How to Prep Your Romance Novel for a Developmental Edit

So you've written your romance novel, and now it's ready for developmental editing...or at least, you think it is.

But how do you know that it's ready? Is there a list of things you have to check off first before you can start reaching out to editors?

Sadly, there is no agreed-upon list that every single editor uses, though it would make life easier for all of us. However, there are a few things that most editors will expect you to do prior to getting in touch with them about a developmental edit (all of which I expect my clients to do) and I've listed them below.

#1: Complete your romance novel

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but there is so much conflicting information out there about what a developmental edit is that I think it's worth making it plain that: developmental edits are only performed on finished manuscripts.

This means that, in general, all scenes and chapters should be complete. It's okay if you're not happy with all every scenes and chapters; just let your editor know which ones you really struggled with, so they can pay special attention to them as they're doing the edit.

But if your manuscript is riddled with half-finished scenes, or chapters full of notes but no actual narrative or dialogue, it's not quite ready for a developmental edit. You'd be better off with a book coach at this stage, someone who can coach you through finishing your story and give you guidance on any particularly tricky scenes or chapters.

The reason you need a finished manuscript for a developmental edit is that developmental editing focuses on assessing the pacing, character development, narrative arc, conflict, tropes, and flow of a manuscript, and it's really difficult to assess those things without a complete story.

For example, if you have unfinished scenes, or chapters with notes but no dialogue or narrative, your editor won't be able to measure a story's character development, because without those bits fleshed out, the editor can't get a true sense of a character's journey and whether it is missing any essential parts.

Think of editing like building a house. The developmental edit assesses the structure and foundation, making sure everything is solid and safe before the builders move on to adding walls and ceilings. You can't assess the foundation if there are still stones waiting to be placed or bricks waiting to be laid.

Rule #2: Format your romance novel

After you've finished your manuscript, go back through and format your chapter headings and, if necessary, sub-headings, to make it easier for your editor to scroll through and give feedback on each scene and chapter. If you're unsure where to end a certain chapter, or whether to split a specific chapter in two, notify your editor so they can include advice on that in their feedback.

And speaking of feedback: when developmental editors give feedback, they do so in both comments in the manuscript itself, and in a revision letter where they go into more detail about their feedback. Revision letters are usually organised by issue, i.e. a section for each issue that requires revision, and within those sections the editor will identify both chapters and page numbers in need of revision, so it's imperative that everything is formatted.

Rule #3: Read your romance novel

This is probably also a no-brainer, but it's worth repeating anyway: read your manuscript!

Before contacting developmental editors, take some time away from the manuscript—a few days or a week—then read it over and look for unclear or incomplete sentences, paragraphs, and scenes.

Our eyes can play tricks on us when we spend a long time looking at the same document, so you might not realize until you've had a break and are scrolling back through your writing that you didn't finish your main character's thought on pg. 246.

To make it even more likely that you'll catch these pesky mistakes, when you do this round of reading, do so in different format to the one you used to write your manuscript. Convert your manuscript to a PDF and download it on your Kindle, for example, or even print it out if you have access to a printer (or live near a local library that does). Then, go back through with fresh eyes to look for anything unfinished or unclear.

Rule #4: Spellcheck your romance novel

Developmental editors don't expect a manuscript free of spelling errors, but running your manuscript through a simple spell and grammar check in Microsoft Word or Google Docs means your editor can focus on your story, rather than all the red squiggly lines under misspelled words and names, double commas, and unformatted dialogue.

Spell and grammar checks only takes 20 or 30 minutes with the assistance of a program like Spellcheck, and doing one will save your editor a serious headache. I can't tell you how hard it is on the eyes when you're doing a developmental edit on a manuscript with lots and lots of errors; it distracts you from the story itself, and I often find the developmental edit therefore takes longer.

Rule #5: Convert your romance novel

When you send your manuscript to your developmental editor, it should be in an easily viewable format. Most editors have a preferred format they work with—mine is MS Word—and will let you know in advance that they'd like the manuscript in that format, so make sure your manuscript has been converted into that format at least a few days before it's due to the editor.

Why? The last thing you want to be doing at midnight the night before your edit is supposed to start is scrambling to convert your Scribner ePub into a PDF.

Tick off each of these five steps, and your manuscript will be ready for a developmental editor. And if you're looking for advice on finding the right editor for you, check out this post on how to find a romance editor.

Until next time, happy reading and writing!