How to Start Line Editing Your Manuscript Like a Professional Editor

At The Novelry, our professional editors bring years of experience from publishing houses including Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster. They have overseen developmental editing, copy-editing, and line editing for authors such as Stephen King.

Here, our editor Lily Cooper—previously senior commissioning editor at Penguin Michael Joseph—explains what line editing really is, what to focus on first, and how to approach the process without becoming overwhelmed.

You don’t need to be a professional line editor to improve your manuscript dramatically. You just need the right tools, a clear process, and a little patience with yourself as you go. Over to Lily for more.

What is line editing, and why does it matter?

Welcome, author! I gather you have worked hard on your novel. You’ve perfected your hook, tightened your plot, refined your structure, and made each scene sing. Well done.

But this isn’t the end of your journey just yet. Now is the time for the final push with your line editing process. Or, as I like to think of it, the process through which good writing becomes great, and great writing becomes exquisite.

The line editing process

Simply put, line editing is the process of going through your manuscript to ensure you are happy with every single sentence before it moves on to the next step. This matters because you want an agent or an editor to not just see the potential in your novel, but in you as a writer: someone they will want to work with on books to come. There is nothing worse than the feeling of being pulled out of a story because the author hasn’t put in the time to really refine their manuscript.

Today, we will be looking at some of the main culprits that a good line edit will help you avoid. We’ll also look at line editing examples, and learn what line editing takes at the sentence level—to really make your writing style shine.

1. Show, don’t tell!

We know you’re shaking your head. You’ve probably heard a lot already about the dreaded show-don’t-tell. In fact, our editor Josie Humber wrote all about this famous piece of advice, which you can read all about in her show-don’t-tell blog.

But the reason you have heard so much about it is that it’s the heart of great storytelling. If a reader sees something on the page, they are more likely to believe in it.

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The big one is about emotions.

Take the first page of Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes, where the main character, Sam, wakes up feeling stressed. But Jojo Moyes doesn’t tell us that Sam feels stressed. Instead, she takes us into what Sam’s stress feels like.

Sam stares up at the slowly lightening ceiling and practices her breathing, like the doctor advised her, as she tries to stop her 5.a.m. thoughts congealing into one enormous dark cloud above her head.

In for six, out for seven.
—JoJo Moyes, Someone Else’s Shoes

Immediately, we empathize with Sam—we’re in her head, experiencing a loop of anxiety right there with her. Emotions are often more vivid on the page where we don’t just know that a character feels a certain way; we see it in the way that they think, feel, or behave.

Character relations are also often greatly enhanced by showing rather than telling. If we’re simply told that two characters don’t like each other, a reader will register the information. But registering information and believing it are different things when it comes to reading. So, for example, in a situation where one character is trying to sabotage the other, rolling their eyes at them or delivering a spiky piece of dialogue will make the dislike feel real.

2. Take off the last accessory

Don’t worry, you can leave your hat on. I’m talking about your descriptions.

We know—the scene is vivid in your head. And you might really want the reader to picture the still, cold house with its threadbare graying carpets and its oppressive mustard-colored walls where the main character treads softly, like a fawn, while the luminescent, pearly moonlight shines through the window...

Nothing wrong with using literary devices, of course. But the best piece of prose is often the one that leaves space for a reader’s own imagination to do some of the work. The key to good line editing is thinking about which details elevate your scene, or where to add atmosphere or give more context.

Don’t be afraid to pull back in places where details might just be for scene-setting. Readers always care first and foremost about the action, and there is often power in simplicity.

3. Swerve overused phrases

Ahhh, writing tics. Everyone has them. (Shout-out to the lovely author to whom I once pointed out 150 mentions of “eyes” in a 275-page manuscript. That really was too many eyes.)

They are often personal, but try to think about images and gestures you like using.

Classic ones I’ve seen feature eyes, smiles, hand gestures, and laughs, which can really stack up over the course of a manuscript and feel a bit flat when leaned on too much.

Sympathetic weather (the sky turning ominously gray then radiantly sunny) is another.

If you notice you’re reaching for an image a few times, do a word search and interrogate. If something is cropping up more than once every 10–15 pages, is there another word choice or image you could use instead? It could make a big difference.

