Do you ever think about how the book in your hands came to be?

I considered it often as a kid. My whole life, I’ve wanted to be an author, so I took every chance I could to learn more about the writing process. I went to author talks. I read books on writing.

But one thing I didn’t understand until recently is the editing process.

Maybe you already know this, but writing actually isn’t the hardest part of creating a book. It’s editing. Anyone can throw some words on paper, but only authors and editors know how to move those words around so they form a cohesive story.

Though I began my editing journey about 15 years ago when I edited my step-dad’s book, I didn’t truly grasp editing until I got much more experience. When I entered the freelance editing world in 2019, I thought it was all about being good at grammar.

I very quickly learned how wrong I was.

Editing takes so much more. So if you’re wondering where to get started with your editing process, wanting to streamline your edits, or simply want a peek behind the curtain of book creation, let’s dive into what it takes to edit a book.

A Caveat

One quick note: just as every writer has their own process when they draft, so every author and editor has their own editing process. My editing process might look similar to yours, but chances are, it’s not exactly the same.

Maybe you’ll see something new here that you haven’t thought of before, or maybe you’ll teach me.

What does your editing process look like?

Step 1: Developmental Edit

We start by taking a look at the overall story. Don’t worry about phrases, punctuation, or words at this point—we’re zooming out as far as we possibly can in our first round of editing.

Questions to ask:
Is the story interesting?
Are the characters compelling?
Is the main character’s arc complete?
Where does the story drag?
Is the ending satisfying?
Is there too much/too little worldbuilding?

Outside readers can be helpful at this point. Yes, it’s difficult to give an unpolished draft to readers, but this is why you only choose readers who you trust and understand their assignment. They shouldn’t be commenting on your grammar at this point, but letting you know how they feel about the story as a whole.

Hearing emotional responses from readers at this stage of the book is hugely important for knowing where your book is working, and where it’s not.

Once you gather feedback on this, don’t change anything in the document yet. Have a separate document where you write out these questions. Then use this doc to problem-solve and figure out how to fix these big-picture issues.

This is where my reMarkable really comes in handy. I can have the draft open on my computer and handwrite notes as I look through.

From here, create a to-do list incorporating the problems you just brainstormed how to solve. Now, it’s time to go through the document and make some changes. Don’t worry about making it sound pretty—you’ll take care of that later. Just work out the issues until the story flows how it needs to.

Step 2: Line Edit

We’re zooming in on our manuscript a bit more. This step was the one I had the most trouble with when learning how to professionally edit because I was trying to do everything at once.

Advice from other writers helped me a lot here, and I’ve since discovered this article from Savannah Gilbo that sums it up beautifully. Essentially, it’s way more helpful to edit scene by scene rather than page by page, or even line by line.

Think about it. Scenes are like mini stories that tell the overall story—that’s why we need to break down line editing even further to make sure each scene accomplishes its goal to aid the bigger story being told.

The 3 stages:
Clarity: Start with the scene as a whole. What is actually happening in this scene? What are you trying to convey? What’s the importance of this scene in the overall story?
Flow: Get further into the nitty-gritty and look at your sentences and paragraphs. How’s the pacing? Does the flow match what’s happening in the scene? (Short sentences for action, longer sentences for descriptions, etc.) Do the transitions between paragraphs make sense?
Polish: Now look at your sentences word by word. Is this word the correct one—or is there a more accurate choice? Does this sentence convey the right emotion? Are you varying sentence structure and length? Can you remove unnecessary words?

This is the step where I might use ProWritingAid to ensure my paragraphs, sentences, and word choice are accurate and flowing as they should.

Step 3: Proofreading

Here, we finally get to the smallest details. Our story is solid. Our scenes are airtight.

Now we get to the grammar. (Yay!!)

I enjoy grammar, but you don’t need to be a grammar whiz to complete this step. Do the best you can, then hire an editor to fill in the gaps (more on that in a moment).

Things to take a look at:

• Punctuation
• Spelling
• Sentence structure

Grammar checkers like Grammarly can really come in handy here to catch anything you missed, but be careful about how they use AI. These grammar checkers have been around long before generative AI, but unfortunately, many of them have since been corrupted by it. I always make sure my data isn’t being shared or training a robot (who wants AI to steal their book?!), and I’m very selective about the websites I use.

And again: grammar checkers are not a substitute for an editor. Do you have a tried-and-true website you use?

Step 4: Final Read

This is where you get to see the fruits of your labor. Now that you’ve gone through the editing process, it’s time to kick back and read through your whole manuscript.

During this stage, you might find some small things that need fixing, but the hope is that if you’ve gone through this process correctly, there won’t be any huge rewrites or changes at this point.

(Have you ever gotten to this point, only to find that you still need to do some major rewriting because you didn’t spend enough time on Step 1? Don’t worry. Me, too.)

Some like having their book read to them. Personally, I find this takes too long for entire manuscripts, though I might use this occasionally during the line editing stage to make sure specific paragraphs flow. But hey, if you have the time, or your book is short enough, go for it!

And DO NOT SKIP STEP 5.

Step 5: Hire an Editor

As a professional writer, editor, and book reviewer, let me tell you a secret:

Most indie books I’ve reviewed are garbage.

The ones that stand out are by authors who bothered to hire an editor.

When you traditionally publish a book, an editor comes with your publishing deal. But many indie authors think they can get away with not hiring an editor—whether it’s because they think they’re good enough at editing themselves, or they just can’t afford it.

I’ve been in both of those places before. But, even as a professional editor myself, I can tell you for certain that Whispers of Worlds would not be what it is today without my editor. Having an editor is worth saving up for, even if it means delaying your book release.

I’m blessed to have found an editor who can do everything from developmental editing all the way down to proofreading. Some hire one editor for each stage of the editing process. There are multiple ways an editor can be involved in this process, and that’s a whole other blog post.

The important thing is: don’t skip it. Please. I’m begging you as a writer and editor who has worked on too many bad books.

Have you ever noticed mistakes that could have been easily fixed in a book you were reading?

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I’m curious: what’s your favorite part of the editing process? Let me know, and let’s have a nerdy discussion! (I mean, who else but nerds put their heads together to talk about editing?)

Happy editing!
—E.J.

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

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