Alexandra Darteyn

Young Adult fantasy author. Champion of stories as equipment for living - how story enriches the human experience.

Archives for August 2021

Magic Systems Part 3 – Dementors & the Patronus in ‘Harry Potter’

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The dementors and the patronus charm are examples of firm and soft elements working in combination to create the hybrid magic system of J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series.

Dementors & The Patronus Charm

Rowling’s use of magic throughout the first half of the Harry Potter series creates a pattern: firm magic creates conflict, and soft magic resolves it. An example of Rowling’s firm and soft magic working in combination to create and solve problems are the dementors and the patronus charm in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’.

The Firm Magic of Dementors

Dementors are firm magic and not hard because their effects are emotion-based, consistent, and predictable – cold, lack of happiness, despair, risk of the ‘kiss’. Rowling keeps the consequences of a dementor attack and their attraction to enjoyment steady throughout the series and applies them equally to all characters. At the beginning of ‘Order of the Phoenix’ dementor attacks are effective against both wizards like Harry and Muggles like his cousin Dudley. In ‘Deathly Hallows’, Umbridge uses dementors to intimidate Muggle-borns.

Rowling raises the stakes and creates more narrative tension by making Harry more vulnerable than anyone else to the dementors. Harry is the only person on the Hogwarts Express to lose consciousness when dementors search the train for Sirius Black. As Professor Lupin explains in the film version, Harry is more vulnerable to dementor attacks because there are ‘real horrors in his past’. Unlike the other students, Harry experiences debilitating flashbacks in the presence of dementors – he hears his mother pleading for his life then screaming moments before Voldemort kills her when he was a baby.

Rowling’s connection between trauma and being susceptible to dementor attacks is a clever way to use the magic system to underscore Harry’s character arc (more on this in a future post).

Dementors are firm magic – their effects are consistent and predictable

The Soft Magic of the Patronus

Rowling’s counterbalance to the depression and despair of the dementors is the patronus charm – a spell that creates silvery light that repels dementors. It’s softer magic than the dementors because although a patronus is also emotion-based magic, the results are not consistent or reliable like the dementors. As Harry struggles to learn it, his patronus develops in shape – first a whisp, then a shield version, and finally the corporeal form of a stag.

Rowling links the strength and form of the patronus to the magic user’s willpower and emotional state. This works brilliantly in terms of Harry’s character arc, but creates problems in the magic system. If he manages to pronounce the entire incantation without passing out, sometimes Harry’s thoughts are happy enough to create a patronus, and sometimes they aren’t. This allows Rowling to effectively control Harry’s patronus and time its strength to conform with her story beats.

In the book Harry doesn’t produce a stag patronus until the climax, when he, Sirius, and Hermione are being attacked by a hundred dementors and Sirius and Hermione have been overcome. It’s perfect heroic timing in terms of plot and Harry’s character arc, but there is a whiff of plot convenience.

Rowling also applies the dementors’ attraction to happiness and the varying result of the patronus to her villains. In ‘Deathly Hallows’ Umbridge’s cat patronus – powered by her self-righteous delight – glows brightly to protect her from the dementors which are attracted to her smug satisfaction while interrogating Muggle-borns.

The patronus charm is soft magic – Harry’s success at casting his patronus is determined by Rowling for plot convenience

Hermione Shortchanged

By linking the patronus to the magic user’s emotional state, Rowling externalizes Harry’s character arc with a beautiful visual element that is narratively effective. But the softness of patronus magic also allows Rowling to shortchange Hermione.

If Rowing treated the patronus as firmer magic, consistently corresponding with the magic user’s willpower, positive thinking, and an incantation (there is no specific wand movement), then it would be Hermione – not Harry – who would have the strongest, most reliable patronus in the series. Rowling has shown us that Hermione is the best in her year at spellwork, and doesn’t lack willpower, determination, or focus in stressful circumstances.

But Rowling handicaps Hermione’s ability to maintain the patronus as Harry’s signature hero move. Hermione doesn’t have any trouble with the patronus charm once she learns it from Harry in ‘Order of the Phoenix’, but Rowling saddles her with a weak patronus during the ministry break-in in ‘Deathly Hallows’. Harry even mentions that ‘…it’s the only spell she [Hermione] ever has trouble with’.

The film adaptations sidestep this problem and allow Harry to occupy the patronus spotlight by simply not having Hermione attempt to cast a patronus at any point in the series except during DA classes in ‘Order of the Phoenix.’

