The Catholic Writers Guild

Two weeks ago we finished our personal editing, searched for a professional editor and with price in mind sent our manuscript to be professionally edited. As a proficient writer we paid for developmental, line editing and proofreading. What now? What do we do when that manuscript comes back marked up and full of comments.

I know that the first time I received an edited manuscript I was both lost and confused. Not being trained, I didn’t know what to do. Since most publishers and editors require word documents, most editors work online and use Microsoft word editing marks and comments. You will see words in pink brackets with comments written in the right column. A line will connect the comment to the shaded section that needs correction.

As you go page by page you can make the simple corrections. If there is a comment or correction you don’t understand, don’t be afraid to contact the editor. This is a back and forth process. Once you have made your correction just left click on the comment and you will see the choice to delete the comment. Everyone does their edits differently but I make the simple corrections (Spelling, Grammar, and Sentence restructuring) first. It cleans up the manuscript.

Then I address the serious flaws. Your editor will usually send you an overall impression of the work. They may tell you to simplify or expand the work or give hard core suggestions to improve the plot or flow of the story. They may even make suggestions about characters or dialog. Take these suggestions seriously. You don’t need to make all the changes but you do need to sincerely consider them. Your editor is trying to improve your work – so a publisher will like it!

Once I have considered the editor’s overall impression, I keep the suggestions in mind as I go through the manuscript again. If I agree, I try to make those changes.

I then go back to deal with the longer and more complicated comments that the editor left. I find that once the simple corrections are made I can concentrate on the editor’s ideas and find that most of them have merit. I may not make the exact change that the editor suggested, but they have pointed out a problem and I do address it.

Most writers dislike edits. I love them! Instead of looking at a comment as a criticism, I look at the editor’s comment as a challenge – a puzzle to solve. Since I am a writer I love spinning words and creating scenes and dialog. Why not enjoy the editing? Naturally as artists we tend to be sensitive and temperamental. That attitude doesn’t work well. Get over yourself and plunge into your edits with joy and gusto. Pray for insight and inspiration to perfect your work. It never hurts to thank your editor for all the hard work they have done.

After addressing all of the edits, I do a spell and grammar check. After all, I touched the manuscript and probably made more than one typo or mistake. Here are some common editing marks and symbols that I copied from Webster – Merriam:

PROOFREADERS’ MARKS

Symbol	Meaning				Example
	delete
	close up
	delete and close up
	caret
	insert a space
	space evenly
	let stand
	transpose
	used to separate two or more marks and often as a concluding stroke at the end of an insertion
	set farther to the left
	set farther to the right
	set as ligature (such as )
	align horizontally
	align vertically
	broken character
	indent or insert em quad space
	begin a new paragraph
	spell out
	set in CAPITALS
	set in SMALL CAPITALS
	set in lowercase
	set in italic
	set in roman
	set in boldface
	hyphen				multi-colored
	en dash				1965–72
	em (or long) dash				Now—at last!—we know.
	superscript or superior
	subscript or inferior
	centered
	comma
	apostrophe
	period
	semicolon
	colon
	quotation marks
	parentheses
	brackets
	query to author: has this been set as intended?
	push down a work-up
	turn over an inverted letter
	wrong font