by Cami Walters-Nihipali
So you’ve rewritten your book baby, creating the best, most cohesive story that you can. It’s sat for the last several weeks, allowing you some distance to see it through fresh eyes on your next read through. You’re ready for the LINE EDIT.
What’s a line edit? A line edit is the examination of a work’s form. This doesn’t mean structure but rather the choices made to create that structure through a stylistic lens. The structure of the paragraphs, the word choices, the literary devices convey a depth of meaning in the work. This edit looks at the flow of your ideas from one moment to the next to shape clarity and cohesion.
Some things a line editor might address:
Verb use and verb tense consistency. Are you using passive voice or active voice?
Repetition of words. You’ve used the word “looking” ten times in the last two pages.
Dialogue tags.
The adverb tell versus the adjective show.
You’ve used the same description to describe a different situation. Let’s fix that.
So on and so forth . . .
(Not sure how this is different from a copy edit? Don’t worry! I’ll explain this in more detail in the next post. The simplified version is that a copy edit is looking at function of grammar and writing conventions in relationship to rules rather than the form to convey style).
In terms of budget, this edit will cost a nice chunk of change. It’s time intensive (though not as much as a developmental edit), so you can expect to pay between $.04-.05 per word depending on your editor’s experience (be sure to ask for referrals and experience, my friends). While I don’t recommend doing this on your own, here are five things to look for in your manuscript:
Repetition of words and ideas. Cut and rewrite.
Stylistic choices.
What literary devices are you using? Is there cohesion. Are they flowing from one moment to the next or are they choppy, disjointed and mixed?
How is sentence structure and flow?
Are you info dumping or weaving information into the prose?
Are you using the right words to convey meaning? (Beware employing the thesaurus if you aren’t sure on the actual meaning of words selected).
Adverbs. Adverbs. Adverbs. Review: Cut? Keep? Rewrite?
Dialogue tags. Did you use “she hissed”? Do people hiss? Is she a snake?
Hopefully this helps you get a sense of the line edit and how it differs from the developmental and copy edit.