7 line editing tips for stronger prose
Line editing is, as the name suggests, the work we editors do on a line-by-line level to make every word count. It covers everything from sweeping away repetitive words and redundancies, to seeking out clunky phrasing and cliches.
It’s freaking magical. The difference you can make by tinkering with individual words is astonishing.
Here are my top 7 line editing tips that you can start using today to elevate your prose and grab your readers by the heart.
1. Nix those filler words
Really, very, absolutely, quite, just, entirely. And that’s just to start.
Filler words do nothing for your prose except slow the pace and risk boring your readers.
He just walked very fast down the street.
Get rid of just and very. They add nothing.
He strode down the street. Or he hurried down the street.
See? Much stronger.
Search the internet for a list of filler words, get familiar, and keep them out of your writing.
2. Don’t over-explain the action
It’s easy to slip into explaining every. Single. Action. Beat. This slows your text.
“I watched them walk down the street and then get into a car and drive out of my view.”
“I watched them” pulls the reader out of the narrative, because now they’re watching the narrator watching the action. Most times it’s already clear from context who is doing the watching.
Try this instead:
“They snuck into a Barbie pink Lexus and tore off at high speed.”
We’ve taken the narrator out of the sentence so now we’re focussed on the action. Bonus: we’ve added some concrete details to make the prose sing.
3. Mind those adverbs
Very big. Unusually small. Really scared.
Adverbs sap the strength right out of your prose.
Try this instead: Huge. Tiny. Terrified.
Comb through your manuscript and switch out adverbs for stronger words. You’ll cut your word count a little too - bonus!
4. Beware the body parts
This is one of my favourite line editing tips. When describing the action, it’s so easy to name specific body parts when you don’t need to.
“He picked up his foot and kicked the couch.”
Is his foot disembodied? Is it removable? Does he unscrew it and set it beside him, ready for when he needs to hit the couch? I have so many questions.
Try: He kicked the couch.
“They reached out their hand and closed the door.”
They closed the door is fine here.
Sometimes describing specific movements and actions helps build the scene. “They reached out their hand and closed the door” adds nothing. “She hefted the gigantic box of party favours, hip-checked the door, and nearly dropped it on the toe of the nearest frat boy” tells us a lot about what’s going on here and draws us in.
5. Kiss repetition goodbye
Repeating words lessens their impact. I’m not suggesting you obsessively delete every word you repeat. That would make for an odd book, and some words are common enough that of course you’re going to repeat them. But if you’re using the same word too close together, you risk losing the reader’s attention.
If you tell us about a glorious blue sky, you don’t need to tell us in the next line that the sky is the colour of a robin’s egg. If your character just bundled up in their favourite sweater to brave the cold day, you don’t need to tell us in the next line that it’s a cold day.
6. Don’t make your reader say “you already told me that”
If you know me at all, you know I’m a repeater. I will hundo p tell you the same story over and over, especially if I know you either love it or it makes you laugh.
You know where I wouldn’t do that?
In a novel.
If you tell your reader “she remembered his argumentative streak, so perfectly suited to debate club in their high school days” then on the next page “ah yes, she remembered his argumentative side well from debate club”, that’s wasted real estate. Sometimes you’ll need to reiterate information, if it’s vitally important and there’s been a gap. Not on back to back pages, though. Your reader already knows.
7. Mind those emotional support phrases
Sometimes I take off my editing hat and put on my writing hat. I did that a ways back, sent it to a dear friend for editing, and among other feedback got a note that said “he’s smiling gently AGAIN.”
My brain had decided that was the perfect way to express his concern, and boy was I going to express it that way. Repeatedly.
Every writer I work with has their emotional support phrase or word. From starshine smiles to a sassy tone, from creeping dread to ice water chills down the spine, these phrases show up repeatedly. They’re the comfortable slippers, the favourite coffee order, the show you’ve watched a billion times.
Unfortunately they’re not as comforting for your reader if you repeat them. Then they … say it with me … lose their impact.
If it’s a good phrase, use it and love it. Just be thoughtful and choose where it works best.
Use these seven line editing tips to create stronger, crisper prose that grabs your readers and won’t let go.
Until next time.
Yours in ink and magic,
Allie