Rowling handicaps Hermione’s ability in the books in order to keep the patronus as Harry’s signature hero move

Ron & the Horcrux Locket

Rowling applies the anxiety-ridden effects of the Horcrux locket to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This equal application keeps the Horcrux magic consistent and predictable, making it firmer magic than the patronus and similar to the effects of the dementors.

In ‘Deathly Hallows’ Rowling makes a smart choice by having the Horcrux locket and the isolation of the trio’s aimless wanderings affect Ron more strongly than Harry or Hermione. Ron is ill-tempered and emotionally volatile while wearing the Horcrux locket, and this is consistent and believable with his established character. Unlike Harry who was regularly ignored by the Dursleys and grew up without any friends, and Hermione who is an only-child, Ron was raised in a large, supportive family and already has confidence issues. It makes sense that the Horcrux locket would cause him the most anxiety and self-doubt.

Rowling uses the Horcrux locket and Ron’s logical aversion to it to power his character arc, which concludes with Ron destroying the locket after it taunts him about his insecurities.

Destroying the locket is the climax of Ron’s character arc

The Patronus Hole in the Magic System

In ‘Deathly Hallows’ the softness of patronus magic creates a hole in the magic system. Harry is unable to produce any sort of patronus due to anxiety while he’s wearing the Horcrux locket. While the concept is believable, the magnitude is not. Harry can’t produce any form of patronus – not even a whisp – ostensibly because he’s anxious due to the Horcrux locket, hungry, and faced with a handful of dementors. This doesn’t square with Harry’s impressive stag patronus when battling a hundred dementors in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’.

Hermione’s handicap and Harry not being able to produce any patronus at all due to anxiety are two examples of how Rowling prioritizes story above the magic system. This tradeoff is less noticeable when applied to soft, emotion-based magic rather than hard, logic-based magic as in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender‘.

Harry’s ability to produce a stag patronus is the climactic act of ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’

Conclusion: It’s So Effective I Don’t Mind the Glitches

I’ve picked apart Rowling’s use of soft patronus magic and spotted some inconsistencies, but in the end I’m not bothered by foibles in her magic system. The concept of the dementors and the patronus, and Rowling’s use of them in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ – both in the plot and in Harry’s character arc – are so inventive and meaningful that the snags don’t pull me out of the story or lessen the emotional impact. Rowling prioritizes character development and telling a satisfying story above creating a magic system without any holes. I think she made the right choice.

Additional Posts in This Series

Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ – the characteristics of a hard magic system.

Part 2 – ‘Magic User Spectrum of ‘Harry Potter” – the differences between firm, flexible, and soft magic users.

Part 4 – ‘Magical Conflict in ‘Harry Potter” – how and why Rowling uses firm and soft magical elements to create and resolve conflict throughout the series.

Part 5 – ‘The Thematic Magic of ‘Lord of the Rings’ – how Tolkien uses soft magic to convey theme.

What do you think of the magic in Harry Potter? Tell me in the comments!

Magic Systems Part 2 – Magic User Spectrum in ‘Harry Potter’

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The magic system in the J.K. Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ series is firm, which places it in the middle of the magic system spectrum in fantasy fiction. The magic in ‘Harry Potter’ has more structure than the soft magic of ‘Lord of the Rings’, but is not as organized as the hard magic in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender‘.

The Misleading Promise of a Hard Magic System

Because author J.K. Rowling presents rules that govern the use of magic in her Harry Potter series within the text of her books, she creates an expectation for a hard magic system with logical extensions similar to ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’. But we don’t get consistent magic in the Harry Potter series. Rowling tosses her own rules – and even logic sometimes – out the window on a regular basis. So readers who expect hard, predictable magic from Rowling are understandably frustrated.

Rowling’s Hybrid Magic System

If we excuse Rowling for creating a false expectation for hard magic, the magic of Harry Potter turns out to be a hybrid system – it contains firm and soft elements working in combination.

The hardest aspect of Rowling’s magic system are the following 3 rules, which function more like guidelines.

