Writing Tip #19: The Line-Level Edit

A writing tip a day every day for 2025

This week, I’m talking about the Six Stages of Self-Editing. I’ve alread covered:
- The Structural Edit
- The Character Edit
- The Worldbuilding Edit
- The Scene-Level Edit
- The Nuance Edit.

Today is the Line-Level Edit.

This is likely the edit you thought of first when you thought about editing. This is the round of editing where you go through your manuscript with a fine-toothed comb to make sure all the details are right and that the line-level writing sounds the way you want it to.

Why do I have you do this type of editing so late in the process? It’s the fifth of six rounds, after all.

It’s because you now can feel reasonably confident that all the scenes are not only necessary and will therefor stay in the book, but they’re also in the correct order. The big stuff is done, you’ve built the castle, now it’s time to decorate.

I will offer advice on this type of editing throughout the year, as this is really too detailed to include as a “tip” in a single post, but here are the highlights:

1. Check for consistent details: things like a character’s eye color, the weather, how many Tuesdays are in a week, how you spell the minor character’s name “Linnette” or “Linnet” or something else entirely.