Self-Editing School: 10 Things an Editor Looks for in a Structural Edit with JoEllen Nordstrom

Structural editing is the high-level work of making sure a manuscript is a complete, coherent story—before grammar, line-level style, or punctuation get attention. The core finding is that editors treat structural revision as a checklist of story “foundations” and measurable story-arc mechanics: a complete beginning-middle-end, a clear blurb that promises the right plot, consistent formatting, named scenes, and then deeper checks on characters, scene balance, and where key turning points land. Getting these elements right matters because plot holes, weak character purpose, or mistimed turning points can’t be fixed by proofreading; they require structural change.

The session frames structural editing as fundamentally different from line editing or copy editing. Instead of focusing on sentence correctness, structural editors evaluate the manuscript’s bigger perspective: whether the story arc is intact, whether characters and backstory serve the plot rather than bog it down, and whether the manuscript delivers on the promise made to readers. A structural edit typically starts only after the author has a full manuscript—editing a fragment isn’t useful because the editor needs the entire story to assess arc, conflict, and resolution.

Three “must-do” foundations sit at the front of the process. First, the manuscript must be complete: it needs a beginning, middle, and end, with conflict and resolution, and a protagonist present throughout the story’s core movement. Second, the author must write a blurb—short, spoiler-free, and functioning like a compass. Editors use it to verify that the manuscript’s structure matches the promise of purpose and intrigue. Third, the manuscript must be properly and consistently formatted so chapters and scenes can be evaluated uniformly; scene breaks and chapter labeling should follow the same method throughout.

From there, the editor’s checklist becomes more analytical and self-editable. Each scene should be outlined and named so the author can see whether scenes actually push the storyline forward. Character balance is evaluated by building a list of characters, ensuring names and roles are clear (avoiding confusion from similar or misspelled names), and then checking whether each character is essential to the scenes they appear in—especially by tracking point of view and goals. The story arc is then tested against a traditional structure using five key scenes: inciting incident, plot point one, middle plot point two, plot point two (the low point), and the climax. The inciting incident marks a permanent world change; plot point one is the “point of no return”; the middle is the protagonist’s transformation from reactive to proactive; plot point two is the low point that raises stakes and tension; and the climax delivers the ultimate conflict that determines fate.

A major emphasis falls on timing and balance using word counts rather than page counts. Editors look for approximate placement ranges for the key scenes (e.g., inciting incident around 10–15% of total word count, plot point one around 20–30%, the middle around 45–55%, plot point two around 70–80%, and climax near 90%), and they assess whether the five key scenes are appropriately longer or shorter to maximize impact. The session also stresses that structural editing is iterative: after the first pass, the blurb must be cross-referenced against the manuscript to confirm the promise is delivered, revising either the story or the blurb depending on which is weaker.

The Q&A extends the framework: structural and developmental editing overlap, but structural work focuses on story “bones” and measurable form; developmental work grows into deeper story elements like character development and content. Authors are encouraged to use structural editing even for nonfiction when it relies on narrative arcs and transformation, and to select editors by requesting samples and ensuring the editor’s approach matches the author’s voice and needs. The session ends by pointing to a broader 38 story elements checklist as the deeper toolkit for evaluating characters, settings, plot mechanics, sensory detail, and scene purpose—areas that structural editing lays the groundwork for.