Magic Guidelines

  1. Genetics – the ability to perform magic is an inborn attribute (you are either born a wizard with innate magical powers, or a Muggle or a squib without magical powers)
  2. Wands – magic performed with a wand is stronger and more focused than magic without a wand
  3. Limitations – controlling magic requires years of experience and formal training which includes learning a formal incantation and proper wand movement
Wands and Harry having less magical education and experience than the other champions play key roles in ‘Goblet of Fire’

The Magic Spectrum within the Harry Potter Magic System

But Rowling doesn’t apply her guidelines equally to all characters, and the soft aspects of her magic transcend the Wand and Limitation guidelines. This creates a spectrum of firm to soft magic loosely based on magical skill.

Firm Magic Users

On the firm end of the spectrum, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the other Hogwarts students follow Rowling’s guidelines the most closely since they are students and novice magic users. Firm magic performed by inexperienced beginners requires a ward, proper wand movement, and a learned incantation.

For novices the levitation charm requires an spoken incantation and specific wand movement

Limitations are essential to Rowling’s firmer magic because they prevent Harry from becoming too powerful too quickly. Uncontrolled power escalation would rob the story of narrative tension and drive it to a conclusion too soon, so Rowling carefully controls and builds Harry’s magical ability from book to book. Part of what makes the Potter series so satisfying is that the learning curve is gentle – we learn magic and discover the wizarding world right alongside Harry, starting from square one.

Adult wizards like Mr. and Mrs. Weasley perform more advanced magic, but their magic is still fairly consistent with the guidelines. (e.g. Mrs. Weasley produces creamy white sauce from the tip of her wand, and her and Fleur enchant kitchen utensils to help them prepare food)

Young wizards who have just come of age like Fred and George Weasley are less adept than experienced adults like Mrs. Weasley. In ‘Order of the Phoenix’ the twins enchant a breadboard and knife to fly across the kitchen of Grimmauld Place but with less than perfect control, sending the knife quivering into kitchen tabletop close to Sirius’s hand.

Flexible Magic Users

Hogwarts professors like Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Slughorn are more highly trained and experienced magic users, so their magic falls in the middle of the spectrum. The professors are capable of non-verbal magic and advanced spellwork beyond the ability of the students. (e.g. only potion masters like Slughorn and Snape are capable of brewing the tricky Felix Felicis potion) But the professors still require a wand and have limitations. (e.g. Professor McGonagall is an animagus – an advanced magical ability – and undoubtedly powerful, but she doesn’t perform wildly inventive, wandless, or unique magic like Dumbledore.)

Severus Snape is an advanced magic user and falls on the spectrum between the other Hogwarts professors and expert users like Dumbledore. Snape can invent spells, is an even more accomplished potions master than the author of the potions textbook, and an expert dueller who teaches Harry the disarming spell. In ‘Deathly Hallows’, Snape is able to find Harry in the middle of a remote forest despite Hermione’s protective charms (a feat Ron can only accomplish with Dumbledore’s deluminator), and casts his doe patronus to guide Harry to the pool without betraying his presence or leaving footprints in the snow. The limitations of Snape’s magic (including legilimency) aren’t clear, so his magic is softer and less defined than that of the other professors.

Snape is an advanced magic user who can invent spells

Soft Magic Users

Dumbledore, Voldemort, (and occasionally Harry, and Lily Potter in a one-off) all perform magic that break the guidelines completely, which lands them on the soft end of the spectrum.

Dumbledore performs impossible magic without a wand when he disapparates from inside Hogwarts by clasping onto Fawkes’s tailfeathers in ‘Order of the Phoenix.’ He also is capable of sensing traces left behind by magic using only his hands, and can even recognize Voldemort’s signature style in the cave by the sea in ‘Half Blood Prince’.

Dumbledore is an expert user who can perform impossible magic without a wand

Voldemort flies without broom or thestral, and both he and Dumbledore cast improvised magic when duelling in the Ministry of Magic in ‘Order of the Phoenix’.

Harry uses soft magic – given to him by his mother – when he burns Quirrell with his bare hands without using his wand or a spell.

Harry uses soft magic to escape Quirrell

Since Harry has a lot of heavy lifting to do narratively and thematically as the protagonist, Rowling places him on both ends of the spectrum simultaneously. Harry starts the story learning firm magic at Hogwarts with all the other students, but unknowingly has a lot of soft magic bestowed upon him by his mother (the protection in his blood and skin), and courtesy of Voldemort (mind connection via his scar and being an unintended Horcrux).

Harry isn’t aware of his soft magical abilities until Dumbledore explains them afterwards. This enables Rowling to keep readers engaged book after book because she reveals more and more unexpected aspects of Harry’s soft magic as the series progresses.

