What's the Difference Between Developmental, Line, and Copy Editing?
- hbkiser
- Mar 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 19
Developmental editing is a 30,000-foot view of the manuscript that happens when a draft is complete — "complete" here meaning that the skeleton has been constructed and all the main parts/key scenes have been written. A developmental edit evaluates such things as structure, pacing (including foreshadowing and flashback), character arcs, plot satisfaction (including theme), and overall story flow (including tone).
A good developmental editor is both a wide reader (across a variety of genres) and a deep reader (expert in your specific genre, historical and contemporary). You should expect specific, clear, and justified feedback on the parts of your manuscript that are working and those which need your attention, including suggestions on ways the issues might be fixed.
Whether scenes are misplaced or missing or extraneous, or a character just isn't coming across the way you intend, or the plot/narrative seems jumbled or confusing, a developmental edit will identify the direction (and goal) for your next writing steps.
Additionally, a developmental editor will probably make comments on the sentence level (I always do), but such editorial notes are not this edit's purpose.
Like beta reading, a developmental edit tells you what your manuscript is doing well and where your opportunities are for improvement. But a developmental edit goes much wider and deeper than a beta read, because it's (hopefully!) conducted by a trained expert who can not only pinpoint exactly where and why your manuscript needs attention but also offer concrete, actionable suggestions for exactly how to address them.
A beta read is feedback from one reader and can be useful or useless. A developmental edit, on the other hand, is always useful, because it's laser-focused feedback on behalf of a body of readers.
Can you do your own developmental edit? Yes, and you should always self-edit before hiring a professional — at least if you want the most insightful and relevant feedback possible — but this type of overarching edit is notably difficult to do well in a vacuum. We know our writing better than anyone, but this closeness is both strength and weakness when it comes to editing.
For example, in one developmental edit, I worked with a writer's thematically linked personal essay collection. This task involved such items as determining optimal order, strengthening the thematic ties (and downplaying other too-similar factors), and identifying which (clearly necessary) topics had been omitted and were in need of an additional essay all their own. In another example, a work of nonfiction, the developmental edit focused on places where the writer needed to strengthen the argument and root out bias/assumptions (we all have them, friends!) to either dial back or justify the examples and conclusions. It also ensured the writing was absolutely clear and points were well supported.
There are tons of other examples, but there is no one size fits all because every manuscript is different.
Line editing and copy editing are sometimes used interchangeably by the uninformed, but they aren't the same thing. If a developmental edit is the 30,000-foot view, these edits view text through a microscope.
In the proverbial nutshell, a line edit is a sentence-level edit that focuses on such things as word choice, rhythm, voice, tone, and flow. This is the type of editing that aims to improve the nuts and bolts of the writing.
Can you do your own line edit? Yes, and as above, you should. Writers know what they intend to convey, but it can be challenging to determine if intention matches outcome. The writer's style is always paramount, but sometimes a writer's quirks and habits get in the way of an optimal reader experience. A professional line editor will flag issues and make specific suggestions to improve the text while safeguarding the writer's intention and voice.
Maybe your prose is too dry or too snarky for its intended purpose and audience. It might include clichés instead of more interesting/imagistic language or fresh comparisons. Or one section is in past tense and the next is in present. Or you've used 100 words when 10 (or fewer!) would do the trick. Maybe your repetition is redundant instead of evocative. Or the writing needs smoother transitions.
None of these writing problems are necessarily related to correctness, i.e. the writing may be perfectly error-free but weak or even (sorry!) just plain bad. Snoopy ("It was a dark and stormy night...") and the annual winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for the best (worst?) ghastly first sentence of a novel that doesn't exist illustrate this category better than any example I could come up with.
If you've ever read a book (or even just a sentence) with pleasure in the language, the phrasing, the turn of phrase ... thank a line editor for helping the writer to ensure the writing is the best possible version of itself. They ensure a piece of writing goes from good to great.
Copy editing is also focused on the sentence-level work, but this time, it's editing for technical correctness. If completed as separate processes, line editing precedes copy editing. Such thorough, detail-oriented editing is attuned to grammatical nuts and bolts, spelling, and consistency of language (plus a whole host of other items that pop up).
Can you do your own copy edit? For the love of all things holy, please do! Writers cannot copy edit with perfection. (In fact, copy editors can't copy edit with perfection! And don't get me started on the inherent flaws in AI programs.) But writers who want to find readers will do no service to those readers if copy errors are frequent or egregious enough to muddle the meaning or startle readers out of reading.
The rules of language are rules for a reason. Copy editors worth their salt are whip-smart language gurus, meaning they deeply understand and have strong opinions about all things grammar, from dependent clauses to pluperfect subjunctive verb tense. Finding and fixing such errors and inconsistencies provides jump-out-of-bed-in-the-morning joy. (Trust me on this.)
Because copy editors are keepers of rules, they also know when and why the rules can be broken.
Both line and copy editing can be done independently from each other, but many editors (myself included) will edit with both lenses on certain manuscripts, especially if it's the writer's preference. That said, a further round of copy editing will never be a waste of time.
