Many writers often ask how their first draft gets turned into a polished manuscript that is ready for publication. This first step is called the developmental edit, which takes place after the text has been completed. Most people think of editing as just grammar, punctuation, and proofreading, but those are more line level elements; developmental editing, or substance editing as it’s sometimes called, is all about the content: the meat of the story and what form it will take by the time it reaches readers. This is the phase where we analyze characters, plot, setting, and even the pace of the story. These are the big issues that require the use of three techniques to help refine the story: growing, pruning, and shaping.
Tools
Help Me Design
By Corey Talbott
Whether you are a graphic-design guru, a website developer, a technical writer, or any other professional who has some sort of visual element in their day-to-day (so, everyone), you are surrounded by design. So let us dive into some resources for the non-designers.
Mind Your Style Sheet
By Olivia Rollins
Though style sheets can seem confusing at first, they are among the most important tools at a copyeditor’s disposal. As long as you keep your style sheet organized and record all of your decisions related to mechanics and style, you should be all right. (Or is it “alright”? Better check the style sheet.)
Social Media Tools & Ooligan
By Brennah Hale @thebrennah
As social media continues to boom through today’s generation, businesses must use these platforms in order to market their own companies and organizations. But how exactly are these companies benefiting from their social media, and how do they know what to post that will further engage their followers? The answer is social media tools.
Four Alternatives to a Regular Word Processor
By Michele Ford
Many writers are quite satisfied using pen and paper, Word, Google Docs, or Pages to complete their writing projects—and certainly, pen and paper was the only method available to writers for centuries. But when those tools don’t quite get the job done, here are some others to consider. Q10 was developed by Spanish programmer, designer, […]