What to Expect from a Developmental Edit
With sample Development Summaries revealed!
Having your work edited is humbling. I remember the rigor of working for Discover Magazine. I had four editors leave comments on my piece, some that contradicted each other, and I scrambled to revise and satisfy the demands of their multi-layered process. In addition to editing, my piece went through fact-checking. I had to prepare an annotated draft with footnotes that matched each quote in my piece with its timestamp in recorded interviews, and provide contact info and prepare my sources to field a communique from Discover. I thought I did a good job integrating feedback, delivering on time, and presenting well-organized background material for my 1,300-word piece that appeared in the Sept/Oct 2023 issue. I publish one or two essays per year—that’s my pace. I spend most of my time helping other writers hone their craft and see their projects to completion.
It takes ambition and indefatigable diligence to publish traditionally.
My clients range from debut authors with small platforms to PhDs with several service books out to imaginative fiction writers who are astoundingly prolific… and each development project bears lessons and rewards.
I want to talk about when I bump into a writer’s ego, and how this can be massaged and negotiated and hold the potential for an amazing breakthrough.
I will focus here on full-length manuscripts. When an author submits a full manuscript for evaluation (around 80,000 words; shorter for poetry), upon receiving the edits and Development Summary, there is very likely to be overwhelm.
I build in support for this [initial shock and terror] when I return my Summary by scheduling a conference call right after the author has scanned the suggestions, and before they undertake revisions.
These are my juiciest calls. What I hear first is, “Thanks for the praise. I’d been working in a silo, and I really needed to know if my writing had worth.” Often, they had received watered-down or brief feedback from family or writing circle colleagues, whereas, I have been deeply immersed in the work; I am second only to the author in familiarity with the work and all its features. I have a holistic view. I see things the author cannot see in their own writing, because they can’t recognize it as non-self.
In the marked-up manuscript, I believe it’s obvious that I devoted effort and care. My treatment is extremely thorough, involving copy edits, substantive edits, and substantive comments in the margins, as well as two to three pages of reflections and global corrections in an email.
What writers see reflected back to them is their own writing thumbprint, as I call it. I analyze patterns in their writing and give tips on how to trim the fat, boost active voice, add depth to characters, spark tension between characters, turn expository writing into scenes, add plot complications, and I often recommend more research, more writing, and books, podcasts, therapeutic modalities, creative techniques, software apps, and professionals that could all serve the project.
It can be overwhelming. I’m sympathetic to this. I’ve been on the receiving end. I said shock and terror earlier, because all those red lines equal work that needs to be done.
I honor and respect my clients for the accomplishment of having finished a draft, first and foremost. Then, I won’t say I hold their hands, but I do sit in the soup with them to process the workload that my edits create for them. Sorry! But, I’m not sorry. I’m excited.
I am a creative writing teacher (that’s my fave jam, but it pays pittance for the hours of prep I do before teaching a course, so it can’t be my main jam). I realized my best writing advice is contained in my Development Summaries.
Below you will find several real, redacted Development Summaries.
Have you received a Development Summary or Manuscript Evaluation? What did you appreciate… and what did you not appreciate? Please let everyone know in the comments.
Sample Development Summaries Contain My Best Writing Advice
Please take some time reading through these manuscript reviews, redacted for privacy.
I address story arc, active voice, suspension of tension, tips for making writing in every genre better. My best advice goes to my paying clients—now you can get this advice for free, OR you can become a paid subscriber (very much appreciated) OR buy me a coffee (trying the button for the first time).
Please tell me what you find to be the most useful writing advice in the links below. I’ve included a mix of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry manuscript reviews for you to peep.
This is so helpful! I'm sending my second draft to a developmental editor next week and it's really kind of terrifying. As always, the unknown is scary, and this helps me better understand what a developmental edit will look like. Thank you for sharing this!