Story Editing. Copyediting. Proofreading. What in the world are they?
In today’s publishing environment, it’s up to an author to ensure all the major steps of revision/self-editing have been completed.
After you’ve written your first draft, you’ll need to work your way through the revision process. So what are the different steps in self-editing fiction?
Here is our take on it. After you write your story, the first step is a story edit, followed by your rewrites. Then you’ll do a copyedit and finally a proofread. Story editing, copyediting, and proofreading combined make up the revision process.
Following this order will save you time on editing. If you copyedit or proofread too early, you may have to repeat this work. Of course, you can fix obvious errors when you see them, but don’t spend time on copyediting until you’ve finished a comprehensive rewrite.
Write
Create your story and complete your first draft. Easier said than done :)
That’s why there has been so much written about how-to-write fiction! Whether you’re a plotter or a panster, it’s up to you to decide how to best write your story.
Story Edit & Rewrite
You’ve completed a draft and may have been told to put your work in a drawer for a few weeks and then come back and reread it with fresh eyes. This never worked for me. Even if I ignored my draft for weeks, I needed a structured process to evaluate and rewrite my manuscript. I realized I was doing my own story edit.
A story edit focuses on the big-picture of the novel. You’ll evaluate:
- Characters (Characters and novel structure)
- Plot (Start your story edit with a focus on plot)
- Settings (Setting and novel structure)
- Story flow and pacing (Scene openings and scene endings)
You’ll check for consistency and clarity, and you’ll end up rewriting scenes in your manuscript to improve content and structure. This is the most time-consuming step of self-editing, however, your effort spent on evaluating and rewriting your draft will ensure your story makes sense and is ready to polish and share.
So no surprise…this is where Fictionary will come to the rescue!
Copyedit
Now you’re getting into the details of each sentence with a focus on style. It’s time to check for:
- Language errors including punctuation, grammar, and spelling
- Run-on sentences (you may want these in dialogue or thought — just make sure you do this on purpose)
- Repeated information or words
- Clichés
- Too much description
- Unclear or confusing passages
- Boring or passive language
- Showing versus telling
- Too many adverbs
- Sentence length variation
- Consistent spelling (For example: US versus Canadian)
- Consistent hyphenation, fonts, and capitalization
Both ProWritingAid and Grammarly are great online tools for copyediting and proofreading. I use both, ‘cause I like them both.
Proofread
At this phase, you shouldn’t be finding too many errors. This is the final check before publishing your manuscript. You’ll notice you’re not changing your story or your style. Here you’ll check for final spelling or grammar mistakes, then ask yourself:
- Are all chapter headings formatted the same?
- Are any pages or headings omitted?
- Is the page numbering consistent?
- Are the headers and footers formatted the same?
- Are italics consistently used?
- Are paragraph indents formatted the same?
- Are there any double or triple spaces between words?
- Are there any double spaces after a period?
- Are times formatted the same — am, a.m. AM?
- Is the spacing between ellipses consistent (… and not . . . )?
Why not check out Fictionary’s StoryTeller free 14-day trial and tell powerful stories? No credit card required unless you love StoryTeller as much as we do and decide to subscribe.
Like to learn more about StoryTeller, check out our blog StoryTeller: Creative Editing Software for Fiction Writers.
At The Writing Cooperative, our mission is to help each other write better. We’ve teamed up with ProWritingAid to do just that. Try it for free!
