I believe one of my greatest strengths as an editor is my ability to track details throughout a manuscript. The key to this is keeping a style sheet, which can really be seen as organized notes. I have a template that’s taken me years to shape, and I continue to tweak it all the time as I grow as an editor.
My style sheet has various sections I build out as I’m working, and the character section typically ends up being the largest. Here’s a brief overview of how I fill it out.
I begin by having an alphabetical list of every character in the manuscript. No matter how minor they are, they’re included. Next to each character is a list of details pertaining to them. These are primarily physical characteristics but can certainly extend to nonphysical ones. The longer you’ve been an editor the easier it gets to know what should be tracked, but a good rule of thumb to begin with is to track anything that can potentially be contradicted later on.
For example, I make note of any nicknames a character has, their position or title, if they’re related to any other characters in the story, their age, their physical appearance (both bodily and what they wear), what weapons they carry (as is common in the fantasy manuscripts I often work on), significant scenes they are in, their ultimate fate (this is particularly useful for potential sequels), etc.
Noting all these details and more obviously takes a lot of time, but it’s crucial for maintaining consistency. Something as small as a character’s eye color shouldn’t change throughout a manuscript (there are eagle-eyed readers out there who will notice), and keeping notes like this helps you to easily look up something as opposed to searching back through text you’ve already worked on in an attempt to find your answer.
Handing over a detailed style sheet along with an edited manuscript also impresses clients. It shows you really went the extra mile for them, and I’m positive this has led to me getting hired again.
If you’re an author looking for an editor to check even the smallest details for you, I’d love to chat. I’m typically booked a few months in advance, but I’d be happy to start a conversation now so we can figure out how we can work together. Feel free to reach out today for a free sample edit.
Timothy