Focus

The Stylistic Edit delves into how the story is working on the page. Here, we look at general story flow. Are emotionally impactful moments “in scene”? How are transitions handled? Is the writing clear and understandable? Often what’s obvious to the author isn’t obvious to the reader who prefers to read what’s on the page rather than use telepathy to read the author’s mind.

The Stylistic Edit hones the story at the sentence level, considering readability. For example, the types of vocabulary and prose used in a story for 10-year-olds would be out of place in a story intended for adult readers.

Sample Stylistic Edit

Editor M. K. Martin (that’s me) makes suggestions (in red).

Author Diana Lorenz leaves in-text comments to clarify why she is not accepting my suggestions.

Note: I was born and raised in the USA and as such I have certain expectations about public transport. Diana was born and raised in Germany and has different expectations. As the story is set in Germany, Diana’s decision to not accept my suggestion was the correct one. I appreciated Diana taking the time to explain why and learned something new (to me anyway) about the German public transportation system.

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Editor role:

• Reread the entire story
• Provide the author an edited copy
• Note what the author is doing well
• Note opportunities to improve with suggestions/clarifications as appropriate

Author Role:

• Read editor’s feedback
• Ask for clarification as needed
• Accept compliments (difficult for most authors due to imposter syndrome)
• Decide which suggested revisions will benefit the story and which will not
• Implement helpful suggestions