Voldemort uses soft unpredictable magic whose limits are unknown

Sustaining Narrative Tension

In general, Rowling uses firm magic to create narrative tension in the form of problems and conflict for Harry to establish stakes. The dementors, the basilisk, Horcruxes, and the unbeatable Elder Wand are all real dangers that threaten Harry’s survival. She then deploys soft, more imaginative and unpredictable magic to resolve those problems at the climax of each book.

This approach gives Rowling an edge plot-wise because it increases her ability to delight readers with mystery and surprise. Most of us can predict that Aang will use some version of spirit bending magic during the climax of ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ because the magic system is hard and consequently fairly predictable. We know that Aang isn’t going to develop a brand new, never-seen-before magical skill right before he confronts the firelord Ozai.

But we start reading ‘Deathly Hollows’ with no idea of how Harry is going to find or overcome Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Horcruxes are a firm aspect of Rowling’s magic – Harry learns how they are made, their function, and that they can’t be destroyed with ordinary magic. Rowling teaches us firm rules about Horcruxes so she can highlight the impossible odds Harry is up against. And Harry must face Voldemort – who is armed with the unbeatable Elder Wand – alone, without Dumbledore, his wisest and most powerful mentor and protector. These high stakes increase narrative tension because readers can’t predict how Harry will triumph over such a powerful adversary.

Horcruxes are firm magic because Harry discovers how they are made, their purpose, and how to destroy them

Conclusion: Not All Magic Users are Created Equal

Rowling wisely grants only her most narratively important characters – Voldemort, Dumbledore and Harry – with soft magical powers. Having powers that are more mysterious, powerful, and not subject to any known limitation distinguishes her hero (Harry), mentor (Dumbledore) and antagonist (Voldemort) from the rest of the cast as uniquely powerful. It also allows Rowling to gradually reveal Harry’s, Dumbledore’s, and Voldemort’s backstories which are rich in mysterious soft magic to create and sustain reader intrigue.

More Posts In This Series

Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ – the characteristics of a hard magic system.

Part 3 – ‘Dementors and the Patronus in ‘Harry Potter” – how Rowling uses firm and soft magical elements in combination.

Part 4 – ‘Magical Conflict in ‘Harry Potter”- how and why Rowling uses firm and soft magic to create and resolve conflict throughout the series.

Part 5 – ‘The Thematic Magic of ‘Lord of the Rings’ – how Tolkien uses soft magic to convey theme.

What do you think of how Rowling uses magic? Tell me in the comments!

Magic Systems Part 1 – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

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The Magic System Spectrum

What sets fantasy apart from all stories is magic.

I discovered that magic systems in fantasy fiction fall on a spectrum from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’.

This blog post series is a deep-dive into the hard magic of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the firm magic of the Harry Potter series, the soft magic of Lord of the Rings.

We’ll look at what qualities of a magic system determine where it lies on the spectrum, and how authors use each type of magic to enhance their storytelling.

Hard Magic Systems

Hard magic systems feature strict rules and function like a science. They are the easiest to codify thanks to their clearly defined scope, consequences, limitations, and costs that govern what magic can and can’t do within the storyworld.

Hard Magic in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

In Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko’s animated television series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, the magic system is the telekinetic manipulation – called ‘bending’ – of the four elements of earth, wind, water, and fire.

The rules of bending are straightforward:

  1. Except for the avatar, benders can only manipulate one of the four elements.
  2. The ability to bend is innate (e.g. Katara was born a waterbender but her brother Soka was not), and determined by which nation a character is born into. (e.g. all waterbenders are born into a Water Tribe)
  3. Bending is a skill acquired through study and discipline.
  4. Bending is achieved through physical movements and gestures based on Chinese martial arts, and each element requires a different style of movement.

In ‘Avatar’, bending is a hard magic system because use of the magic largely conforms to the four pre-established rules above.

‘Avatar’ uses a hard magic system based on the elements

Because bending is so central to the story, ‘Avatar’s’ writers know the audience needs to understand the basics of how magic works in the storyworld in order to make sense of narrative and understand the characters. So each episode begins with a prologue that introduces the elemental magic system, and explains the extra bending abilities of the avatar whose purpose is to restore balance. The prologue also establishes the stakes: the avatar has disappeared and the storyworld has fallen out of balance with the powerful Fire Nation attacking other nations.

