The Traits Of A Developmental Editor

By Edward Reynolds


Every piece of writing requires some form of support during or before it can be produced or published. This writing is what is referred to as developmental editing and the person behind it is the developmental editor. They perform a lot of duties that help ensure that the content in a manuscript is good; thus, ensuring the success of a book.

In order to ensure the success of a book, there are a couple of duties that a publishing supervisor needs to do. Number one involves offering suggestions. They should be capable of offering suggestions that are relevant in the context of the story. For instance, looking at the goals of a book, they might give suggestions about how the character may be developed, style that should be used and the language that would effectively pass the message across. They also highlight grammar and spelling mistakes made, but they do not do corrections themselves; though, pass it to the authors to correct them.

A good publishing supervisor should possess a couple of qualities. First of all they have to be able to make clear edits. They should be able to make changes that are understandable such that the writer may be capable to see them clearly. The edits should be written where they may be visible so that the writer might be capable to compare the original manuscript with the edited one and make all the necessary changes.

Secondly, they need to be problem solvers. Once the problem has been identified, they have to offer alternative solutions. Where mistakes have been made a clear way forward should be given so that the problem is addressed and the author is able to focus on other issues.

They should also possess creativity. They are required to view things according to the expert perspective in that they enter their world and see things as the writer does. This way, the publishing supervisor will be able to come up with new creative concepts that can be incorporated into the story to add that little spark to the story. They should also have the capabilities of putting the right words together to help add spice to the story.

Respect is another core value. At the work place, everyone needs to practice mutual respect and recognize that everyone has a unique role, which they need to play in order to ensure that business runs smoothly. The same applies here, where the editor should realize that their job is to revise, offer suggestions, and leave the rest to the writers, who are the only ones with the control of making any kind of alterations to the script.

They should also be good instructors. They are tasked with the duty of helping a writer become better at delivering their work. They have to try as much as possible to steer this writer in the correct path by informing them what needs to be done. This way the author will avoid repeating similar mistakes in future. They have to also be able to provide market sense for the book. They need to know what the market demands are and advice the writers accordingly.

Writing is a two way thing and it requires equal efforts from both parties that is the publishing supervisor and the author. Therefore, the writer should also try to create an atmosphere where they can both work together to produce quality results. They ought to be open minded and accept corrections.




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