Developmental editing

A developmental editor may guide an author (or group of authors) in conceiving the topic, planning the overall structure, and developing an outline—and may coach authors in their writing, chapter by chapter. This is true developmental editing, but not the most common way of working. An editor who creates significant amounts of content is no longer an editor but a contributing author or a ghostwriter. In a traditional publishing house, developmental editors work with an author to refine the manuscript. Many publishing houses today, however, do little developmental editing. Instead, they rely on agents to vet and submit manuscripts that are already in shape, reducing the work required in the developmental editing stage. ==Textbooks==

Textbooks represent one book genre in which developmental editors are involved from the beginning, and often serve as the book's project manager. Their role is fundamental in textbook publishing because it is often the publisher, not the author, who decides on the book's content, scope, and level. Thus, developmental editors are often on staff at scholastic publishing houses. In textbook publishing, the developmental editor may be responsible for creating the outline to guide the author's writing—and may also prepare short parts of text, such as legends, exercises, and supporting materials. Furthermore, the editor manages text length, edits the developing manuscript, and may instruct an artist regarding illustrations. ==Academic Research==

In academic research, career advancement and funding depend on the quantity and quality of published papers. However, many researchers lack formal training in research paper writing. They may benefit from substantive editing by a language professional, such as an academic writing instructor or authors' editor. When a manuscript requires major restructuring to align with genre expectations, developmental editing may be necessary, though professional and ethical considerations apply. Authors' editors, academic writing instructors, and translators may provide developmental editing alongside other support services, such as writing education, translation, and linguistic editing. When assisting novice researchers, language professionals focus on editorial—not authorial—duties, ensuring they do not engage in ghost writing if authorship is not intended. == Fiction ==

The tasks that developmental editors face in fiction are fairly different from those faced by editors working with nonfiction. Adam O'Connor Rodriguez, senior editor at Hawthorn books, splits the tasks of developmental fiction editing into three main parts: structure, narrative, and language. Structure is the container that holds the story, including its length, order, and pacing. Narrative is all of the story elements such as characters, major scenes, pacing, and other big picture elements. Language includes dialogue, physical description, sensory information, and sentence structure (O'Connor Rodriguez 2018).For example, an editor would take a finished manuscript and provide ideas for fixing plot holes, inconsistencies in characters, scenes that need more depth, and scenes that need to be cut. == References ==