In this article we'll consider:
What Track Changes is and what's so good about it
Accessing Track Changes
Which markups to use
How to use reviewing panes
Accepting/rejecting changes
Removing your editor's comments
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Who can say if the necessity for authors and their editors to collaborate on a lengthy manuscript in a transparent, user friendly, and organized fashion was top of mind for Microsoft when they designed their Track Changes feature in Word - but that has certainly been the result.
Whereas in the past, the majority of editing and proofreading was done on PDFs, now if you're a writer hiring a freelance editor to work on your book, it's almost a given you'll be asked to deliver your manuscript in a Word document, so they can make use of the priceless collaborative features available in Track Changes.
What's so good about it?
So let's be honest. When you've been diligently striving over your book, in solitude, for many months or perhaps years, it's skin-crawling to hand that work over to someone else (usually a stranger) with the stark instruction to - more or less - fix it. Your heart's in your mouth. Sweat prickles at the nape of your neck.
What if the manuscript that comes back to you from your editor is nothing like the one you sent them? What if you hate the result, and you've wasted good money to boot?
In all likelihood, those terrifying scenarios won't happen; instead your fears will be trounced by delight when you get your polished manuscript back better than ever. But the terror itself is still real. That's why Track Changes is crucial for both the editor and for you.
When the feature is enabled, any additions, deletions, or formatting changes made to your work are highlighted, making it easy for you to identify where those changes are, and allowing you to review and either accept or reject them individually or en masse. Your editor will also make use of comment boxes to explain the changes they've made or offer suggestions.
Thus, you receive a clear record of all revisions made, ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the editing process, with all final decisions being left, as they should be, to you. Don't agree with a change your editor has made? Simply reject it and the text will revert to the original. Love everything they've done? Accept all changes with just one click.
Convinced yet? Let's get tracking with the Track Changes short tutorial...
1. Accessing Track Changes
As your editor will have been using the TC feature whilst working on your manuscript, when you receive the edited file and open it up, the feature will probably still be enabled and you'll already see your editor's markings and/or comments on the file.
If you don't, however, go to Word's menu at the very top of the screen and click on the Review tab, then click the Show Comments icon to switch it on; and also, under the dropdown menu to the right of the Track Changes icon in the Tracking section, select either Simple Markup or All Markup.
2. Which markup do I need?
The names themselves are self-explanatory, but there are advantages to both. All Markup, as suggested, highlights every single change made on the manuscript, down to each letter and space that's been added or deleted. This is perfect for complete transparency; however, it can make reading through the edited manuscript a bit of a chore.
Which is where Simple Markup comes in. Simple Markup provides you with an indicator to the left of the manuscript that something has been changed on that line, but the text itself remains "clean". You may immediately recognize what those changes are just by reading the text, or your editor may have referred to the change in a comment box to the right of the manuscript. If you're not sure, though, just click on All Markup and the changes will be highlighted in red inside the text.
Here is an example of Simple Markup. The yellow arrow indicates the chosen markup selection; the red arrow points to the change indicators; and the green arrow shows where your editor's comments will appear. In Simple Markup, by hovering your mouse over the comment box, the text it refers to will be highlighted, so there's no need to toggle in and out of All Markup.
Below is the same screenshot but this time with All Markup selected. As you can see, the red markings inside the text clearly indicate where letters or words have been either added, changed, or removed. The narrative the comments relate to is also clearly highlighted.
3. Show Markup
Directly beneath the Markup dropdown menu is the Show Markup feature. This allows you to choose which types of marked-up changes you want to see - Comments, Insertions and Deletions, Formatting; and how you want to view the markups - inline (within the manuscript) or in balloons to the right of the text.
Ideally you want to view all types of markup, so make sure the top three options are ticked; and as to how you view the markups, that's your choice. Try clicking on everything to see what works best for you.
Just as an example, when I'm working on a manuscript, I generally have Show only Comments and Formatting in Balloons under the Balloons menu switched on, so the manuscript doesn't get too cluttered for me to view and work on. But everyone's different, and all options are open to you.
Should more than one editor be working on your manuscript, there's even the option to view editors' comments and revisions individually, or everyone's at once - but you'll be unlikely to need this; usually only one editor works on the manuscript at a time.
4. Reviewing pane
Beneath the Show Markup menu are the Reviewing Pane options. This enables you to open a list of all the changes made, either vertically, to the left of the screen, or horizontally across the bottom of the screen, depending on your preference. By clicking on the Reviewing Pane title you can toggle this feature on or off, according to how you prefer to work and whether you find it useful.
Likewise, to the left of the Tracking section is the Comments section, where if you'd prefer, you can jump through the comments your editor has left you by toggling between Previous and Next.
All useful tools, of course, but in my experience, fiction writers will generally work through the manuscript in a linear fashion from beginning to end, acknowledging - and dealing with if necessary - changes and comments directly on the manuscript as they go.
5. Accept or reject changes
There are several ways to approve, or not, the changes your editor has made to your manuscript, and this again comes down to what you find easier or more efficient. Firstly, are you sitting down? Good; here we go then.
Potentially your editor will have made hundreds, maybe thousands, of changes and little tweaks to your manuscript. That's a lot to work through one at a time, marking Accept or Reject. Therefore, an easier alternative is to mark those you reject (which, if all has gone to plan, will be far less in number than those you accept), and then Accept All Changes to the remaining changes when you get to the end of the manuscript and you're happy with it.
Bear in mind too, that your editor, along with the Track Changes version of your manuscript, may also send you a clean version - the manuscript containing all their changes, but with all changes accepted, comments removed and Track Changes disabled. This means, should you not need to make any alterations following your editor's input, you already have a complete version, and can leave the Track Changes version as it is, for reference. Or indeed if there are just a few things for you to tweak, you may prefer to work on this clean version instead.
Either way, a good tip is to retain a copy of the Track Changes file your editor sends you (by making a duplicate copy before you begin work), in case you need it for future reference.
If you are choosing to work directly on the Track Changes file, however, here's where to find the Accept and Reject menus.
6. Remove editor's comments
Once you're happy with the manuscript, all the changes have been dealt with, and you're confident you've taken note of, and actioned if necessary, all your editor's comments, then it's time to remove them. Easily done with just one click:
Summing up
As with any software, it may take some playing around with to find a system of working that's best for you. For example, you may use all of the features, or just need a select few. But hopefully you can see the benefits of working in this way for both yourself and your editor.
Track Changes is the digital version of sitting around a table with your editor, working through your book on paper and making creative and stylistic choices together. Should the scope of the project allow, you can even add your comments in response to your editor's, sending the saved file to your editor if there's something you're not sure of.
Quick tip: If your editor works freelance, make sure before returning the file to them that follow-up revisions or discussion are included as part of the project fee. Freelance editors will expect some follow-up conversation, but further edits or extensive discussions either need to be requested during the quotation phase, budgeted for and time allocated for them, or booked in as a separate project.
Finally...
So in short, there's no better way for editors and writers to work together on projects of novel length. It takes very little time to become proficient using Microsoft's Track Changes features, and the benefits far outweigh any initial time investment required to master it.
Efficiency, transparency, and the space for seamless collaboration are essential for successful writer-editor partnerships, and the Track Changes tools play a significant role in facilitating this.
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Tina Williams of Fiction Yogi is a copyeditor and proofreader who works with writers at all stages, giving them the tools to improve their manuscript and level up their writing so they can meet their publishing goals.
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