The Big Picture

Now it's time to:

• relocate content which has ended up in the wrong place

• lose repetition and tweak the surrounding text

• think about any missing content which needs to be added

• retire any material not moving the central idea forward.

In any significant writing, there is more than one draft. The first draft is often not great, and that’s fine. The important thing is to capture the essence of what you want to say. From there, we review until it reads beautifully. Every book you’ve ever read has gone through this reorganising and renovation process.

If that feels like a lot right now, I’d love to help you with it. I’m experienced at performing this kind of work on manuscripts.

It’s not always easy. It does involve a lot of collaboration. And it won’t always feel comfortable to witness your book being treated this way.

But you are always in the driving seat. Nothing happens without your approval.

You send me the document, and some explanation of what you want from it (reader profile, publishing preference etc.)

I read the entire manuscript through, taking notes

If there is no Table of Contents, I produce one as a road map to ensure we get to where we need to go

I’ll work to ensure that everything is present and correct.

Following the flow of the central theme, I'll identify any sub-themes and their roles, and check that the sequencing and structure are spot on

I look for out-of-place content and identify where it should be located

Any additional material that would help flesh out the themes will be suggested

I then write up a full summary report including recommendations for next steps

If you’ve asked me to, I’ll then make any or all of the suggested changes for your approval

You'll receive two copies of the worked-on manuscript (if in Word format): one with Track Changes displayed and one ‘clean’ version with all suggestions accepted. You can then compare them and accept or reject any suggestions.

You’ll be left with a manuscript that has solid, secure foundations. It will have a clear story arc. It will be logically arranged. It won’t repeat itself.

It will still need a line / copyedit after this! Developmental editing doesn’t deal with typos, grammar issues, punctuation or any of that detailed work. This is Big Picture stuff.