This week, I return to my first novel, Finn’s Legacy, with the aim of self-publishing. The first step is to incorporate notes from my editor.
The feedback came in two forms: comments within the draft itself, and a stand-alone report with feedback on plot and character arcs. I counted 286 inline comments, of which 103 were Line Edits, 26 were Developmental (Dev) Edits, and the remainder were general feedback.
Let me explain each type:
Editing
Line Edits are things I can fix rather quickly by adding, editing, or deleting a few words or sentences. Dev Edits, on the other hand, require more effort. I might need to think a bit about how best to address the concern. Even when the solution is obvious, it still requires writing a paragraph, scene, or even a chapter.
This time around I decided to categorize feedback about interiority—my main character’s thoughts and emotions—as Dev Edits. Though many can be addressed with a single sentence, each instance requires more thought and typical Line Edits.
🧹 Line Edits (103): “How much time has passed?
🛠 Dev Edit (26): “I kind of wonder if it might have been helpful to include a scene earlier in the book where [REDACTED].”
That’s one Line Edit every 864 words, or two per chapter, on average. This is the best ratio of the three novels I’ve submitted to my editor, but comes as no surprise because it was also the most revised and polished manuscript before submission. The Dev Edits fall into six issues related to clarifying timeline, geography, interiority and motivation, and two recurring plot devices, but three to five new scenes or short chapters would help complete various character arcs.
Feedback
I don’t need to address feedback, just review it to understand which techniques worked. Aside from the complements (very welcome!), I enjoyed tracking the editor’s moment-by-moment emotional state on first read.
✅ Praised (59): “[REDACTED] is acting as a great stand-in for the reader in this chapter, helping us put the pieces together.”
😍 Adored (18): “Ah, my heart - this is legitimately moving! The tenderness and awkwardness is perfect.
😭 Cried (4): “Honestly, I am a bit tearful reading this. It is so heartbreaking.”
😬 Gutshot (11): “Well-said, but... oof. What a tough scene to read.”
😮 Intrigued (19): “The shortness of these chapters is … doing a great job of building and adding to the suspense.”
🤣 Laughed (8): “Haha, oh nooo this whole scene is so funny and so awkward.”
😅 Relieved (2): “Yes! Finally!”
🤬 Reviled (2): “Ohhh no! I very much dislike [REDACTED] after this scene!
☹️ Saddened (12): “☹️ Oh my gosh, this is truly haunting and heartbreaking.”
😱 Shocked (15): “Oooh no, this had not occurred to me at all! This is a great twist.”
😧 Worried (7): “!!! DANG this implicit threat is... honestly frightening!”
I plan to address all feedback chapter by chapter, line edits and dev edits both. When done, I’ll be able have somebody conduct a line edit before I moved to layout. I’m also exited to draw several maps which will help ground casual reader in this historical setting.
