“To me, the greatest pleasure about writing is not what it’s about, but the music the words make.”
—Truman Capote
I provide strictly conceptual and developmental editing for both nonfiction and fiction books. Conceptual editing involves working with you to create the basic framework or structure of your story, like drafting the blueprint for a building or even a magnificent skyscraper. Developmental editing involves fleshing out the rich detail, the descriptive substance, and the action-centered themes and context of your story; the features and “amenities” of that skyscraper, from its internal rooms and spaces, to the mechanisms of its infrastructure, to the environs of the external city space in which it sits.
Importantly, conceptual-developmental editing is a deep structure process that is also deeply personal in that it goes right to the heart of your story—to what it is you truly want to say and how you want to say it—and thus is most often a highly collaborative process between author and editor that is at its very best through once a solid yet comfortable, empathetic rapport is established between the two.
Finally, conceptual-developmental editing often requires a significant amount of basic research to ensure historical, geographical, or factual accuracy—to make sure, in essence, that the spirit and substance of your story “ring true.” And that goes for all genres—from pure fiction, nonfiction novel, or historical fiction as well as of course straight factual nonfiction works in which accuracy is paramount. If the descriptive facts of your book are inaccurate or are seriously flawed, readers will be quickly turned off to your story.
Insightful and meticulously incisive conceptual-developmental editing can transform your nice, interesting tale into a reader-grabbing book length story that will command the attention of savvy literary agents and even the keen interest of book publishers.
Call or email today to learn how a superb editor can help turn your story into a masterpiece!
