It’s so exhilarating to finally reach the point when you’re done polishing your manuscript and are ready to take your story to the next step. First, you should stop and celebrate. But once the giggles and jumping and virtual high-fives with friends over social media are over, what should you do next? Should you hire an editor? How do you even start that search? And how do you know what to look for? I’ve already covered how to go about finding an editor in a previous post. Today, we’re taking a step back even further and covering the basics. Today, I’m going to show you three fundamental editing principles every author should know before hiring an editor.

As an editor myself, I’ve been in touch with a lot of new authors looking to hire their first editor. From those conversations, I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of misconceptions out there about how editing actually works. Professional editing is a complex field that can be difficult to navigate. I want to make that journey of finding the right editor easier for authors. To that end, I’ve boiled down the most important things you need to know about the complex world of fiction editing into three fundamental principles.

Principle #1: There are two main types of fiction editing: story-level editing and sentence-level editing.

A lot of authors don’t realize that there are different types of editing. To be precise, there are four editing levels. Many editors specialize in only one or two editing levels. If you want the full overview of how each editing level works, you can check out my detailed post on the topic here. In this post, we’ll focus on fiction editing basics.

Fiction editing can be broken down into two central editing levels: story-level editing and sentence-level editing. Story-level editing is all about the big picture. Is the plot structure strong? Are the characters interesting and well developed? Does the first page hook? Are there any plot holes or narrative continuity issues? Does the story have strong pacing? Are the themes nuanced and thought-provoking? Does the dialogue sound natural and reflect each character’s personality? These are the types of wide-angle issues that a story-level edit addresses.

Sentence-level editing focuses on each sentence and word. Does this idea make sense? Is this simile or metaphor compelling? Does this dialogue have too many (or not enough) speech tags? Is the spelling, grammar, and punctuation correct and consistent? These are the types of issues that a sentence-level edit will catch.

In short, not all editing is the same. The two main types of fiction editing are story-level and sentence-level editing.

Principle #2: It doesn’t work to edit the story and the sentences at the same time.

It’s easy to assume that there is one monolith Edit that will address everything in one pass. While that would be lovely, such an edit simply doesn’t exist. Here’s why.

Editing the story requires a different perspective than editing the sentences. Trying to edit the story and the sentences at the same time is like trying to take a clear picture of a forest and a leaf at the same time. The image’s focus will be completely off. You may get a quality picture of either the forest or the leaf, but you won’t get a quality picture of both. It’s simply impossible for a camera to focus on those two vastly different scales at the same time.

Just like a camera, our brains can only focus on so much at once. Sentence-level editing requires the editor to read a text so slowly that they consciously notice every single letter, space, and punctuation mark. That slow, meticulous focus makes it impossible to experience the story as a normal reader would. Story-level editors need to let the story carry them like a normal reader. Otherwise, it’s impossible to accurately analyse how normal readers will experience the story, which is what a story-level edit is all about.

In short, if you’re focusing on grammar, you’re not focusing on characterization. If you’re trying to spot plot holes, you’re less likely to spot misplaced commas. Editors need to differentiate between story-level and sentence-level editing to provide a quality edit.

If you want a quality photo of a forest and a leaf, you’ll need to take two separate pictures. Likewise, if you want a quality story-level and sentence-level edit, you’ll need to pursue two separate editing passes. So, if you’re looking for an editor, you’ll need to start with figuring out whether a story or sentence-level edit better suites your goals and needs.

Principle #3: Editing the story will change the sentences, but editing the sentences won’t change the story. That’s why you should focus on the story first and the sentences second.

This is the most important principle for you to understand before you hire an editor. Why? Because you risk wasting both money and time if you get the order of your edits wrong. Sentence-level editing is what most authors think of when they imagine editing. As a result, authors can easily hire a sentence-level editor before they realize that their story also needs work. That is a rough situation to be in.

Editing the story will change the sentences, but editing the sentences won’t change the story. If you spend, say, three hours perfecting each and every sentence in a single scene only to realize that the scene needs a complete overhaul for it to be relevant to the plot, you have effectively wasted three hours. While it’s not ideal, it’s okay to make that kind of mistake when you are self-editing and the only thing you have wasted is your own time. If you make that same mistake with professional editing, you could end up completely wasting a significant portion of your editing budget.

Part of the reason I am so passionate about educating authors on the editing process is because I don’t want authors to find themselves in that difficult situation. Make sure that your story is completely ready to go before you pursue sentence-level editing. Trust me, it’ll save you so much hassle in the end.

Applying these Principles to Your Own Editing Process

Before you start any sentence-level edit, you need to make sure that your story is completely ready to go. We authors aren’t always very good at catching story-level issues in our own writing. That’s why getting external feedback is an important part of making sure your story is shipshape and ready to go.

Beta readers are a great resource to help you begin to gauge whether your story needs more work. You can read my whole guide on beta readers here. Of course, professional story-level feedback is the best way to assess whether your story is ready for sentence-level editing. No story is perfect, so professional story-level editing can be incredibly helpful to any author. If you can afford to complete a story-level edit before sentence-level editing, I strongly recommend it. If you only have the budget for one pass and are unsure which editing service best fits your manuscript and your goals, go ahead and check out my Tips for Editing on a Budget post. You can also leave a comment below or get in touch here and ask me your questions directly. I’m happy to help you figure out which type of editing is right for you.

I hope this post has helped clear the fog and given you the basics you need to navigate the strange world of professional fiction editing. I wish you all the best in your writing and editing journey!