Bend But Don’t Break

‘Avatar’ pushes the boundaries of its hard magic system, but it doesn’t break its own rules. Bending isn’t mysterious or full of major twists in terms of how the magic works.

Occasionally there is a new bending style or extension about what the bending magic is capable of. But these new add-ons are logical and grounded in the magic that has come before. (e.g. Aang’s avatar state and ability to spirit bend, the extension of firebending to lightning, waterbending to bloodbending, and earthbending to lavabending).

The writers make the extensions of the magic system credible by mostly following their own pre-existing rules, and providing foreshadowing that appears organically within the plot.

The avatar state and Aang’s ability to spirit bend is an extension of the magic system

Harder Magic in ‘Mistborn’

Because the rules that control magic in Brandon Sanderson’s ‘Mistborn’ series are more strict and prescriptive than ‘Avatar’, ‘Mistborn’s’ magic is harder.

In Mistborn, telekinesis magic only works on objects the character would be able to physically lift themselves.

But there isn’t an unbreakable, scientifically-determined limit on the amount of an element that a bender can move in ‘Avatar’. Benders are limited in the amount of an element they can bend, but this limitation comes from the softer aspects of the magic system (i.e. an individual bender’s skill level and confidence).

Mistborn’s magic system can be codified into a table of metals

Very Hard Magic in ‘FullMetal Alchemist’

The magic in Hiromu Arakawa’s Japanese magna series ‘Fullmetal Alchemist: The Brotherhood’ is harder than both ‘Avatar’ and ‘Mistborn’ because the rules are so precise they create a formula.

Arakawa’s magic system of alchemy is governed by the laws of equivalent exchange: “It is impossible to create something out of the nothing. If one wishes to obtain, then something of equal value must be given.”

We see a character in ‘Fullmetal’ assemble a radio from a pile of pieces with magic, but all the pieces were there to begin with – none where created out of thin air. But a firebender can conjure fire out of thin air, making ‘Avatar’s magic softer than ‘Fullmetal’s’.

‘Fullmetal’ uses an alchemical magic system

Storytelling with Hard Magic Systems

Hard magic systems require the highest level of internal consistency from writers. They also impose limits on a writer’s storytelling options since there are more rules to consider when using the magic narratively.

Because the rules of a hard magic system are so specific to the narrative, writers need clearly explain the rules to audiences so they can follow the story without confusion. Hence the explanatory prologue that appears before every episode of both ‘Avatar’ and ‘Fullmetal’.

But since hard magic is explained so thoroughly for plot purposes, it’s more difficult for writers to maintain their magic’s appeal of mystery and surprise.

With a very hard magic system like ‘Fullmetal’, audiences know – and even can reliably predict – what the characters can and can’t do with a hard magic system in any given circumstance. This makes it more difficult for writers to pull off genuine surprises and twists without breaking their own rules.

A common way writers stay a step ahead of their audiences is by withholding crucial information about the magic system from their characters, and thus from the audience. But the harder the magic system is, the more predictable it is. Therefore the more difficult withholding information without breaking the rules becomes.

‘Avatar’ For The Win

The writers of ‘Avatar’ address this issue by focusing the narrative on the character arcs of Aang and especially Prince Zuko, not on the capabilities of the magic system. DiMartino and Konietzko excel at balancing character development with their magic system, and the result is that bending is superbly integrated into the character arcs of ‘Avatar’s’ well-designed cast.

This smart approach takes the burden of keeping the plot moving forward off the magic system. It also keeps the audience – which may lose interest once they can predict how magic will be used in the story’s climax – engaged with ‘Avatar’s’ emotionally compelling characters.

Prince Zuko completes a redemption character arc

‘Dune’ – fantasy’s cousin

Hard magic systems can form a bridge from fantasy to science fiction, and the lines between the two genres can be blurred.

Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’ is classified as science fiction, but the enhanced abilities produced in humans by ‘the spice’ are magical. The complex ecosystem ‘the spice’ creates on Arrakis is the core of Herbert’s geopolitical worldbuilding, another trait that fantasy shares with science fiction, and one that is closely related to magic systems.

The effects of ‘the spice’ in ‘Dune’ are magical

Pros and Cons of Writing with Hard Magic

How effectively a writer uses magic – no matter how hard or soft – to tell their story varies widely, and isn’t dictated by where the magic falls on the spectrum.

