Developmental Editing: My "ACT" Editing Method (For Story Content)
- M.L. Bull
- Dec 12, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 6
Editing is one of the least favorite parts of the book creation process for writers because it takes focus, critical thinking, discipline, and is usually the longest part of making books aside from writing and drafting them. When writers take their books through this second phase there's much to do. There are different types of editing, including developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Editing is also one of the most expensive parts of creating books when writers send their manuscripts to professional editors, especially for self-published authors and for them to calculate and know their budget based on word count and what editors charge to evaluate and edit their books.
Now, let's take a look at exactly what developmental editing is and consists of below. 🔍
WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING?
Developmental editing is "big picture editing." This type of editing evaluates and fixes all of the broad story elements of a story and the actual content of a book. There are also other names for it, including substantive editing, content editing, or macro editing. During the developmental stage, editors make any adjustments to the story elements of a story or book, including pacing, character development, story structure, point of view, plotting, theme, tone, length, and other literary devices, such as symbolism or motifs.
How do I self-edit my story content? It's pretty simple, but it also takes patience and time.
HOW I SELF-EDIT MY NOVELS & SHORT STORIES
For my developmental or macro edit; primarily, I like to do it writing by hand, but I may type up my notes after the fact. Sometimes I do, and other times I don't. Just a part of being a "planster" type of writer, I guess. Currently, I split the macro edit into the two following parts:
Part 1: Story Elements
Part 2: Chapter-by-chapter summaries
Although I oppose developmental editing, I still believe in at least having some professional editing done before publishing my novels or short stories. However, I don't do this until I have self-edited my work on my own. Writers are like the directors of their cast of characters. Many of us visualize our stories as if our books are TV shows or movies (I can bear witness🙋🏽♀️), so why not edit like a director? For the two parts, I use my "ACT" editing method to evaluate my story elements and content by using the approach of a director.
MY "ACT" EDITING METHOD
If you're a self-published author who would like to save money, it can be helpful to do the first edit yourself. As Renni Browne and Dave King have mentioned in their book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print, "why pay for editing you can do yourself?
In essence, it's up to us writers what we choose to keep and remove from our short stories and novels, even after getting it edited by other writers and editors. Self-editing your work isn't favorable by all writers; but aside from reading books, practicing this is also ultimately what can help writers to hone their writing craft.
So, what is the "ACT" Editing Method? 🤷🏽♀️
The term "ACT" is an editing acronym I created that stands for the following:
A = Additions (Characters, settings, scenes, or other story elements added to the story)
C = Changes (Characters, settings, scenes, or other story elements changed in the story)
T = Take Outs (Characters, settings, scenes, or other story elements deleted from the story)
Firstly, I look over the story elements to check what I need to add, change, or take out by evaluating a list of self-editing questions based on each of the story elements. Some of these include the following:
Pacing: Is the pacing appropriate or consistent throughout the story?
Character Development: Are the characters fully developed? Or did they change over the course of the story?
Story Structure: Is the story well-structured with a complete beginning, middle, and ending?
Point-of-view: Is the point-of-view consistent throughout the story?
Plotting: Are there any loopholes in the plot of the story?
Theme: Does the story cover the overall central message of the book? How?
Tone: Is the tone appropriate for the mood of the story?
Length: Is the length of the story or book too short? Could it be lengthened into a longer story?
Symbolism & Motifs: Is the symbolism significant to the story? In what ways?
Once the story elements I've used have been evaluated or adjusted, next I do the second part of my macro edit for story content. This is where I write chapter-by-chapter summaries, writing what happens in each of the chapters. After each chapter summary, I take notes based on my summaries and evaluating the content of my novel manuscript using my "ACT" editing method to decide what I need to add, change, or take out from the story. The following are some questions I may ask myself and apply while using my editing method:
Additions:
Are there any characters needed? Do I need to lengthen the scene? Do I need more setting descriptions? Does the story pacing need to be increased for this particular scene? Do I need more conflict in this scene?
Changes:
Do I need to change or combine any of the characters? Are there plot holes in the scene that affects the rest of the story? Do I need or want to change the setting descriptions?
Take Outs:
Are there any unnecessary characters? Is this scene needed, or should I take it out? Could I remove this setting without altering the story concept?
💡Tip: WHAT, NO REVISIONS? Although it's important to make corrections, there may be times where you don't have any additions, changes, or take outs to make in your novels or short stories. In these cases, just put NONE under the category.
Below is just an example I scribbled up of what my macro edit chapter outline pretty much looks like in the image of the notes for book 2 His Eye Is On the Sparrow of my Hallelujah Praise series. You just make a bullet list for each category of the ACT editing method based on the content of each of the chapters after writing your chapter summaries.
And that's it. After, I'm done with my developmental edit, I may let things simmer a bit until I pick up and complete the second rewrite of my short stories or novels later.
CLOSING REMARKS:
Developmental editing doesn't have to be complicated after you know what to evaluate and fix in your short stories and novels. We writers know our characters and story worlds more than anyone else who may critique our work, and self-editing and getting familiar with story elements and writing mechanics are the best ways for us to improve our craft of writing; not to mention, it can save us some time and money when hiring professional editors. Okay, that's the end of this post. If you found it informative and helpful, please, give it a (heart❤️), take part in the poll 🤔, and share your thoughts or comments 💬 below.)
Happy Writing!
🤔During the editing process, do you self-edit your short stories and novels?
👍Yes
👎No
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