Elizabeth Nickels

A developmental edit involves commenting on the structure, characterisation, narrative, plot, and to some extent the themes of a novel, and making suggestions on how to improve them. For example, a developmental editor may suggest that a plot point is introduced earlier in the story and give examples of how to do this, or show ways to make a character’s POV clearer and more sympathetic.​ Copy editing means that the editor makes or suggests changes to the style of the text to make it clearer, more consistent and/or more fluent. They can also find ways to reduce clichés and correct or query factual inaccuracies or anachronisms.​ A proofreader corrects typos, spelling errors and grammatical errors. I personally offer a hybrid developmental/copy editing service, where I make stylistic changes to the text but also offer suggestions on improvements to the narrative, plot, characterisation, and so on. If you're not sure what type of editing your writing needs, send me an extract and I can help you decide!