FICTION EDITING
Because Stories Are Essential
All right, perhaps they aren’t as essential as food, water and oxygen, but without stories, what would we be?
​
You have a story or a book to share with the world, and you want it to look right when it’s written down. You want to put your ideas into people’s minds, show them your mental images, and make them feel with your characters. You want your writing to be just right. I bring a keen eye for the detail of your written work and a skill for suggesting the best writing technique.
I offer developmental editing, copyediting, proofreading and manuscript reviews for fiction and narrative non-fiction:
​
Developmental editing – I will give you feedback on important considerations for your writing, with specific comments through the text. Examples include ensuring a consistent viewpoint, showing and telling, building atmosphere, maintaining pace, and having a strong opening. Considering the genre or purpose of your writing, we’ll look at ensuring you’re meeting the readers’ expectations. I will be positive and constructive, suggest rather than dictate, and be happy to leave the final decision to you.
You can learn more about developmental editing here.
​
Copyediting – this involves ensuring that your work is accurate and easy to follow, uses a consistent editorial and writing style, and is free from error, omission, repetition and factual inconsistency.
You can learn more about copyediting here.
Proofreading – I will check your text for errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation, and for factual inconsistencies.
You can learn more about proofreading here.
​
Manuscript review – I will read through your manuscript and provide you with a report containing developmental editing comments, making suggestions for strengthening your writing style and issues to be aware of.
Are you a self-publishing or independent author?
​
If you’d like to be sure that I am a good fit for your work, and for me to estimate the time that your work would need to get your desired result, then I’m happy to offer you a free one-hour sample edit – simply contact me to enquire. When you do, please tell me about the text – whether it’s a novel or a story, its genre, whether it’s an early or a later draft (that is, whether you’re expecting to do much further work on it), and when you plan to publish.
Ideally, a book or story would have a developmental edit, a copyedit and possibly a proofread, in that order, so that the correction of errors only happens once the manuscript is developmentally finished. I understand, though, that you may not have the funds or the time for three rounds of editing work – if that’s the case, please contact me to discuss the best approach for you.
​
I am happy to discuss how I can help on any project – please get in touch for a free estimate.