knee-jerk defensiveness.
2. Copyediting
After the structural editing, the copyediting begins. This primarily involves fixing spelling, grammar and punctuation. Small publishers may have the same editor for structural editing and copyediting, but larger publishers often pass the manuscript to another editor. The copyeditor will read through the manuscript sentence by sentence, making corrections. This is why copyediting is sometimes referred to as ‘line editing’. There is a grey area between structural editing and copyediting. A copyeditor may still request numerous paragraphs be moved, rewritten or even deleted just when the writer thought all structural issues had been resolved. Patience, open-mindedness and diplomacy will once again be needed.
Fortunately, however, most rewriting at the copyediting stage usually requires improvements at the sentence level. Certain long sentences may be clearer if broken up into two or three sentences. Too many short sentences may flow better if synthesised into longer sentences. And, ofcourse, within each sentence the grammar, spelling and punctuation will be scrutinised.
A copyeditor will also look for inconsistencies in details that the structural editor may have missed. The spelling of certain names may vary slightly. A sequence of actions may be missing a crucial step. The accent of a character may inexplicably change. The writer may unintentionally repeat certain phrases that become irritating verbal ‘tics’.
This is usually the most time-consuming of all three levels of editing.Some changes may not be a simple matter of right or wrong, but require further consultation between copyeditor and writer. Set aside as much time as practical to address ‘author queries’ from the copyeditor. It will be time well spent.
3. Proofreading
This is the ‘final filter’ of the editing process. Even the best copyeditors can leave behind careless errors. They are human, too. So after the edited manuscript has been laid out by a designer or typesetter to look like the pages of a finished book, another person is usually contracted to proofread print-outs of the pages to clean up any final errors.
Proofreaders occasionally suggest a sentence be reworded, but usually they stick to obvious inconsistencies and mistakes. ‘Thai-poes’ can undermine the credibility of a book and possibly mean a reprint if a misspelling inadvertently causes offence.
You don’t want these sorts of distractions from your otherwise brilliant manuscript, so don’t cut corners on proofreading as some publishers unfortunately do. Even if this means, in addition to the publisher’s proofreader, you also proofread the pages one final time when you probably won’t feel like doing so.
