If you’ve ever finished a draft and approached an editor for professional guidance, you may have wondered, “What is line editing?”
I have edited manuscripts for a Manhattan-based publisher for years, one of the queries I receive most from prospective authors is the question of editing. What is a line edit? A copy edit? A developmental edit?
There are developmental edits, copy edits, proofreads, and of course, line edits. While line editing is one of the styles I most often engage in when working with authors, there is some confusion around what it is and what it entails.
Whether you first choose to self-edit or directly go to engaging a professional for this important part of the writing process, it’s helpful to be familiar with the various stages of editing. Plus, whether you traditionally publish or self-publish, most writing needs to go through every stage of editing before publishing.
We’ve taught over 8,000 authors how to write, publish, and market their books over the last 10 years so today, we focus our expertise on helping you learn how to line edit.
What is line editing? What you learn:
- What is the meaning of line editing?
- What is the difference between line editing and copy editing?
- How to line edit?
What is the meaning of line editing?
Line editing is a line-by-line edit of your manuscript, from first page to last. In this edit, I focus on the flow of your content, ensuring each sentence naturally flows into the next. I also look for voice inconsistency and ways to enhance voice and make it consistent line-to-line.
Line editing comes after the developmental edit and content edit. During the developmental edit, I examine the key ideas and themes in your work. I leave notes for where you may want to expand on a topic or move a chapter to a different location.
Once you finish working with an editor on these edits, it’s time to focus your attention on going line-by-line to look at the content, style, tone, and consistency of your writing.
Line editing is stylistic, as I focus specifically on your content and the flow of your sentences. This is where I draw out your voice and help your copy sing.
What is the difference between line editing and copy editing?
Line editing comes before copy editing and is more focused on the stylistic construction of your story. Copy editing is more focused on the mechanics of your writing. Let’s look at an example to better understand the difference.
Miranda gazed out over the bustling; hustling city. She felt so excited by the constant movement of the people below her.
A line editor would look at these two sentences and ask questions like “Is bustling, hustling redundant?” and “Should we switch the second sentence to active voice?” A copy editor would look at those sentences and correct the misused semicolon.
Both line editors and copy editors approach work line by line. However, they are looking for two different edits.
During the copy edit phase, I keep an eye out for the following errors:
- Language errors, including missing or misused punctuation, grammar errors, and misspelled words
- Consistent hyphenation, fonts, and capitalization
- Formatting and usage of numbers and acronyms
- Adherence to a specific style guide (the publisher I work with abides by The Chicago Manual of Style)
- Consistency in tense usage
- Layout on the physical page, including line breaks, indents, headings, footers, titles, etc.
Line editing and copy editing are critical to the writing process. Both stages work together to polish your manuscript and ensure that you’re using language effectively.
How to line edit?
I find it helpful to perform a line edit for myself only after letting my manuscript sit. When I return to it, I can spot areas where my dialogue feels off or my voice lags.
You can perform your own line edit and then contact a professional editor who will offer their personal recommendations on how to improve the readability of your manuscript. In fact, I suggest this. It will teach you what to look for and improve, as well as make your work with an editor easier.
You’ll understand why they make the changes they make, be open to constructive criticism, and likely invest less because they’ll have less work to do.
Consider asking these questions as you perform your self-edit:
- What is the tone of this passage? Do my words convey that tone?
- Are there any extra words, redundancies, or needless information I can remove?
- Does my verbiage help my reader understand my meaning or get in the way?
- Do I use language in a precise and clear way?
If you’re line editing on your own, the process may be awkward in the beginning. We’ve identified some common mistakes found in line editing and how to fix them.
1. Unnecessary words, sentences, and paragraphs
Extra words disrupt the flow of your sentences and the overall reading experience. The goal is to ensure your writing is clear, concise, and easy to read.
Read your sentences out loud to see if they read smoothly. If they read awkwardly, try removing some words to see if that improves the flow.
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
William Strunk, author of The Elements of Style
2. Misconstrued sentences and paragraphs
Writers are sometimes the victims of their own ideas. Their sentences can go on and on, but misconstrued sentences only alienate the reader because the writing is hard to follow.
Construct your sentences and paragraphs in a way that’s easy to follow. You can make your work clearer by varying your sentence lengths. For fiction, short sentences read like fast-forward, while longer sentences read like slow motion.
Look for areas where you tell rather than show, and do your best to show the story or theme.
3. Weak verbs
Verbs are powerful. Use them to say exactly what you mean, or as my writing mentor says, “don’t hedge.” Don’t use a weak verb and try to give it power with a descriptive adjective.
For example:
- Weak verb: James ran to school.
- Weak verb + adverb: James ran quickly to school.
- Strong verb: James sprinted to school.
Strong verbs add movements to your sentences and bring them to life. Don’t be afraid to play around with your sentences to see what works. You can always grab your thesaurus to replace weak verbs.
4. Redundancies
It’s easier to hold your readers’ interest if they feel engaged. Many writers have echoes or repeats in their work. You risk boring your reader if they keep experiencing déjà vu while reading, and they may lose interest altogether. Remove any repetitive sentences or paragraphs so there’s no duplication.
5. Use of clichés
Some writers use clichés when working on their first draft because thinking up original wording takes time and can interrupt creative flow. That’s fine. But when you go back to edit, be creative and brainstorm for fresh ideas. Instead of using clichés, create fresh metaphors.
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
George Orwell
How much does line editing cost?
Your investment in line editing depends on the editor you work with. Some editors charge per project, while others charge per hour or per word. When working with authors, I charge per words so everyone is clear about the investment and the author doesn’t receive an invoice they didn’t expect.
How much an editor costs often depends on their level of experience, what they offer, and your turnaround time. For example, a while back I hired a bestselling author to help me through developmental edits. She cost more than hiring an random editor on Fiverr, but her expertise proved her worth.
I also charge based on the level of work required (which is why I mentioned the importance of self-editing above), as well as the difficulty of the topic. Editing a fiction that has been heavily self-edited will be a different investment than if someone approaches me to edit their psychology nonfiction with 100+ sources to site (I love both).
Tools to help you
Line editing can be iterative processes that take several rounds. Using software like ProWritingAid can help you make needed edits to your work in a timely and cost-effective way. Editing software can find errors and improvements you might have missed by yourself.
ProWritingAid searches out elements such as repetitiveness, vague wording, sentence-length variation, over-dependence on adverbs, passive voice, over-complicated sentence constructions, and so much more.
Line editing and taking your next step
Now that you understand line editing and why it’s so important, you can edit your own manuscript, then go out and hire a professional editor to help you. Remember, self-editing is important in that it teaches you how to better your writing, while hiring an editor is important because they will spot things you miss.
Once you’ve looked at your manuscript for a awhile, you become blind to it. That’s normal! And that is why you hire a professional: they spot what you miss and they add the finishing touches.
Take your next step today by using our free resource below. Our comprehensive guide will teach you how to use AI to edit your manuscript before you send it off to your editor.
This blog was rewritten from the original version published by Ashleigh Ferguson.
