Elevate Your Manuscript with the Power of Line Editing
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Line edit? Substantive edit? Line-by-line?
Arguably the most misunderstood type of edit, line editing is a powerful tool that can shorten your word count, punch up your prose, and make your story shine from page one to the end. Contrary to some definitions, line editing is unique from both developmental editing and copyediting, working on the sentence level to enhance your voice as a writer and strengthen your manuscript. In this article, we’ll walk through what a line edit is, investigating what’s involved and three invaluable ways this often overlooked editorial pass can transform your manuscript.
What is line editing?
In the editorial process, line editing occurs after a developmental edit and before a copy edit. Once the big-picture elements are firmly in place after the revisions of a developmental pass, an editor uses a line edit to enhance those changes by ensuring each sentence is supporting those big-picture goals. A line editor pays attention to elements like tension, pacing, characterization, structure, and tone and makes changes and suggestions to make sure each element is working hard for you.
Here’s a short list of what your line editor will do:
Make changes to sentence structure to improve flow, create rhythm, and/or change the tempo of a scene
Present alternate word choices that align with the unique flavor and tone of your manuscript to keep readers immersed
Pay close attention to character details and actions to ensure consistency (i.e., a character’s eyes were blue in the previous chapter, and now they’re green)
Align the text with industry standards for grammar and punctuation to ensure a smooth reading experience
How is line editing different from copy editing?
You most likely noticed that grammar and punctuation is included in a line edit. That’s right! A good line edit will always cover these technical details and provide that line-level polish. However, a line edit goes far beyond a copy edit by digging deep into the language itself. Your editor will be making more dramatic suggestions to draw out your voice and vision to unite the content of the story with the tone and flavor of your writing.
Again, a line edit is the step between developmental editing and copyediting, and this edit serves to support those big-picture elements on the sentence level. Sometimes this looks like moving text around or simply trimming it out (don’t worry—Track Changes makes it easy to put things right back if you prefer the original!). The entire purpose of the line edit is to create the best reading experience possible for your reader while making the strengths of your prose shine. Remember, a good editor works to develop your voice, not put their own into the book. The suggestions and changes will always be made to support your unique writing style and story.
How does line editing change my manuscript?
So far, we’ve talked generally about what line editing can do, but let’s turn our attention to some specifics. What does this actually look like in practice?
Line editing improves action
Action is one of the biggest beneficiaries of a robust line edit. Fight scenes, tightly choregraphed interactions, and other plot elements that require a lot of movement and reader comprehension frequently get bogged down with heavy blocking, which often appears like stage directions. It’s easy to slip into directing the film of a scene, showing each moment and action, but this often only adds confusion and extra word count. The goal of line editing with action is to help readers understand what’s happening right away by trimming away what’s not necessary and making scenes dynamic.
She stood up from the floor and slowly moved across the room, extending her arm to reach toward the silver sword with her left hand then grip it with her fingers below the crossguard.
This description might be all well and good for certain scenes, but if this character is in the middle of a battle, changes to the diction, word choices, and sentence length can dramatically alter the feel of this moment.
She lurched across the chamber, reaching for the gleaming sword. When her fingers found the hilt, she gripped it, a castaway grabbing for driftwood.
As you can see, this kind of revision charges the tension of the scene, infusing it with interest and adding different details while removing what’s not needed. The parallel structure adds cadence while strong verbs say more with less words. Smooth action means readers will keep turning the pages and stay immersed in the moment. Important note: the level of changes your line editor makes will always be in line with your voice and writing style—sometimes the changes are more obvious, like this example, and sometimes they’re more subtle.
Line editing enhances characters
Consistency is the name of the game when it comes to a line edit. For characters, change is invaluable for a good story, but a line edit will ensure they’re only changing in the ways you want them to. This covers everything from physical description (their eyes are green from start to finish) to how they talk and express themselves (staying true to their character). If there is a lot of repetition when it comes to characterization—perhaps a character always scowls or wags a finger—a line editor can point out where to add other gestures or ways of describing those gestures to more fully flesh out a character.
Line editing creates purposeful dialogue
This might be an unexpected aspect of a line edit, but dialogue is key to keeping readers immersed and happy. It’s important to always ensure dialogue supports the narrative by continually moving the story forward. A line editor looks for ways to trim dialogue that isn’t doing this—often scenes where characters are catching each other up on what’s happened or things that everyone knows but the reader doesn’t. Mundane or everyday conversation can fall into this category as well. More often than not, it’s not necessary to keep all the ins and outs of conversations, even if they’re expected. For example, the first minute of a phone call or grocery store interaction frequently fall into the same patterns of hellos and how-are-yous, which aren’t progressing the story. Dialogue should reveal character, set the mood, and always, always move the story forward.
The power of line editing
Line editing can infuse your draft with line-level intentionality that supports the big ideas of your book. Line editors like us pride ourselves in making suggestions and changes that bring the unique features of your writing style to the forefront, showcasing what you do best on the page. If you’re interested in enhancing your prose and strengthening your story word by word, a line edit might be exactly what you’re looking for.
Want to talk shop about your story?
We’d love to hear about what you’re working on. We offer a wide variety of editorial services to help you take off, whether that’s finishing the next draft or publishing your work.
