I honestly kind of enjoy developmental editing. Not as much as I enjoy line editing, where everything sitting there in front of me, ready to go, and the hard work–as I judge it–is already done.

Still, I enjoy watching my stories truly come together and take shape during my developmental editing process. I write first drafts without an outline, so developmental editing is critically important as well as intense, given the way I go about putting a book together.

I’m currently wrapping up developmental editing for a prequel of my Herezoth trilogy. And this is what I’ve focused on:

• CONTINUITY ISSUES. Unfortunately, I had to scrap a really fun new piece of magic and completely re-envision one particular scene because the new magic created continuity issues with my trilogy. It wouldn’t make sense, if characters knew this spell, that they wouldn’t have used it in the trilogy. So I had to get creative! And I’m happy with what I ended up with. I had some timeline continuity issues as well to address. But it’s all done now!
• PLOT HOLES. I had to fix a plot hole near the beginning of the book, because the way I had something happen forced my favorite of all my villains, Zalski Forzythe, to do something stupid and illogical. I couldn’t let that happen! Not to him! I thought I could explain his choice away as a twinge of conscience right after he starts really acting evil. But I realized, after getting some distance from the draft, that it just didn’t work at all and was, in fact, a gaping plot hole. So, once again, I reworked a couple of scenes. I had Zalski learn something critical at a different location, at a slightly later time, and in a different way than I’d originally written. This kept the story fully in tact while eliminating the plot hole of, “Why wouldn’t he just do X?” By the time he learns what I needed him to learn to keep the plot moving, his chance to do X has passed. Problem fully solved!
• FLESHING OUT SUBPLOTS. This is always key for me in developmental editing. Since I write a first draft “by the seat of my pants,” there are definitely subplots that I leave hanging or that needed to be introduced earlier in the draft–earlier in the story than when I realized this subplot would become a thing. So I do that to help pacing and cohesion.
• PACING. Pacing was an issue toward the back end of the novel. It needed more action and adventure going on at that point. Luckily, I realized I could resolve a subplot that needed resolution by . . . adding an action scene toward the back end of the novel, which also addressed the pacing issue there. What a twofer! Wins all around.

I had fun with my prequel, I won’t lie, but it is a daunting task to write a prequel that is a good and engaging story in its own merit and also makes sense in light of the stories already present.

I think I pulled it off. I’m also glad I won’t have to do it again, haha!

Books one and two of the Herezoth trilogy are currently available on Amazon. Learn more at www.herezothtrilogy.com