4. Interrogate your dialogue

Great dialogue is hard to get right—and there is no hard and fast rule for writing it. Sally Rooney and Emily Henry are two authors who are masters of dialogue, and yet one is sparse and concise, while the other is snappy and funny.

So, what are the common pitfalls to avoid?

Well, for starters, great dialogue should be to the point. Please avoid characters discussing matters that aren’t relevant. Get to the heart of what your scene is dealing with, and try to avoid your dialogue running on for more than 2–3 pages max. There is some literary fiction where it works to have dialogue dominate the prose (e.g., Flesh by David Szalay), but in most cases, this will leave your manuscript feeling uneven and lacking in forward momentum.

5. Watch out for too much exposition

Avoid relaying context through dialogue. This is what we call “As you know, Bob”—where two characters know the context already but are having the conversation for the reader’s benefit. Context is one instance where “telling” is fine—but please ensure that it’s as succinct as possible. 

Read your dialogue out loud! It can really help with your language choices and sentence structure. If you’re happening upon too many long sentences, think about breaking them up or shortening them. Try an em dash! And try to use hesitations sparingly on the page. Lots of “ums” and “ers” can feel frustrating to read.

And finally, watch out for characters using each other’s names in dialogue too often! Intent is key here—if they are using a character’s name for emphasis in an emotionally charged situation, that will feel engaging. But used too much and a reader might suspect that your character has just forgotten who they’ve been speaking to...

Author and writing coach Katie Khan has some exceedingly useful tips on crafting authentic dialogue for you.

6. Use metaphors and similes with restraint

A beautiful metaphor or simile can stay with a reader for years. Too many, and it can come across as trying too hard or a tic that needs reining in.

If you notice you have more than two metaphors or similes on a page, I’d suggest cutting back.

With metaphors, I’d also recommend doing a sweep to check they aren’t mixing themselves. An effective metaphor should be simple and clean.

7. Check your punctuation and formatting while self-editing

From the moment you submit your work for someone else’s consideration, you are asking them to see you as a professional. If you are a chef, you will be expected to know how to slice an onion properly; if you are a writer, you will be expected to know how to format your manuscript and use punctuation marks in the correct way.

Many writers fall into the easy traps of spelling and punctuation errors, but good line editing should help you catch them.

Here are a few easy ones to watch out for:

• In dialogue, a comma should precede a speech tag.
  “Check your dialogue, people,” said Lily.
• But a full stop or exclamation mark should precede an action.
  “Check your dialogue, people.” Lily wagged her finger at the authors.
• You can use single or double speech marks. As a rule of thumb:
  ‘U.K. writers use single speech marks!’
  “American writers use double ones.”
  ‍This is your choice, but please ensure they are used consistently.
• If you are moving to a new scene, jumping forward in time, or entering a different character’s perspective, consider using a scene break. This enables the reader to catch their breath from your riveting previous scene, and get into the mindset that new action is happening.
• If you are introducing a scene break, the first paragraph will be full-out, and all the text that follows will be indented (using the tab key on your keyboard).

“Like this?” asked the author.
    “Exactly!” said Lily.

A good line editor must proofread their manuscript

We know! You’ve read this novel a thousand times. Are we really asking you to read it again?

Yes! Nothing jolts you out of a moment more than a typo. Those three seconds where your brain thinks, “Hmm, something’s not right here,” and then, “Well, it doesn’t matter, where was I again?” are moments when it could have been firmly glued to what was happening on the page.

A rogue typo here or there won’t be the kiss of death—but if there are a lot, it will seem careless. A bit of copy-editing can go a long way. And you have taken great care with your book so far, so this will be a brilliant way to honor all your hard work!

There is a good line editor in you. Mark my words.

Line edit your novel this summer on The Big Edit Challenge

Are you ready to edit? Join The Big Edit Challenge this June for a nine-week program designed to kickstart your editing. Enjoy events, industry panels, group study sessions, and even a Pitch Party (!) where you could get the opportunity to show your work to a literary agent.

There’s more. As part of the challenge, we’re launching a Line Editing Bootcamp, which includes 20 all-new lessons, four study groups hosted by editors, and some intensive workshop-style environments to really help you shine up your prose. You’ll pick up important line editing skills to not only help you become a better editor, but in turn, a better writer.

Come and join us. There are only a few more weeks to sign up.