Inkslinger Editing LLC
Catherine Adams
Independent Developmental Editor & Book Mentor
Developing Long Fiction
I develop book-length, completed fiction manuscripts by intensively engaging the novel at the levels of structure and of prose.
Depending on the needs of the manuscript, I examine a book either through a Comprehensive Line Edit or through an Overall Analysis or, in some cases, both.
I tailor my advice to resolve issues specific to the manuscript before me. I treat every project as a fresh challenge while also bringing eight years of experience to bear on it. I see my job most simply as presenting options. This might include advice on the following issues:
- Making sure the pitch and the manuscript work as a team
- Adjusting narrative point of view so that individual scenes are easier to follow and the manuscript is unified
- Shifting how nonfiction arguments open and develop
- Identifying a more exciting opening for a narrative and keeping the narrative engaging from beginning to end
- Compressing characters and managing their internal voice
- Changing passages of telling prose to showing prose
- Presenting theme through action
- Presenting character motivation and development more powerfully through action
- Reworking the ending
Comprehensive Line Edit
In Comprehensive Line Edits, I examine a manuscript's prose for clarity, meaning, and energy. Through the Track Changes function of Microsoft Word, I edit the manuscript line-by-line, making adjustments, additions, and deletions. Reorganization of material, if needed, is done.
The Comprehensive Line Edit offers far more, however, than mere prose adjustments and reorganization of material. Through margin comments, I explain the reasoning behind my changes and discuss problems that reappear in the text. I also identify areas that lack clarity or require further plot and character development, then discuss how to address these problems.
In addition to the line-by-line edit, I send a "Notes" document in which I discuss key issues at greater length. "Notes" are of indeterminate length--whatever it takes to help the author understand the problem and the solutions. Typically, these range between 7-15 pages.
Overall Analysis
Through the Overall Analysis, I examine a manuscript in terms of overall structure and the effective use of writing techniques. Depending on the specific problems exhibited by the manuscript, I might discuss: narrative point of view, correlative narrative, internal voice, building reader identification with characters, or developing lines of tension, among other things.
The Overall Analysis might be anywhere from 10-50+ pages, depending on the needs of the book. In a shorter analysis, I focus on the two or three structural issues most critical in revision. In a longer analysis, I discuss the manuscript chapter-by-chapter.
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