I would first read your manuscript all the way through and make extensive notes for myself on the key elements of your writing style. For fiction, this could include your narrative voice, the kind of images you tend to use, or key moments in the text where I felt your prose become sluggish. For non-fiction, this could include moments where I felt I lost the thread of your argument, frequent repetitions where you’re trying to emphasise a point, or moments where I felt you needed to expand to let the reader in a little more. Each book is different, and my notes and final edit will be tailored towards the particular needs of your project.

After compiling these initial notes, I would then go back through the text and begin that really focused edit. This will be completed in Microsoft Word with track changes turned on. For the most part, this will take the form of comments in the margins of the document, detailing my specific issues with a sentence and offering some suggestions as to how you may improve it. However, in some instances, in order to demonstrate what you could be doing better, I will make changes to the text. These can be accepted or disregarded using the track changes function when you go back over it.

Along with the edit, I would also put together a short report highlighting any consistent issues in your style, so that you can be aware of them when tackling any future projects.

Once I've sent the manuscript and report back to you, we could then set up a one-hour follow-up call to talk through the edit. This would be your opportunity to ask for clarification on any points I raised, discuss potential solutions to issues with the manuscript, or talk about the next stages for your work.