Note #1: How Developmental Editors Can Protect Author Voice

This is for nonfiction authors dedicated to maintaining their authentic voice—and for editors committed to honoring and amplifying it.

Voice—both honing and encountering it—is one of the most rewarding aspects of writing and editing. The writer crafts their voice throughout countless drafts and the editor detects, examines, and enjoys their voice as an ideal reader would.

That is, if everything goes as planned.

Yet in my experience as a developmental editor, many authors fear they will lose their voice in the editing process.

“I worked so hard to sound like me. What if they erase that?”

And in actuality, this fear is rooted in some truths. I see several ways the editing process can threaten the integrity of a writer’s voice:

The editor’s perspective is clouded by market pressures and trends.

For editors hired by nonfiction writers, including memoirists, essayists, and academic writers, pitching to agents, magazines, journals, or presses can loom large in the revision process.

Editors may be strongly influenced by the spoken and unspoken demands from those channels, and while it is of course important to consider what these outlets are looking for, it is equally or perhaps more important for editors to protect an author’s unique voice as they hone their work. In The Book Proposal Book, Laura Portwood-Stacer addresses this very issue as she guides authors toward a successful pitch: “My blanket advice here is to write in a style that best conveys your personal voice so that it feels like you, personally, are showing up on the page.”

The author misunderstands the role of a developmental editor.

As an author, it can be easy to confuse the different types of editing out there and wonder if your work will be cut to pieces by an editor. Rather than put your vision on the chopping block, a developmental editor will work to clarify your voice and ensure that it is clear and consistent throughout the manuscript. While such work usually includes some line editing to scrutinize your diction and syntax at the sentence level, developmental editors work closely with authors to consider large picture aspects of the manuscript, including overall structure, clarity, flow, and message. The process is highly collaborative and always centers the author’s unique voice.

The editor doesn’t understand or appreciate the author’s voice.

All readers have their own experiences and preferences, and editors aren’t immune to bias. While a good developmental editor will find ways to let an author know where a text is dull or exuberant, if an editor hasn’t fully grasped what the author is aiming for, they might struggle to effectively collaborate with the author during the editing process. This is why it is so important to get on the same page early on.

The author’s voice is not always hitting the mark.

As to be expected, parts of the manuscript may be awkward, disjointed, or unclear. When faced with such prose, an editor may think the best idea is to winnow the text down or cut it all together.

However, doing so can take precious time more suited for a copyeditor later in the process and throw potentially workable prose into peril. It is a much better idea to use light-touch edits that open conversations between the author and editor.

So what should an author look for when seeking a developmental editor who will honor their voice? And what practices can developmental editors employ to do just that?

Begin with a strong, shared understanding of voice.

When an author and editor begin an edit with a focused meeting of the minds in terms of voice, the entire edit takes on an energized, positive tone. That’s because the author is given time and space to articulate why they wrote the book and what type of impact they want it to have. The way in which this discussion happens depends on the preferences of the author, and can include:

Voice snapshot

Either the writer or the editor can select an excerpt that best exemplifies the book’s essential voice. Both parties can then take some time to dissect the prose and identify what makes it distinct. From this analysis, they identify key components of voice that should appear consistently throughout the manuscript. In Developmental Editing, Scott Norton devotes an entire chapter to the importance of this work: “Our focus here is on the elements of voice, those qualities of style that define an author’s unique stance among the host of published writers.”

Author interview

Sometimes the author needs some prompting in order to really delve into the ideal voice of the book. A developmental editor can read over the book’s description or proposal and develop provocative questions that get the author talking during a meeting. I’ve done this many times in my practice—it is powerful and fun. Usually, a few minutes after the meeting concludes, my inbox dings with an email from the author in which they have included some new prose that contains the essence of their vision and a snapshot of their voice.

Discuss upfront how the edits will take place.

In order to ensure that the editing itself centers on voice-respecting practices, it is important to discuss expectations before diving in. This is where the two parties can decide if it is OK for the editor to omit or replace text at the sentence level if the writer would like deeper suggestions on establishing voice. This work will typically happen within smaller passages of the manuscript, as the author can use those suggestions to guide their own further edits.

The two parties should also agree on larger-scale edits: usually the author will prefer the editor flag problematic, out-of-place sections. From this point, the author can choose the course of action: revise the prose, move it to a new location to reframe, or cut it completely.

Don’t hesitate to connect during the editing process.

Both editors and writers can feel like once the manuscript has been exchanged, the process has begun and the editor must work quietly, alone. But often inspiration or questions bubble up via email in the meantime:

“I’m realizing my chapter 2 could be combined with chapter 3.”

Or

“As I edit the introduction, I’m getting the sense that you’re holding back in a certain area. What are your thoughts?”

In this way, short meetings can do wonders to cover new, exciting ground, not to mention save a lot of time, since the editor leaves these conversations with new insights in terms of the author’s intentions. And these intentions feed the book’s originality.

Tune in for next time, when I go deeper into author voice. Now that we’ve established how to protect voice, I will explore how editors can help authors establish a consistent voice throughout their prose.

Thanks for reading,

Natalie

Have questions on this post or want to chat about your manuscript? Reach out.

Books covered in this post

The Book Proposal Book A Guide for Scholarly Authors by Laura Portwood-Stacer (currently on sale!)

Developmental Editing, Second Edition A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers by Scott Norton

Upcoming dev. editing events

NW Editors Dev. Editing Happy Hour May 20 2025, 6:30pm PDT

Manuscript Works Workshop: How to Work with a Developmental Editor June 4, 2025 @ 12:00 pm PT (3:00 pm ET/7:00 pm UTC)

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