A story board sketch of some scenes. Hand drawn images in boxes, with lines beneath to fill in the narrative. Relevant because developmental editing involves work with scenes.

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing looks at the building blocks that are at the core of your story. The process will highlight the components of your manuscript that are incredibly strong as well as those that need revision. It will provide you with the tools and framework to correct and enhance the foundations of your manuscript so that readers experience your story as intended. The focus will be on the key storytelling elements including plot, pace, characterisation, structure, perspective, conflict, setting, genre and narrative voice. A fiction editor specialising in fantasy and sci-fi will create a spreadsheet keeping track of all of your worldbuilding elements like spells and gadgets and whatever dragons or elves might crop up.

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How it works

A developmental edit is a great opportunity to get some much earnt space from your manuscript. Once you've handed over the files, I hole away with a notebook, pen, and blanket to read the whole novel cover to cover. With track changes and comments in MS Word, I will provide close and careful critique in your manuscript to help you with your edits. In the first pass, my queries will focus on the reader's experience of the story as it unfolds. Subsequent passes will close in on writing elements that require improvement. The turnaround is up to eight weeks. We will have agreed on the specifics ahead of time.

While I am reading your manuscript, I will take notes on how the story utilises the key elements of the novel throughout. These will be used to form a detailed report of each component. You will be able to see examples of where you have creative fantastic, immersive settings alongside instances where the setting may be distracting or not suited to the genre. It will include examples of how weaker elements can be strengthened and how different techniques for approaching plot, characterisation, perspective and other writing elements have different effects on your readers.

The report will map against the comments throughout your manuscript which will help orientate you to find live instances of each story element that may need rewriting. These comments will clearly explain how it could be interpreted by the reader and how it might be changed to better convey your story. On top of all that, your whole story and all of the worldbuilding will be meticulously tracked in a spreadsheet with notes on what requires editing.

As a fantasy editor, I know how important it is to manage elements of worldbuilding. It is important that potions have the same effect each time they are used (unless there is good reason) and that the details of your backstory agrees with the fact that your wizards live for 3000 years.

All of this will empower you to implement the critique. You won't have to go through the revision process alone.

It was a real surprise for me that I felt super positive after reading your report rather than having a confidence low. You have somehow managed to give lots of useful feedback without ever making me feel negative or criticised in any way. I now feel inspired and emboldened to work on the manuscript again.

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Do you need a developmental editor?

1 / You know there's a good story in there

If your plots are getting tangled and your characters are falling flat then your readers won't have a good time. You want the best book possible! A developmental edit will give you the tools you need to free your fantasy novel of inconsistencies and strengthen your writing style. By the end, you will be saying "Yes! That's exactly the story I was trying to tell!"

2 / Revise and Resubmit

Have you been querying for a while? If you know you need to rewrite your manuscript but don't know where to start, developmental editing is for you. Is the story not starting until the reader is four chapters in? Is character conflict not believable or impactful enough? Have you got an excellent plot but not quite a strong enough grasp on your stylistic voice? Let the developmental edit answer all of these questions for you.

3 / You've written a million words

If your manuscript has become unwieldy a developmental editor can help pare down plots and tighten the pace. It can be hard to know what is infodumping and what is juicy insight that will capture any fantasy reader. And if you need to untangle plotlines and shape one hefty manuscript into two flowing and engaging ones, your developmental editor will be right there with you.

What does a developmental edit look at?

Plot is the events that make up the narrative arc of your manuscript. You may have several subplots that contribute to the overarching plot. It is important that your plot is engaging, that it suits your reader's expectations and that it makes sense.

Your story is something different to the plot, though very much part of it. Story is what your main character experiences, how they grow, what emotions they travel through. Story is what captures readers. It is the meaning found in the plot. It has to be carefully balanced so as not to be heavy handed or moralistic (unless you are writing a didactic tale!) Story is what your book is about. Plot is the action that propels that.

A good character makes a good book. Creating a rounded character should be easier than it is! But putting life onto the page is difficult. A plot driven book can frustrate a reader if a character is swept up by it regardless of what it would make sense that they do. Characters need to have flaws. They need to have quirks. They need to have agency. It is this agency that is difficult to master when you want to action to go a certain way!

What do you get?

A developmental edit is a whole package to set you up ready for revisions. A substantive edit is an involved process. The developmental report will act not only as your book doctor but your guide to implementing changes and corrections.

Query in manuscript reads "what a great thought!"

Queries in your manuscript

You won't be left to hunt down copy to correct and enhance yourself. Comments in your manuscript will guide you through your edits.

tools on a table. Like the ones you'll need to rewrite. Well not quite.

A spreadsheet

The most thrilling part of editing! Your spreadsheet will track story beats and line up worldbuilding elements. It is a helpful tool for understanding the edit and completing revisions.

A developmental report

This will be your ultimate guide. Broken down into digestible segments, your report will analyse your writing style, plot and story. These are typically 20 pages but vary depending on the manuscript.

A book shelf. What your reading list will look like after an edit.

A reading list

Reading is the best way to improve your writing. What better way to tackle an element you're struggling with than to read a book that does it really well?

A celebration of your work

Head into your revisions feeling confident and motivated. Your report will include sections analysing the brilliance in your writing so that you can be your own benchmark for success.

An action plan

You will receive a personalised plan for revising your manuscript to help you prioritise your rewriting process. This is a one-page easy read!

Contact Me

Get in touch today to find out how your manuscript could benefit from developmental editing.