Fiction Writing: The 3 Different Levels of Editing
What is the best way to edit a manuscript? Do you even know where to start? Are you familiar with the difference between revisions, line edits, and copy edits?
In our post, Fiction Writing: 3 Levels of Editing Your Story, we discuss the various phases of editing with checklists to help you get started so you can make your novel the best it can be!
Tips to consider before you start the editing process:
Writing a book is an intimate process and many times after finishing, the author is too close to the story to check for any errors. This is why it is a good idea to have a critique group or hired professional editor read over it for you.
Additionally, it is highly recommended that an author set the story aside for a while before jumping into the revision phase, even if it is just a week or a few days. A 2-week break would be highly beneficial, unless, of course, you are on a tight deadline. You need time away to distance yourself from the story so that when you come back to it again, you can read the manuscript with fresh eyes. You need to be able to look at it from a reader’s perspective.
What are the 3 Levels of Editing?
1) Revisions (or Macro Edits)
After you have completed your manuscript, the first round of edits you will need to do are Revisions (also called Macro Edits.) This is when you look at the story as a whole to see if there are any major issues or large chunks that should be rewritten. There is no point in fixing grammar and smaller details until you have your main story in place or you will end up wasting time on sections that may need to be cut.
In the revision phase, you should consider the following questions:
- Does your story have a clear beginning, middle, and end?
- Have you started your story in the right place or should you start further in?
- Does the story open with a problem the main character is trying to solve?
- Is your inciting incident revealed before the end of Act I? (Usually by the end of Chapter 3)
- Did you include too many large blocks of backstory in the beginning pages?
- Is the general flow and pacing of the story consistent? Have you kept track of your story timeline with a calendar?
- Are your characters likable or do some need a personality adjustment?
- Do you have any character names that sound too similar and may confuse the reader?
- Have you included too many characters or overcomplicated the plot?
- Does the story go off on any awkward tangents that do not contribute to the main body of the story? Can these sections be cut? Can any needed information from these sections be inserted elsewhere?
- Are there any scenes that would be stronger if they were combined with another?
- Are you following traditional story structure and hitting each plot point?
- Does each chapter move the story forward?
- Does each scene lead smoothly into the next? Or do some appear out of order?
- Does the middle of your book drag? Can you add a fast-paced mini sequence or event here to spice things up? A major reversal in the plot?
- Have you used sticky notes or index cards to separate and follow each story thread or subplot to make sure it progresses consistently without any plot holes?
- Do the characters have a progressive character arc?
- Keep a list to track how many POV pages you give to each character within one chapter and how many per book to see if it is even or somewhat consistent.
- Check the number of pages per each chapter to make sure most are evenly consistent. It will jar the pacing and the reader if most of your chapters are 25 pages and then you have one that is only 9 pages.
- Check the end of each scene and each chapter for hook endings to keep the reader turning pages. Does this scene matter? Have a purpose?
- Does every plot event move the story forward?
- Are the characters decisions driving the story leading them to act, rather than just passively react to external trouble being thrown their way?
- Does each character and sub-character have a purpose, a specific reason for being included in this story?
- Do you have enough external conflict as well as internal conflict?
- Motivation check: Are the characters actions in each scene believable? Consistent with their personality and backstory?
- Have you adequately conveyed the story’s theme?
- Do you need to make changes to the plot? Have you set up or introduced the skills, items, or objects needed at the climax at least 3 times earlier in the story?
- Does your climax solve the story problem? Are all sub-plots wrapped up? Did you leave any minor loose ends that might lead to a sequel?
- Have you shown the character has changed at the end of the story by having him/her do something he/she couldn’t do at the beginning of the novel? Is it symbolized by an object? (Such as a wedding ring?)
Basically, you are taking an overview look at the entire manuscript and need to decide which parts of the story work and which do not.
For further exploration into Macro Edits, you may want to check out our post: Macro Edits: Looking at Your Story as a Whole
2) Line Edits (or Micro Edits)
Next, you will want to look closer at each scene, each paragraph, each line, and do what is referred to as Line Edits (also called Micro Edits.) Now that the main body of your story is locked into place, you will want to zoom in a little closer to evaluate everything at the scene level.
This is where you should look at:
- Sentence structure. Do you have any run-on sentences that should be broken up into two? Awkward fragments that do not make sense?
- The flow of dialogue between characters. Is any of it too stiff or clunky? Do you have too many ‘he said’ dialogue tags instead of action beats to designate who is speaking?
- Do a search for how many uses of the word ‘it’ you have on the first three pages and replace them with more specific nouns defining what ‘it’ is.
- Cut as many ‘ly’ words or adverbs as you can.
