5 Things to Look for When Self-Editing
You should always self-edit as much as you can before sending your manuscript to other editors. The cleaner your manuscript is, the less time an editor spends on it, and the less money you’ll spend on them! Win!
There are a ton of things you can look for when self-editing, but here are a few quick line editing tips that can really tighten up your writing.
1. Tentative Language
This shows uncertainty. If that’s your intended goal, keep it. Otherwise, find another way to say it.
“That’s okay,” she said. She seemed sad.
Why? Why did she seem sad? What was she doing that made you think that? This is better than saying “She was sad” if you’re not talking about the viewpoint character because that would be head-hopping. You don’t know her thoughts. You only know her actions. So instead of using uncertain language, describe her actions and what the viewpoint character experiences.
“That’s okay.” Her voice shook as she spoke. She brushed tears from her cheeks with shaking hands.
This shows that she’s sad rather than just telling you flat out. Much better.
2. Adverbs
Adverbs are normally words that end in -ly (sadly), but there are many words that end in -ly that aren’t adverbs (lovely) and many adverbs that don’t end in -ly (yesterday) . . . because English is silly. Adverbs describe how, when, or where something was done.
The problem is adverbs are a common case of “telling” rather than “showing.” Why tell your reader that someone did something excitedly when you can describe their excited movements to give a clearer picture? Example:
“Really?” Lily said excitedly.
“Really?” Lily said, giggling and bouncing on her toes.
You have much better picture of how Lily said her line in the second example without the adverb.
Another problem is adverbs are often redundant of what we already know.
She shouted at him angrily.
Well, of course she did. How do you shout not angrily? A good way to know if an adverb is necessary is to cut it out and see if the sentence loses anything.
She shouted at him.
I totally understand that she was angry without the adverb. Leave it out.
If you find adverbs like either of these examples in your writing, use it as an opportunity to make the writing stronger. If it’s not necessary, cut it. If it is, describe what was happening in more detail.
3. Intention to Act
Infinitives are words with to before a verb. (Examples: to walk, to cook.)
Not every instance of to is an infinitive, and not every infinitive is wrong. Showing motivation is great when the intended goal was not achieved. But they become a problem when you constantly show the intention to act rather than the action when the action was completed. Example:
She raised her burger to take a bite.
Unless something happened before she took a bite that stopped her from doing so, just say she did it.
She raised her burger and took a bite.
You don’t want the reader’s attention anywhere but the action; it gets the reader stuck. Just say what happened.
These phrases are rarely needed and are just adding extra words to your book:
in an attempt to [verb]
in order to [verb]
so as to [verb]
You can use the “Find” feature in your word processor to quickly seek out these phrases and evaluate if they are really necessary.
4. Timing Words
I’m talking about “before,” “after,” and “then.” Example:
He threw his towel onto the table before jumping in the pool.
Of course, he put down the towel before jumping in the pool. We wouldn’t think it was the other way around. Using words like this pull the reader out of the story—you don’t want that. You want your reader to be fully immersed in the book. To get around that, try this:
He threw his towel onto the table and jumped in the pool.
It’s like we are there with him as we read the story. He threw his towel onto the table. Okay, that moment has passed. Now he’s jumping in the pool. We are experiencing it as he is. Much more immersive than adding in those timing words. Cut ’em.
5. “Suddenly”
Most of the time, this is unnecessary. It’s like saying, “Hey, something important is coming up. Pay attention.” If you need to tell your reader to pay attention, something else is wrong. Go back to where you lost their attention and fix that so it never happens.
He ate his sandwich. Suddenly, the phone rang.
A phone ringing will always be sudden. Every time. You don’t need to say it was sudden.
He ate his sandwich. The phone rang.
It means the same exact thing. It doesn’t create tension to add “suddenly.” Do that with other techniques.
There are exceptions—“suddenly” works well when explaining a change in emotions. Example:
She was so happy to be surrounded by loved ones. Suddenly, she remembered the news she received earlier that day.
It works in this instance because if you cut “suddenly,” the news she received earlier that day becomes good news. With “suddenly,” you know the news is bad because it changes her thought process. She is no longer happy; she is thinking about something else.
Use these tips to better your draft before sending it off to editors. If you need more help, I’m happy to do a line evaluation for you.