Compelling stories can be told with magic that falls on any part of the spectrum

Writers of hard magic systems have the advantage of relatively predictable and stable magic that slots easily into character design and worldbuilding. (e.g. the four nations of ‘Avatar’ are sorted by the four elements) But writers of hard magic also have a more difficult challenge keeping their magic fresh and engaging.

More Posts In This Series

Part 2 – ‘Magic User Spectrum of ‘Harry Potter” – the differences between firm, flexible, and soft magic users.

Part 3 – ‘Dementors and the Patronus in ‘Harry Potter” – how Rowling uses firm and soft magical elements in combination.

Part 4 – ‘Magical Conflict in ‘Harry Potter’ – how and why Rowling uses firm and soft magic to create and resolve conflict throughout the series.

Part 5 – ‘The Thematic Magic of ‘Lord of the Rings’ – how Tolkien uses soft magic to convey theme.

Which do you enjoy reading more – soft or hard magic systems? Tell me why in the comments!

How to Choose a Good Freelance Editor

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Whether you are a self-published indie author or preparing to query agents and pursue traditional publication, hiring a good freelance editor is a worthwhile investment in yourself as an author.

Not all editors are created equal – you need a GOOD one

Why You Need an Editor

Editor Jessica Hatch, said it this way: “… literary agents and indie readers alike have stated and demonstrated their tastes for polished, professional-level content… so whether you want to get an agent or enjoy a solid indie fan base that reliably gives your books five stars and preorders new ones, you need to edit your manuscript.”

How to Find a Good Editor

Editors vary widely in the type of writing they work on, the scope of services they provide, and how much they charge.

I spent months researching how to find and hire a freelance editor to provide developmental editing for the first book in my YA fantasy series, and here is what I learned about finding a good one:

Tip #1 – Start Looking Early

A lot of people have been writing during the pandemic, so freelance editors are extremely busy these days. Experienced editors are booked up to 3 months in advance, so it could be more than 4 months from the time you start looking for an editor until you actually get some feedback.

I reviewed over 100 editor profiles on the Editorial Freelancers Association website, studied the websites of the top dozen, and had consultation calls with 6.

Out of 100 potential editors, I ended up with a short-list of 3, and they were all booked 3 or more months in advance.

Start looking for an editor at least 4 months in advance

Tip #2 – Find a Real Professional

Anyone with a Venmo account and a website can call themselves an editor, but you need someone who knows what they’re doing AND has real industry experience. You’re not a hack author if you are willing to invest an in editor, so you don’t want to end up with a hack editor whose simply learning what they should already know how to do on your dime.

My primary resource was the Editorial Freelancers Association website where editors post bios of themselves and the editing services they provide. You can search their extensive online directory of editors for free and filter by all sorts of criteria. (I sorted by genre and the type of editing I needed – see Tip #3 below). You can also post your particular editing job on a jobs board.

Reedsy is another online resource you can use to find editors, but they charge a percentage of the money you end up paying the editor.

Ask your writing network for recommendations – word of mouth is still the best. If you’re like me and don’t have a large writing network yet, then use online resources to get yourself started.

Anyone can claim to be an expert editor – few are truly pros

Tip #3 – Know What Type of Editing You Want

There are different types of editing services available depending on which stage of the writing process you are at, and not all editors provide all types of editing services.

This is a good thing because you want a specialist who knows the conventions and what is expected in your particular area of writing at the specific stage you’re at with your work.

Manuscript Development (aka Developmental Editing)

If you’re like me and have outlines, summaries, character arcs, and other developmental materials but not a complete manuscript, and want a professional opinion about whether or not the blueprints for your work will result in a proper, coherent story once executed on the page, then you are looking for ‘developmental editing’.

Not many editors do this high-level type of work, and even fewer will accept a partial manuscript and outlines for review. This type of editing is usually collaborative, takes place over a time period of months, involves multiple meetings, and is geared towards helping you as the author finish a first draft of your manuscript.

Manuscript Review/Reader Report

An editor will read your manuscript (either full or partial) and provide a short report on their response as a reader, the story’s strengths, weaknesses, and if they think it’s ready to submit to agents.

Substantive Editing

After you have a first draft of a manuscript, the editor will review the fundamental elements of plot, theme, character arc, and structure to make sure your story makes sense to readers other than you.

This is key because as the author you fill in the blanks in your own story automatically, but a reader only has what’s on the page to guide them. An editor can help ensure your story is actually readable by a person who isn’t already familiar with your story and doesn’t have all the knowledge that you have as the author.