- Delete passive or weak ‘to be’ verbs like ‘is’ and ‘was’ and replace with stronger verbs. Cut as many ‘ing’ words as you can. Instead of ‘he was walking’ say ‘he walked.’
- Check research data for accuracy.
- Look for clichés and reword to make your story fresh and unique.
- Delete repetitious passages, words, or phrases. Do you have the same word repeated in the same sentence? Or a ‘pet’ word that you use too often? Or perhaps there is a unique word that appeared a few sentences earlier that you unconsciously repeated again?
- Also check for similar or seemingly repetitious scenes conveying the same information. (It doesn’t matter if the conversation is with a different character. The reader has already heard it. Move on.) Also cut any repetitive or rehashed arguments between characters. Each scene should move the story forward.
- Are you using the elements of Scene & Structure? Scene=Goal, Conflict, Disaster and Sequel=Emotion, Thought, Quandary, Decision which becomes the next scene goal.
See our blog post: Scene & Sequel: The Secret to Plotting an Epic Novel
- Reevaluate the paragraphing. Does it look pleasing to the eye or have big chunks that need to be reformatted to create more white space on the page? Do you have three paragraphs in a row that all start with the same word? Are you ‘burying’ the dialogue in the middle of the paragraph instead of keeping it to the beginning or end to let it stand out?
- Check the consistency of each character’s POV (point of view) to make sure there’s no head-hopping within a scene.
- Have you properly introduced the setting and time of day or passage of time at the beginning of each scene to ground the reader before jumping into the action and dialogue? Especially when switching to a new POV? Evaluate each of your transitions between different chapters and scenes.
- Are you using the 5 senses in every scene to bring your description to life?
- Highlight the amount of description verses action on the page to see how well your story is balanced.
- Are your scenes filled with enough body language and emotion?
- Make sure you are showing and not telling the reader what is happening.
- Check the ending hooks of each scene. Are they climatic enough to keep the reader turning pages? Does this scene matter? Have a purpose?
- Pronouns: Look at your sentences to make sure the pronoun refers back to the last person’s name or descriptor. When you use ‘he’ and ‘she’ or ‘they,’ are you referring to the right person?
- Are you consistently writing in the same tense instead of switching from third person to first person and then back again? (Unless it was intentional from the start to write the story this way.)
- Remember it is ‘cause’, then ‘effect’ / stimulus, then Make sure you are not ‘putting the cart before the horse’ in your sentences. If a character reacts to something, whatever was the stimulus that made them react must happen first. This is also true with dialogue. You cannot have a tag saying a character whispered when you didn’t have the line of dialogue yet. The dialogue must come first. Then you can add a tag indicating ‘she whispered.’
3) Copy Edits (or Proofreading / Polishing)
Most of the work should be completed in the Revision and Line Editing stages. By the time you get to Copy Edits (also called Proofreading or Polishing), only a word or two here and there should need to be changed.
During Copy Edits, the manuscript may already be formatted for publishing and all you need to do is scan for things such as:
- Missed spelling errors or repeated words.
- Missing or inaccurate punctuation (especially missing end quotes on dialogue and missing periods at the end of sentences.) Also look for isolated punctuation in places it does not belong, such as a set of quotation marks floating on the white space of a page far away from any dialogue.
- Correct indents, paragraphing, and proper scene and page breaks.
- Scan for any stylistic formatting errors. If you capitalize or italicize something in one place in your manuscript, make sure you consistently capitalize or italicize it consistently in all other areas.
- Double check that you have the right names for each character in every passage, especially if you have changed a few names along the way.
- Check to make sure each character’s hair or eye color did not unexpectedly change. This also goes for pets and other animals.
- Any other minor typos.
We hope you have enjoyed Fiction Writing: 3 Levels of Editing Your Story, and that you have gained some valuable insight to revise, edit, and polish your manuscript.
If you have any questions or would like to leave a comment below, we would love to hear from you!
And if you would like additional help developing your story idea, we invite you to download our Free Brainstorming Your Story Idea Worksheet.
Do you find it difficult to create compelling antagonists and villains for your stories? Do your villains feel cartoonish and unbelievable? Do they lack motivation or a specific game plan? Discover the secrets to crafting villains that will stick with your readers long after they finish your story, with our How to Create Antagonists & Villains Workbook.
This 32-page instructional workbook is packed with valuable fill-in-the-blank templates and practical advice to help you create memorable and effective antagonists and villains. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, this workbook will take your writing to the next level.
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is a multi-published author, speaker, and writing coach. She writes sweet contemporary, inspirational, and historical romance and loves teaching aspiring writers how to write quality fiction. Read her inspiring story of how she published her first book and launched a successful writing career.
