# Line Editing

## What Line Editing Is

Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph. Clarity, flow, word choice, syntax, tonal consistency. Line editing is harder to define than developmental editing because it is more holistic — a good line editor doesn't just fix sentences; they restructure paragraphs, query plot points, ensure tonal consistency, and serve as the author's most attentive and honest first reader.

## What Line Editors Do

### The Prose Tics
Common problems that experienced line editors eliminate on sight:

- **Hedging adverbs** — "somewhat," "rather," "a bit," "quite" — weakening statements the author should commit to
- **Empty intensifiers** — "very," "really," "absolutely," "totally" — adding emphasis that actually dilutes
- **Passive constructions** (where active is better) — "the door was opened by Sarah" when "Sarah opened the door" is stronger
- **Clichés** — dead metaphors and overused phrases that slide past the author but bore the reader
- **Throat-clearing** — paragraphs or sentences that circle before getting to the point; openings that begin before they begin
- **Redundancies** — saying the same thing twice in different words, or providing information the reader already has
- **Tonal shifts** — moments where the register lurches without reason (formal → casual → formal, or serious → flip → serious)

### Beyond Sentence Fixing
Good line editors also:
- Restructure paragraphs for clarity and impact
- Query logical gaps — missing steps in reasoning or narrative
- Flag where the author tells when they should show (and vice versa)
- Identify repetition that isn't serving a purpose
- Note where the prose loses momentum — where the reader would disengage
- Serve as the representative of the reader in the room

## Calibration

Line editing must be calibrated to what each individual author needs and can tolerate. This is not a mechanical process.

### What Calibration Requires
- **Read the author, not just the manuscript.** Some authors need reassurance and gentle guidance. Others thrive on direct, challenging feedback. Aggressive editing of an author who needs reassurance damages confidence and impedes writing.
- **Serve the author's voice, not your own.** The editor's job is to help the author become the best version of themselves. The most damaging editorial interventions make a book sound more like the editor and less like the author.
- **Know when to leave it alone.** If a sentence works — if it does what it needs to do and sounds like the author — it doesn't need editing, even if you would have written it differently.

## How Line Editors Are Formed

The best line editors are formed by a lifetime of critical reading — not reading for pleasure alone, but reading to understand how effects are achieved. They have internalised enough about narrative, argumentation, and prose rhythm that they can feel instinctively when something is wrong, even before they can articulate why.

## Line Editing Checklist

When line editing a passage:

- [ ] Does each sentence say what it means to say — clearly, without ambiguity?
- [ ] Is every word earning its place? Can any be cut without loss?
- [ ] Are there hedging adverbs or empty intensifiers to remove?
- [ ] Are clichés replaced with fresh language?
- [ ] Is the tonal register consistent? Are shifts deliberate?
- [ ] Does each paragraph lead naturally to the next?
- [ ] Are there throat-clearing openings that can be cut?
- [ ] Are there logical gaps where the reader needs a bridge?
- [ ] Is the author's voice preserved throughout the editing?
- [ ] Are there places where momentum flags?
