Comprehensive Editing Pass Checklist

1. Developmental / Substantive Editing

Big-picture work. Focus on whether the story works as a whole before polishing language.

Structure & Plot

Check overall plot structure (beginning, middle, end; rising action, climax, resolution).
Evaluate pacing of the story as a whole (too slow? too rushed? sagging middle?).
Ensure major plot points land with proper setup and payoff.
Look for plot holes, unresolved threads, or logic gaps.
Confirm cause-and-effect chain of events feels natural.

Characters

Verify character arcs feel complete and earned.
Check consistency of character personality, voice, goals, and motivations.
Ensure characters change (or deliberately don’t) in believable ways.
Watch for characters acting out of character without good reason.

Scenes & Grounding

Make sure every scene has a clear purpose (advances plot, develops character, or deepens theme).
Ground dialogue — Avoid “dialogues in a vacuum.” For every conversation, check that “what’s going on around them” is present: action beats, body language, setting details, sensory information, and what characters are doing while they talk.
Ensure scenes feel fully rendered and immersive rather than floating heads talking.
Check transitions between scenes for smoothness.

Themes

Confirm core themes (friendship, duty, perseverance, etc.) are actually present and woven through the story.
Look for opportunities to strengthen thematic resonance through character choices, conflicts, symbols, or plot events.
Ensure themes emerge organically rather than being stated too bluntly.

Point of View & Perspective

Check POV consistency (no head-hopping unless intentional).
Ensure the chosen POV serves the story and character.
Verify the narrative distance feels appropriate.

World & Continuity

Check internal consistency of world-building, rules, timelines, and details.
Flag any contradictions in setting, magic/technology systems, or established facts.

2. Line Editing

Sentence- and paragraph-level work. Focus on how the writing reads and feels.

Improve flow and rhythm of sentences and paragraphs.
Strengthen word choice (replace weak, vague, or repetitive words).
Tighten prose — cut unnecessary words, filler, and redundancy.
Enhance clarity and precision of meaning.
Preserve and strengthen the author’s voice and tone.
Smooth awkward phrasing or clunky constructions.
Adjust sentence variety and length for better pacing within scenes.
Ensure emotional beats and subtext land effectively.
Balance dialogue with narrative and description so neither overwhelms the other.
Check that descriptions and action feel vivid without overwriting.

3. Copy Editing

Technical correctness and consistency. Focus on rules and polish.

Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Fix syntax issues and unclear sentence structures.
Ensure consistency of names, terms, capitalization, hyphenation, and spelling (create/update a style sheet).
Apply a chosen style guide (e.g., Chicago Manual of Style).
Check for consistency in numbers, dates, measurements, and formatting.
Light fact-checking of real-world details, timelines, and continuity.
Verify dialogue punctuation and attribution are correct and consistent.
Flag remaining continuity or logic issues that slipped through earlier passes.

4. Proofreading

Final surface-level check after all revisions are complete.

Catch remaining typos, misspellings, and missing/extra words.
Check for repeated or missing punctuation.
Verify formatting (paragraph breaks, scene breaks, italics, etc.).
Look for layout issues if the text is already typeset (widows, orphans, bad breaks).
Do a final read-aloud pass for anything that still sounds off.

Scratch Pad

Additional
- flat additions to the base value
- sum with each other
Percent Increased/Reduced the base value
- Percent change
Percent More/Less the modified value
- Applied after increased/reduced

Sum all Added and Base values -> 10
Sum all Increased into one multiplier -> 1.45
Multiply Added/Base total x Increased multiplier ->10x1.45=14.5
Multiply by each More separately -> 14.5 x 1.05 x 1.3 x 1.1 = 21.77
Multiply by Amplified separately

Naval Combat

Long Range (up to 250,000 km) -- lasers + railguns
Missile Range (up to 1,000,000 km)
Close range (under 20,000 km) --ion beams

    *ion beams are short range, but cause massive internal thermal and radiation effects.

Marine Hierarchy

Fire Team
Squad
Platoon
Company
Battalion
Regiment
Brigade (1st Sylvan Marines)
Division

navy will perform air cavalry and troop transport role with gunships. I need to flesh out the marine recon role.

Increase the length of the prologue, to have more fleeing, near death experiences, etc.,

Add the character artwork as commissions prior to a design change for the uniforms. They'll serve as bonus artwork on the special edition hardcovers.
Here is a list of characters

Here is a list of warships

Here are the Species and Professions.

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/Category:Naval_Weapons

http://robertplewis.com/index.php/System_Titles