What is an editor? No one knows!

When you hear the word "editor," what do you think of? Someone who's going to take your rough draft and turn it into a masterpiece? Someone who will leave your plot alone but correct your grammar mistakes? Perhaps you just picture someone taking a red pen to your writing, leaving it bleeding.

Maybe you only have a vague idea of what an editor does. You're not alone. There are varying definitions of what an editor does because there are several different types of editing, often referred to as the four levels of editing. But the lines between these four main categories can get a bit blurred.

This is because even editors themselves can't completely agree about what constitutes each stage of editing. Two editors may have the same name for a certain type of editing but a different definition for it. Another two editors may provide the same service but call it a different name. Some editors may even combine two editing levels into one. 

Despite all the confusion among editors and writers alike, most book manuscripts follow the same basic path. Let's back up and set a good foundation for your understanding of the editing process, at least as it pertains to books (other types of writing may not follow this path). Each editing level has its own important role in the journey of a document toward publication.

Let's say we're following Sally on her novel-writing journey. First, Sally writes a rough draft of her book. The way she goes about this is going to be individual to her. For instance, she may outline the plot, sketch out her characters, and construct the details of her setting all before writing a single word. She may just start writing and discover these elements of the story as she goes. Or she may do a combination of both.

The point is that there are many ways to get to a rough draft. Once she's completed the first draft, Sally can be proud of such an accomplishment. But the work is far from over. 

Developmental Editing
After a full draft is completed, it's time for a developmental edit (also called a structural, substantive, or content edit). She may choose to make several passes back over the manuscript herself, revising and rewriting as necessary, before handing it off to a professional. (She may also engage manuscript readers at this point, but that's a discussion for another time.)

Developmental editing focuses on shaping the story as a whole. Does the story make sense? Are there problems with plot, setting, character development, scene order, or point of view? Is the overall structure sound? Are the beginning and ending effective? Are the writer's promises to the reader fulfilled? A developmental editor will evaluate the big picture, bring any issues to Sally's attention, and make suggestions for improvement. They may reorganize and rewrite sections of the manuscript themselves.

Working with a developmental editor is often an intimate and lengthy process, but it's a necessary one. Sally will work with her editor until both are satisfied that the overall content of her novel is exceptional.

​Line Editing
The remaining stages or levels of editing focus not on the content of the book but on the language used. Now that the foundation of Sally's story is firm and structurally sound, she'll want to hire an editor to drill down on the finer points of the language. 

Line editing is what it sounds like: the editor goes line by line through the text, focusing on language, style, voice, and tone. Line editors home in on the sentence-level stuff. They aim to cut out wordiness, improve sense, and smooth the overall flow of each sentence.

As I said, some editors combine multiple services into one. Line editing may sometimes be done in conjunction with either developmental editing or copyediting. 

Copyediting
If it wasn't included with her line edit, Sally will want to get a copyeditor to eliminate any glaring eyesores. Copyediting focuses on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage. Copyeditors check for logic, scrutinize cross-references, and prepare style sheets to maintain consistency across a manuscript. 

Copyeditors often operate on what is referred to as a scale from light to heavy. "Light" copyeditors correct obvious errors and flag more subjective issues for the author's review. "Heavy" copyeditors use their judgement to fix even the subjective issues without waiting for the author to make a decision. Where the editor's corrections fall on this scale should be discussed before the project begins. Copyediting can sometimes be combined with line editing or with proofreading.

Proofreading
Proofreading is the final stage of the manuscript editing process. At this point, both the story itself and the language used to tell it have been refined. Many errors have been corrected in the copyediting stage. Behind the scenes, Sally may also be working with a cover designer and a formatter. Her book is almost ready to publish!

But all editors are human. Sometimes they miss errors, and sometimes new errors are introduced during one of the previous phases. (Or maybe one of the previous phases was skipped entirely!) This is where the proofreader comes in. 

Proofreaders are the masters of quality control. They focus on many of the same issues a copyeditor does: grammar, spelling, and punctuation. But they also catch typographical errors and inconsistencies in formatting. Though it is rarer in this digital world, proofreaders may even compare the latest stage of a project with earlier stages to ensure that manual changes have been made correctly and no additional errors have been introduced. 

Like the other editing levels, sometimes proofreading is combined with copyediting. If copyediting is skipped, it makes the proofreader's job all the more important. They are the last defense between errors and the world.

Sally wants her book to be as perfect as humanly possible, so she hires a proofreader to be the final eyes on her manuscript. After investing so much time and energy into her beloved novel, she knows it's always best to have a sharp set of eyes give everything a final look. Once it's been proofread, Sally can finally publish her novel!

The Fuzzy Bottom Line
Perhaps by now you can see why the distinctions between the different types of editing can get a little fuzzy. A line editor may also perform copyediting at the same time, thereby eliminating the need for a separate copyedit. A developmental editor might also focus on sentence-level stuff, making a line editor unnecessary. A proofreader's approach may look more like copyediting. This is why it's important to thoroughly discuss the scope of each project with your editor so that you're both on the same page. 

No matter how your editor defines or combines their services, the important thing to remember is to start with the big picture and work downward. You don't want to skip right to perfecting each sentence with a line edit or copyedit only to find out later that you have a gaping plot hole that would have been addressed in a developmental edit. And you don't want a proofreader to make corrections to punctuation and grammar until after a line editor has tightened up your prose. 

Keep in mind that many editors offer packages that contain many or all of these types of editing in succession. This can be great, because the editor gets to know your manuscript intimately and walks with you through every part of the process. At the same time, being so involved in the story can make them just as blind to certain issues as you are. That's why it's sometimes a good idea to hire separate editors for each stage of editing to get fresh eyes and a fresh perspective with each pass.

So what is an editor? It can often feel like a mystery. But hopefully you now have a better understanding of the different kinds of editors and how each one can help improve your writing. Every role is important, but some of them don't always fit into neat little boxes. Ultimately, you have to choose the right editor(s) for you and your manuscript.