What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Three: Developmental and Content Editing
Welcome to the third post of my guide to getting your story edited. I hope this explanation makes the process less intimidating by giving you an idea of what to expect. It might even make you excited to start work on your story’s next draft! Today, I’m going to talk about developmental editing, also known as content or structural editing. Remember, this usually happens before line editing. It gets the story in shape before polishing it sentence by sentence. However, I discussed...
Read MoreWhat Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Two: Copyediting and Line Editing
Welcome to the second part of my in-depth look at the editing process! Today, we’re going to look at the kinds of suggestions I make when working directly on manuscripts word by word, sentence by sentence, and paragraph by paragraph (the more holistic feedback given in developmental editing will be the subject of my third and final post in this series. Part One, on my editing approach and tools is here.). You may find this serves as a useful checklist for your own self-editing. (I...
Read MoreWhat Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part One: Behind the Scenes of the Editing Process
Sending your story to an editor—especially if you’re new to the process, but also when you’ve been writing a long time—can induce anxiety and above all, uncertainty. What’s going to happen? What shape will the manuscript be in when you get it back? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at my editing processes. First, I’ll talk about how I make suggestions. In two follow-up posts, I’ll discuss the kinds of suggestions I most often make. (Here’s Part Two, on line and copyediting, and Part...
Read MoreLay It On Me: A Quick Grammar Guide to Transitive vs Intransitive Verbs
Today’s blog post is a brief explanation of why a sentence may be incomplete without some additional words. It will also help you figure out how to punctuate dialogue and the difference between “lie” and “lay.” (*Originally coined by the writers of The Simpsons, this delightful word for “acceptable” is now recognized by the dictionary!) Sentences can be very simple: a subject does a verb to an object. I(s) knocked over(v) the vase(o). Photo by Diane...
Read MoreWhat do you mean? A Quick Grammar Guide to Pronoun Referents and Dangling Modifiers
While editing manuscripts, I often suggest revising sentences for more clarity or precision. A common reason is because the original version of the sentence had a “dangling modifier” or an uncertain “pronoun referent.” These terms might seem intimidating, but they don’t have to be. In this post, I’ll offer examples of what modifiers and referents are, why they matter, and how you can make sure they’re working the way you want them to. I’ll use some terminology for those who find the names of...
Read MoreThe Priority Edit
If you think I’m just going to sweep in here and blog again as if several years haven’t gone by…you’re exactly right. Let’s get to it. (What’s been happening? I’ve been doing a lot of editing work with my head in Word files rather than WordPress. Also living my life, volunteering, spending time with loved ones, taking a few cross-country trips, getting through one bout of COVID that could have been way worse—hurray, modern medicine!—far more watching the news unfold in horror than I’d...
Read MoreOpen to new projects!
I visited this blog the other day, probably to get the link to my article “12 Words to (Almost Always) Cut” (which today I’d title something more like “12 Words to (Almost Always) Replace” or “12 Words to Watch Out For,” though with the latter I’d lose the cheeky use of two of those twelve words in parentheses). And to my surprise, dismay, chagrin, and other emotions, I saw the last time I’d posted an update was to tell everyone in...
Read MoreClosed to new book-length projects until October
I’m able to offer sample edits and estimates for new projects, but I cannot deliver any additional projects until further notice. That is, if you’ve already contacted me about a project, you’re on my list. But if I hadn’t heard of your need for editing before today, I cannot start the work until I’ve completed some of my current to-do list. My to-do list as of today includes 12 projects, 6 of which I want to complete in September, 4 of which are “high...
Read MoreQ&A from the Clubhouse
Wow! Last evening was so fun and energizing–I admit I was a little unsure how a live chat app would work, but we had many wonderful people join us with some pertinent questions and insights. And talking to people out loud was very energizing; I just hope I didn’t talk too fast. I was mostly listening and talking rather than taking notes, but I jotted down a few questions and suggestions I remember from last night to share, both to help those of us who were there to remember and to...
Read MoreNotes from Your Editor (Clubhouse meeting, August 12)
I hope many of you will be able to join me! As I prepare for my live chat with Nicki tomorrow, I have some notes that I’d like to share here on my website, both for listeners to follow along with, and for those who aren’t able to make it to benefit from: A. Copyediting, proofreading, line-by-line — what do all these terms mean? Developmental/structural/content edit – literally developing the ideas in the book. What to include and in what order? Add, reorganize, remove? Often...
Read MoreAbout Therese
Therese Arkenberg's first short story was accepted for publication on January 2, 2008, and her second acceptance came a few hours later. Since then they haven't always been in such a rush, yet her work appears in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Analog, Daily Science Fiction, and the anthology Sword & Sorceress XXIV. Aqua Vitae, her science fiction novella, was released by WolfSinger Publications in December 2011.
She works as a freelance editor and writer in Wisconsin, where she returned after a brief but unforgettable time in Washington, D.C. When she isn't reading, writing, or editing (it's true!) she serves on the board of the Plowshare Center of Waukesha, which works for social, economic, and environmental justice.