On Friday, I received notes from my editor regarding my third novel. I was apprehensive because this time I sent my First Draft rather than my Second or Third (as I did with the first two novels). Fortunately, my editor claimed my vomit prose didn’t distract her from connecting with the story, and I’m happy that the feedback is actionable.
Once again, 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 505 inline comments, of which 224 were Line Edits, 103 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 (224): “This is an unnecessary metaphor - the prior sentence does this for you and maintains the tone you've set.”
🛠 Dev Edit (103): “It would be really lovely to see one or two more scenes with them to capitalize on those feelings of new love, excitement, etc.”
That’s one Line Edit every 433 words, or five per chapter, on average. This is up by 60% compared to submitting a more polished draft. The Dev Edits fall into seven issues related to backstory, plot and motivation but it is clear I have several scenes or short chapters and a lot of interiority to add.
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 (58): "I'm obsessed with these opening lines. Such a vivid scene, I am instantly immersed."
😍 Adored (17): "Oooh this is great dialogue and definitely a 'swooning' moment for [REDACTED]."
😭 Cried (5): "This is so tender."
😬 Gutshot (16): "Ahh! I literally gasped here. I can't imagine how horrific this would be for [REDACTED]."
😮 Intrigued (20): "I'm trying to imagine what that errand could be!"
🤣 Laughed (27): "Hahaha I'm loving this scene so much."
😅 Relieved (1): "Oh, thank goodness - it feels like an immense relief for [REDACTED] to not face this alone."
🤬 Reviled (8): "[REDACTED] is definitely the most villainous character I think you've written in these books! He's the absolute worst!"
☹️ Saddened (7): "☹️ This is such a sweet, sad moment between them. I'm so sad that [REDACTED] will be losing this companionship."
😱 Shocked (12): "Consider me properly shocked. I did not see that coming!"
😧 Worried (7): "😱🫣 Ahh! This is stressful! Also a good mirror to the scene earlier in the book on Mother's Night."
Because I just started editing the First Draft, I plan to address this feedback chapter by chapter as work on the Second Draft. I’ll be interested to see how much this slows my editing process and if it creates a cleaner, more complete Second Draft.
