Developmental editing (also known as structural editing) is the first stage of editing. This is where we take your draft to the next level, identifying plot holes, inconsistencies, weak characterisation, issues with the world building, sensitivity issues and so on.
Every single writer in the history of EVER has gotten to the stage where they finished their novel and then thought, ‘I don’t even know where to begin editing this thing’. It’s hard. You can’t see the forest for the trees. Or the trees for the forest. It’s just a lot of leaves and branches and ARGH.
That’s where I come in, with a fresh pair of secateurs – erm, eyes – and nearly a decade of experience editing prose.
How do I know if I need developmental editing?
Developmental editing is for you if you…
- feel like you’ve been staring at your manuscript for so long that you can no longer make head nor tail of it
- need help brainstorming solutions to plot holes
- know that your characters need to feel more realistic and relatable but you’re not sure how to make that come across
- are struggling to make the dialogue sound convincing
- need help finessing the world-building to make it much more believable and unique
- think the narrative arc isn’t quite right but don’t know how to fix it
In other words, if you know that there are issues in your book but feel like you’re going to have a wee breakdown (or a big one) trying to fix them yourself, you need a developmental editor. With a fresh pair of eyes, I can identify all the points for improvements and then help you make your book the best it can be.
Rate
I charge fees based on a sliding scale, starting from £15 per 1,000 words up to 50,000 and reducing progressively. Please get in touch for a fee tailored to your word count.
Red Pen Vigilante 