Why are there different kinds of editing?

When thinking about the writing process, I like to use the analogy of building Frankenstein’s monster. What steps do we need to take to make sure our monster is the monster we intended to build?

Ideally, every manuscript will start with a developmental edit. Developmental editing is about looking at the grand picture of the story and making sure it all fits. At this stage, we are setting the skeleton of our monster. Do the bones fit properly? Are the characters acting in a consistent manner? Does the ending fit the theme? Is the point of view consistent? Is there a glaring plot hole you missed? This is the stage where you might have to make some big changes to your manuscript.

Once the developmental edit is done, we can then look at line editing. This is where Frankenstein might put the muscles over the bones. Here we are concerned with your prose. Is everything where it should be? Does the writing flow well? Is there an overuse of cliches? Is there clunky dialogue that would have readers rolling their eyes? Here we aren’t concerned with what is objectively wrong with your writing, but how we can make sure each line, each paragraph, and each chapter functions as it should. This monster ought to grip readers and not let go, so we need to make sure it has the strength to do it.

Once you are happy with the line editing, we can move on to copyediting. This is the stage in monster building where we are focused on the skin, hair and nails. By this time your manuscript is solid, but we need to make sure it looks a certain way. It should abide by the rules of style, punctuation, and grammar. Major issues should have been weeded out by previous rounds of editing, but we will still keep an eye out for issues with clarity and conciseness.

Finally, there’s proofreading. This is the final step before the switch is flipped and we can say our monster is alive. These are the quick fixes, the touch ups. Any little typos or errors should be caught at this stage before the manuscript goes to print. This seems to be what most people think editing is, but I hope you realize by now this is just the last step of a long process!