Copy/Line Editing

This is what most people think of when they think ‘editing’. Copyediting is the line by line review to correct spelling, grammar, consistency, proper citation, chronology, etc.

You may think you’re good at catching your own mistakes, but a second pair of professional eyes will certainly see things that you missed.

This type of editing is the primary value of an editor for self-published authors. For traditionally published authors, this service is usually provided by the in-house editorial staff of a publishing house, although it may outsourced to freelance editors.

Proofreading

This is the final polish before a work goes to print. It includes the final round of spelling, punctuation, and grammar edits, as well as consistency of page design.

Editing services come in many different flavors – not all editors provide all flavors

Tip #4 – Find an Expert in Your Genre

Once you know what type of editing you need, the next step is to find an editor who specializes in your genre and who also reads widely in it.

You can get a sense of the editor’s taste by looking at their website and their favorite books. Make sure they have expertise in the area you’re looking for by reviewing their list of authors they have worked with in the past. (If an editor doesn’t have a list of past clients they can share, then move on… this means they don’t have sufficient experience.)

You want an editor who is an expert in your genre and up to date on all the current trends, especially if you are looking to traditionally publish.

Don’t take the editor’s word that they are a specialist; ask them what books they have read lately and which they thought of them. I had calls with editors who claimed to be YA fantasy specialists on their websites, and yet when pressed, admitted that they had not read some of the genre’s best-selling books – they had seen the mini-series and called it a day.

You want an editor who is as excited about your work as you are. If they don’t sound enthusiastic about your or your project, then find someone else… really. Writing is hard work and editors often double as writing coaches – they can provide vital guidance and encouragement, which is especially valuable for first-time authors.

Even experienced authors know they need a second pair of eyes

Tip#5 – Prepare a Budget

Most editors will list their rates on their websites, offer you a free 10 minute consult call to discuss their availability and see if you and your work are a good match for them, and provide an estimate based on either your project and/or their hourly rate(s).

Most hourly rates charged by the editors I contacted fell within the median range posted by EFA, but several were higher. I recommend using the EFA median rates as a minimum when preparing your budget.

I chose editors with substantial industry experience, who were currently working with traditionally published authors, who had edited books in my genre before, and could talk shop about the most recent trends and books in my genre, YA fantasy. This criteria narrowed the field very quickly.

I got quotes from 6 editors and their hourly rates ranged from $60 to $95 per hour for developmental/substantive editing of fiction, which is higher than EFA’s median rate.

For a 100,000 word fiction novel, budget at least $1,000 for an experienced editor to provide 10-15 pages of developmental or substantive editing feedback.

Some editors may offer a preview of their work (e.g. 1 – 2 pages of high-level feedback) at their hourly rates if you want to get a sense of their work before signing up for a bigger commitment.

Some editors offer a sliding scale or may agree to work within your set budget – just ask!

Tip#6 – Keep Writing While You Wait

Be prepared to sign a contract and pay a deposit to hold your place on your editor’s calendar.

Once you’re on your editor’s schedule, they will provide a submission due date by which time you need to send them all the materials you want them to review. The submission deadline is usually when the editor will begin their work on your project, and they usually give themselves at least a month to review and write up their feedback.

For a full manuscript review or developmental editing, you may have to wait up to 3 months after you hire an editor until the submission deadline. Then you will wait 1 month more while the editor does their work.

Keep writing, revising, and self-editing full-blast in the meantime… don’t wait around for your editor to become available.

If you don’t have a full manuscript yet, then keep writing full-speed. All the editors I contacted said they wanted to read as much of my manuscript as possible, so I kept writing during the 3 months I waited for my submission deadline.

If you already have a complete manuscript, then review, revise, and self-edit it while you wait. To make the most of your editor’s time (and the money you’re paying them), submit the most polished manuscript and materials you possibly can. Your editor will be grateful for the extra effort on your part, and it will free up their time to focus on things that you weren’t able to see or solve on your own.

If your partial manuscript increases substantially in word count (as mine did), then contact your editor in advance of your submission deadline and ask them to adjust their estimate to accommodate reading your longer manuscript. Most editors will estimate the time it will take them to read the additional word count, apply their standard hourly rate, and add it to your original quote.

Keep writing while you wait for your editor to provide feedback

Good luck and keep writing!

Let me know your editing experiences and advice in the comments below.