A work of narrative prose intended for an audience of readers goes through a process of increased refinement. As the work is polished, it will require matching editorial analysis and emphasis that begins with broad-stroke structural review in the early drafts to ever-increasing, detailed inspection and dissection, down to the sentence level, later in the process. Folks easily confuse these steps and what they emphasize. Let's clear that up.
These steps are listed in order of precedence: Developmental Editing is tackled first, then Line Editing, and then Copy Editing, all during the revision process. Finally, post-revision, the work undergoes Proofreading.
During the revision process
- Developmental Editing — big picture: the story from a structural perspective: character, plot, theme, and pacing.
- Line Editing — sentence level: style, tone, flow, word choice, language, voice.
- Copy Editing — nitty gritty: grammar, punctuation, consistency / clarity, fact-checking, typos.
After the revision process
- Proofreading — final checks: post-draft, copy-edit-like with a fine-toothed comb; a final sanity check of the manuscript before publication.
STEP 1: Developmental Editing — the big picture
The story from a big-picture, structural perspective: character, plot, theme, and pacing. This is the hardest and most important editorial procedure and where the most revision needs to focus initially.
A developmental editor reviews the story, chapter, or scene at the broad-strokes level looking at it from a structural perspective. Is the plot moving forward? Are character arcs arcing. Are the themes theming. Is the pacing the right fit for the intentions of the author and the publisher. Is the pacing consistent?
STEP 2: Line Editing — at the sentence level
Polishing the sentences. Do not line edit before the story structure has solidified. Until then, the prose may dramatically change or even be cut.
This phase of editing brings you closer to the prose. Line editing is an examination of style, tone, flow, word choice, language, voice. Bits of the grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc may be picked up as well, but they are not the emphasis.
STEP 3: Copy Editing — the nitty gritty
This is where you get nit-picky. Do not copy edit before the structure has solidified and the language at the sentence level has been smoothed out.
The copyediting process really focuses on each and every sentence being perfect. Line editing and copy editing are often lumped in together, but where line editing is the coarser comb, copy editing is fine-toothed. Copy editing is usually only performed on drafts closer to being finalized. This is the last editing step in the draft phase of the writing life cycle.
PRE-PUB STEP: Proofreading — the final check
The final check performed before publication.
Proofreading is colloquially lumped in with copy editing and line editing, but it is a different beast. A manuscript is only proofread after it is considered finalized—i.e., post-draft. A proofread is a deep analysis of the prose prior to handing the work to those performing layout and design in preparation for publication. They look for any final mistakes not caught by the previous waves of editing and ready the work for publication. Proofreaders will often be involved from final draft to accepted proof.
And there you have it. Note, you will likely go through the dev → line → copy edit phases multiple times as the author, then again if working with an agent, and then again with a publisher. In all cases, you should resolve developmental issues first before diving into the line edits and copy edits.
Cheers and good luck. —t
Published April 10, 2026 / Updated April 21, 2026
