Three Tips for Line Editing
Welcome to TEA Delivered, the newsletter of The Editorial Ally (TEA)!
Are you doing your own line editing? Keep an eye out for these three scenarios.
Let the argument or evidence speak for itself.
Writers often like to include phases such as “it is important that” or “it is notable that” or words such as “importantly” or “significantly.” For example, “It was notable that no one had ever spoken on this topic before Lou Ellen.” Rather than telling the reader the event was notable, however, show it, and let the evidence speak for itself. For instance, “Because no one had ever spoken on this topic before Lou Ellen, her choice of subject surprised the audience.”
If you do use these phrases and words as transitions in your writing, do so sparingly. Because if everything is “important,” “notable,” or “significant” than the words lose their meaning.
Check the use of the words “rather” and “instead.”
I often see sentence combinations such as:
“The shop owners did not make the ice cream themselves. Rather/Instead they had it produced it in a factory.”
The logical fallacy here is that the second sentence corroborates the first, but “rather” and “instead” set up the expectation of an oppositional point. The clearer phrasing would remove “rather” or “instead.” For example:
“The shop owners did not make the ice cream themselves. They had it produced in a factory.”
Remove the passive voice by “flipping” the sentence.
Example: “The fields were planted by enslaved workers.”
If you “flip” this sentence it becomes “Enslaved workers planted the fields.” “Flipping” this sentence removes the passive voice and animates the writing, which makes grammarians happy, but more importantly** it defines the historical actors, or “peoples” the history as I like to say.
**Notice that in this case “importantly” is being used differently than in the first example above. As part of the phrase “more importantly,” it explains the existence of a hierarchy.
***
Not everyone can line edit their own work, but if you do, you need to be able to “see” the writing with the freshest eyes possible. To achieve fresh(er) eyes, take a break of at least a few days before you start line editing. Another option is to read the text out loud, which will change the way you engage with the words.
And if you decide that you don’t have the time, expertise, or bandwidth for line editing, reach out. I’m happy to help.
Keep writing (and revising!)—
Katherine
Do you find TEA Delivered useful? If so, subscribe to have it sent directly to your inbox and share it with a colleague, friend, or student.