An Intro to Developmental Comic Editors
An Intro to Developmental Comic Editors
The first in a series about what these editors do and my personal experience.
Comic editors can literally do everything from project management to budgeting, pitching to sourcing creative teams, and more. If you are working for yourself like I am, you can pick and choose which aspects interest you most and line up with your skillset. I am all about story, so that’s what I focus on. But what does that mean? And what does it look like in practice? I’ll explain the aspects of this work in this series.
Ever needed a second set of eyes on a project? Developmental comic editors are the professional version. We are here to make sure your vision accurately makes it on the page and is digestible to the reader. You can be happy with your work, but if a reader can’t understand it, there’s a major issue. Most likely, your project is being made so readers can enjoy it. Not having their comprehension can create poor sales (if that’s what you’re after), bad reviews, and a overall sense of failure. Your editor does NOT want that for you.
I bring an understanding of the creative writing process to my work. I received my bachelor’s in English and master’s in Writing & Publishing from DePaul University and due to this, have been in a writer’s shoes many times. I know what it’s like to be critiqued in a room full of people who have your best interests at heart.
Sitting on both sides of the table is important to understand how your writer is feeling. Bringing empathy, honesty, kindness, and tact to the process is essential, and I strive to do that with every piece I review. As an editor, you are being trusted with someone’s brainchild, and you need to hold it carefully and nurture it so it grows up to become the best piece your writer is capable of. (In future articles, I’ll discuss what steps a developmental editor takes in order to do this.)
I’ve been working with about 10 writers on their pieces for a sci-fi anthology being rolled out to Kindle September - October 2022. I used the process I learned from taking comics writing courses from Comics Experience, an online comics school. It’s not easy to access the tools you need to learn how to be a comics writer, let alone editor, and this school is what helped me get my start. Scott Snyder, one of the greatest comic writers of our time, recommended it to me during one of his masterclasses. So if you’re curious about comics and want to develop your skills in a class setting with industry professionals, it’s the place for you.
I learned a lot about myself and my process being a co-editor on an anthology project. It was terrifying handling an entire anthology as a first-time editor. Everyone was looking to me to make decisions in the beginning, and it was super intimidating. This was not do to the people I was working with, but the imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is defined as thinking you are not as competent as you really are, and feeling like a fraud. Most times the worry of other people seeing you as a fraud is a fear as well. I have the greatest group of creatives as colleagues and friends, and they all go through this too. Once you are able to push through, which I did, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish!
In the coming weeks, we’ll get into what the process of editing and how my steps of developmental editing fit in.