Words Into Stories | Therese Arkenberg: Writing and Editing

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Two: Copyediting and Line Editing

Welcome to the second part of my in-depth look at the editing process! Today, we’re going to look at the kinds of suggestions I make when working directly on manuscripts word by word, sentence by sentence, and paragraph by paragraph (the more holistic feedback given in developmental editing will be the subject of my third and final post in this series. Part One, on my editing approach and tools is here.). You may find this serves as a...

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part One: Behind the Scenes of the Editing Process

Sending your story to an editor—especially if you’re new to the process, but also when you’ve been writing a long time—can induce anxiety and above all, uncertainty. What’s going to happen? What shape will the manuscript be in when you get it back? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at my editing processes. First, I’ll talk about how I make suggestions. In two follow-up posts, I’ll discuss the kinds of suggestions I most often make....

The Priority Edit

If you think I’m just going to sweep in here and blog again as if several years haven’t gone by…you’re exactly right. Let’s get to it. (What’s been happening? I’ve been doing a lot of editing work with my head in Word files rather than WordPress. Also living my life, volunteering, spending time with loved ones, taking a few cross-country trips, getting through one bout of COVID that could have been way worse—hurray, modern medicine!—far...

Q&A from the Clubhouse

Wow! Last evening was so fun and energizing–I admit I was a little unsure how a live chat app would work, but we had many wonderful people join us with some pertinent questions and insights. And talking to people out loud was very energizing; I just hope I didn’t talk too fast. I was mostly listening and talking rather than taking notes, but I jotted down a few questions and suggestions I remember from last night to share, both to...

Notes from Your Editor (Clubhouse meeting, August 12)

I hope many of you will be able to join me! As I prepare for my live chat with Nicki tomorrow, I have some notes that I’d like to share here on my website, both for listeners to follow along with, and for those who aren’t able to make it to benefit from: A. Copyediting, proofreading, line-by-line — what do all these terms mean? Developmental/structural/content edit – literally developing the ideas in the book. What to include...

Money Management and Living on a Budget for Freelancers – Part 1: Income

This not going to be a series of posts where I tell you to stop buying lattes at Starbucks (though I will talk about what I do instead). Nor am I going to magically fix your budget with a few suggestions – wish I could, especially in these times when many people are facing budget strain, freelancers not least. But over the past few months, as I’ve advised a number of new freelancers, I realized there numerous tips I wish I’d...

Writing

Here I try to keep a comprehensive list of all my works currently available. If you have have corrections or questions about any story and its availability (including stories not listed here that you think, recall, or suspect are by me), drop me an email, it’ll be appreciated!

Book, Story, and Article Editing Services

The Manuscript Doctor: Whether it takes a prescription for punctuation, a checkup for character development, diagnosis for the denouement, or major plot surgery, I’m here to help make your manuscript into a healthy story.

About Therese

Therese Arkenberg is doing her best to earn that checkered history so popular in writer’s biographies. She’s worked at a library and as a cashier at a craft store, been a philosophy tutor and volunteer income tax preparer, and interned at two international nonprofits. She started working as a developmental and copy-editor while living in Washington, D.C. in 2013.

"I can’t say enough about the timely and thorough manuscript evaluation I received from Therese. Her detail-oriented critique not only provided me with invaluable suggestions with regards to the overall structure of my story but, just as important, also touched upon how to fine-tune the subtle aspects of my novel to create a more superior read. I look forward to utilizing her skill set again during the editing phase." - Alex F.

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Mar 16, 2026

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Two: Copyediting and Line Editing

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part One: Behind the Scenes of the Editing Process

The Priority Edit

Q&A from the Clubhouse

Notes from Your Editor (Clubhouse meeting, August 12)

Money Management and Living on a Budget for Freelancers – Part 1: Income

Writing

Book, Story, and Article Editing Services

About Therese

Recent Blog Posts

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Four: Disagreement and Clarification with Your Editor

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Three: Developmental and Content Editing

What Happens When My Manuscript Gets Edited? Part Two: Copyediting and Line Editing

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