Exciting news. On Thursday, I received notes from my editor regarding my WIP novel. They came in two forms: comments within the draft itself, and a stand-alone report with feedback on plot and character arcs. I read the report first. Good points, all valid. Then I tore into the good stuff—the inline comments. I love, love, LOVE reading these comments side-by-side with the highlighted text. I counted 402 entries, of which 141 were Line Edits, 29 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.
🧹 Line Edits (141): “I'm not sure about this sentence, it maybe feels a little heavy-handed...”
🛠 Dev Edit (29): “Where did they go for two months?”
That’s one Line Edit every 700 words, or three per chapter, on average. The Dev Edits seem like a lot, but upon review I can see they are really six issues related to backstory, plot and motivation.
Feedback
Feedback were things I don’t need to address, just enjoy. Praise is always welcome; it means something is working! I also received feedback about the editor’s moment-by-moment emotional state on first read. I find this very valuable. It indicates whether I’ve created an emotional roller-coaster that will keep readers interested.
✅ Praised (99): “This chapter does a lot of really effective heavy lifting to build the context and plot for your story!”
😍 Adored (22): “Seeing them both compare themselves to each other is sweet and sad and so real.”
😭 Cried (12): “What a perfect and perfectly devastating line.”
😬 Gutshot (17): “Oof, these politics are brutal!”
😮 Intrigued (7): “Oh, this is an unexpected and interesting turn.”
🤣 Laughed (41): “Haha I literally laughed out loud here - what a great sentence. 😂”
😅 Relieved (5): “Honestly, I feel visceral relief reading this! It's been so devastating to see [REDACTED] in this state.”
☹️ Saddened (10): “This section is SO heartbreaking to read ☹️”
😱 Shocked (15): “Whoa, I'm sorry, WHAT?? I almost did a spit-take here, lol. Talk about a plot twist!”
😧 Worried (4): “This was a SUCH a gripping chapter, I was legitimately stressed.”
Now it’s time to roll up my sleeves and work through the edits. Rather than tackle the issues from start to finish, I’m going to steal a technique from Justin Hill (he posted this last week) and address the Line Edits first. This will give me a sense of progress while allowing my subconscious to get a head start thinking about the Dev Edits. I see the finish line. Though I’m footsore and weary, somebody just handed me a cup of Gatorade. I gulp it down. Crushing the paper cup in my determined fist, I limp onward…
