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I'll be the first to admit that I, Wayne, the novelist, am only one person. I am one Chrono Trigger fan among millions who have been captivated by this story. I'll be the first to tell you that not all of my ideas may be the best ideas and that this story does not just belong to me, but to all fans of this classic RPG. There are multitudes of people out there who have contributed their own fanfics, online novels, and short stories based from the Chrono storyline, meaning that there are literally multitudes of ideas floating around out there, any of which could be used to develop the story in some way or another.
Given all of that, who am I to attempt to create a Chrono Trigger novel all by myself? What if I miss something or totally screw up a concept or idea? What if one of my own ideas ends up being not so bright and I don't realize it unless someone else points it out? That's why I'd like to bring the Chrono Trigger Novel Project Editorial Team (now that's a mouth full) to your attention. Here, you'll get an idea of how this team operates to bring you the best Chrono Trigger novel that could possibly be produced. It's a given that they're all great in grammar and spelling, but it's what they have to offer beyond that that makes the team so functional. Sure, I'm the novelist, but with the help and insight of these sharp, intelligent intellectuals that I have carefully selected, this novel will be as full, rich, in-depth, and just plain awesome as it can possibly be!
Here's the team:
The general editing process is fundamentally simple. Once I have a chapter typed up and ready to be edited by the team members, they get the file and edit it in the style that works best for them. Some type suggestions into the chapter, while others make a separate document explaining their comments as they go along.
After the team has submitted their editorials to me, I go through each one very carefully in consideration of each and every comment, suggestion, or idea. Many of them are accepted and applied into the novel, while some others are not for various reasons. Basically, I make a call whether or not a suggested change is beneficial to the novel or not. In most cases, it is, because these individuals understand better than most what works and what doesn't. I've come to trust their instincts, and, even though there are sometimes mild disagreements, that trust is definitely a very good and comforting thing to possess.
As I apply the changes to each chapter, I carefully document everything using a color scheme. Once this document is finished, it is what we call the "Editorial Version" of a chapter. A finalized version is made from this by taking out the comments and colors. Here are a few examples of these Editorial Versions, taken from a few of the actual Demo Chapters 3-5 (click image to open the full image in a new window, noting that these are 1024x768 screenshot images):
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We continue this cycle through each chapter until we are all satisfied that it's finished. Of course, we all understand that a chapter is never perfect and could always use an improvement somewhere, but we have to move on at some point.