The joy of developmental editing | Pinnacle Newsletter #42
#42 The joy of developmental editing
This week, I’ve been getting stuck in to some work that I truly love: developmental editing.
Before a book is published, it must go through several different editorial stages. Many projects – especially novels, and other books that depend on a narrative structure – begin with developmental editing after the author’s first draft. This is where I come in.
I’ve worked with the author John Burns for several years now, and edited each of his previous titles, The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales (both of which have become very successful, often dominating the genre’s charts on Kindle). Each began with a developmental editing phase. Now I’m working on an early draft of his third book.
The problem with writing a novel is that it can be hard to see the big picture, and the writer is often too close to their own story. Maybe they’re even doubting what they’ve written. Does the story work? Which bits needs moving around, trimming, or rewriting? Do any characters need to be developed further – or maybe cut entirely? Is the bloody thing any good?
I love attacking these problems. I can achieve a zen-like flow state in which I visualise the scenes, characters, themes, and subplots as index cards in my mind. Sometimes I write stuff out on physical index cards, but mostly I work with a gigantic Markdown document stuffed with dozens (or even hundreds) of headings, subheadings and lists. (MultiMarkdown Composer saves the day here thanks to its interactive table of contents.) Text gets liberally moved around during the process. The working document can sometimes be 20,000 words long, but I aim to provide the client with a report no longer than around 5–6,000 words.
The process I use is very personal to me, and I don’t think I could teach anyone else how to do it – not even another editor. But it is incredibly satisfying. There’s a degree of pride in knowing that my perspective has helped a writer to create a better, more focused version of the story they want to tell.
As a self-employed editor and writer, I’m able to pick most of my work to some extent, but developmental editing isn’t something that crosses my desk every month. I consider it a privilege that I get to do work like this.
In other news…
Planning is well underway for my winter Cape Wrath Trail, but I’m not sharing much at the moment because a number of things are still not settled (such as the shelter I’ll be using, and potentially the clothing). It’s my hope that all this will be finalised next week, so in next week’s newsletter – coincidentally, the Pinnacle Newsletter’s first birthday – I’ll be covering these topics. Stay tuned!
Recently published
What I’ve been reading this week, 18 January 2019 – this week’s links.
Book review: Fastpacking by Lily Dyu – my review of an enlightening little book from Cicerone.
How to avoid Brexit this week – is the news getting you down? Here’s my (slightly tongue-in-cheek) guide to avoiding it completely.
Five images from this week’s walks – finally, a week of colour after a monochrome month.
Review: AKU Superalp GTX boots – I am not really a boot person, but I liked these ones a great deal.
Signal v Noise exits Medium – I am sensing pushback against centralisation on the web. It’s about time.
From my Commonplace Book
Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants.
—David Brooks
Until next time,
Alex
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