✨Editing Process Insight: A General Overview of My Editing Process
A brief overview of how I start working on a fiction editing project. 🌸
Hey Story Crafters!
If you’ve been keeping up with my Twitter/X feed or with
news, you’ll know that the submission window for #RevPit 2024 officially closed at noon | 12 p.m. today!For those interested in keeping up with the #RevPit excitement—whether or not you decided to participate this year—there are daily activities you can join in on or observe during the (excruciating) waiting period.
Or you can stay up-to-date by following
on Substack, @ReviseResub on Twitter/X, or r/RevPit on r/eddit.My Editing Process
In preparation for my #AskTheEditor session, I decided to share a bit of how I approach a new fiction editing project here. And I’m going to do it by comparing my editing approach to one of my hobbies—LEGO building.
My LEGO-building process
I’ve been building LEGOs for a long time, since the first versions of the Millennium Falcon, the Imperial Star Destroyer, and the Death Star II were in circulation—back when the instructions came in one giant, spiralbound booklet (which made it really easy to rip the pages) and none of the bags were numbered. Just picture it: bins and bowls filled with countless pieces of various shapes and sizes, primarily in black and several shades of gray. Sorting through the pieces was more time-consuming than actually building the models.
Since I built those models in middle school—before I refined my LEGO-building process—I can’t say whether or not there was a pattern to how the pieces were packaged. As I got older and LEGO started numbering their bags to make the sorting and building experience more enjoyable, I noticed that there is a pattern to the packaging. Which meant I no longer had to follow the unofficial first steps shown in all the LEGO building instruction booklets: dump out the pieces and sort them. (This was a big relief to my mom, who no longer had to loan out leftover containers or baking trays for my hobby.)
Now, my process is pretty simple:
Unpack the instruction booklet and all the bags.
If it’s a big build and the bags are numbered, I organize the bags and put them back in the box in reverse order, so the higher numbered bags are on the bottom.
Start building. I open the bags and pull out the pieces I’ll need to complete the steps on the pages I have open.
In the process of pulling pieces out of the bags and building, I figure out how the pieces are packaged across the bags. So as long as I don’t mangle the bag upon opening, I can keep all the pieces in the bag instead of dumping the pieces out.
Repeat until done. (And sink into a sort of meditative state.)
So, my LEGO-building process is pretty streamlined, and I can reach the finished build relatively quickly (like, over a few days or less, time-wise).
Back to my editing process…
While I’ve been building LEGOs much longer than I’ve been editing fiction, my ability to refine that process gives me confidence as I continue to develop my editing process. It still undergoes a few tweaks now and then, as I learn how to improve my process with each author I work with.
But the way I start a fiction editing project is the same:
Upon receiving the manuscript (MS) in a Word file, I make a folder for the new project and save all the relevant files for the project (e.g., a developmental editing project folder includes the manuscript with markups, the dev editing tracking sheet, and the editorial letter).
Make sure the MS is formatted to industry standard (i.e., 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, page numbers).
Apply the “Heading” style to chapter titles to make navigation easier.
Start editing.
Communication
My method of communication is email, all the way.
Email is the best communication method for me to keep in contact with authors and other clients. It makes it easier for me to track what we discussed and when, so I can refer back to an earlier conversation if needed and expand on it.
I’m pretty responsive. I make sure to respond to current clients within 24 hours on weekdays. (I don’t usually respond to emails I receive over the weekend unless a current client has an emergency.)
During a fiction editing project, I have 3 standard emails:
At the start of the project. I send an email to the author saying that I’ve started editing their MS, and that I’ll reach out if I have any questions. I also remind the author to reach out if they have any questions, concerns, or need to share additional information about their MS.
A week before the return date. This email is meant to reassure the author that everything is on track to be returned on the date agreed upon per the contract (which we both agreed to and signed prior to the project start date).
The return date. The editorial package is returned to the author, with a reminder that the author has up to 30 days after the return date to send up to 10 emails to discuss the edits.
Frequency of communication
The frequency of the email communication can vary from author to author. I’ve worked with authors who I didn’t contact outside of the 3 standard emails (and a few follow-up emails), and were perfectly fine with that level of communication. I’ve also worked with authors who preferred weekly check-ins. When I start working with a new author, we decide on which level of communication works best for them and stick with it throughout the duration of the project.
#RevPit 2024 #AskTheEditor sessions
This week the #AskTheEditor sessions for #RevPit 2024 start up! My session is this Thursday, March 21 at 7 p.m. ET on r/eddit. If you’re interested in learning more about my editing process, please drop in! You don’t need to have a r/eddit account to view public threads, so if you want to take a peek at upcoming events like #10Queries, please feel welcome to!
Link: Ask the Editor chats r/eddit thread
If my editing process sounds compatible with your workstyle, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! I’m interested in working with authors of:
Fantasy
Dark Fantasy
Science Fiction
Horror
though I’ve also worked on cozy mysteries too. I’m open to working in most genres if an author and I fit well together, so please get in touch if you’re interested in working with me!
And that’s it for this week! I hope to chat with some of you on Thursday!
Best,
Leah
Interested in learning more about me, and the kind of energy I’ll bring to a writer-editor relationship? Subscribe to this newsletter (it’s free!).