8 Types of Fiction Edits I Commonly Make

Nov 12

While some edits are straightforward and based on standard writing rules (such as punctuation and spelling—sometimes), others are subjective. Every writer has a different style and voice, so the decision to edit something or leave it alone is always based on the story, the writing, and the context. That said, as a line editor and copy editor of fiction, I find myself making the same types of edits in many of the manuscripts I work on. I thought it might be helpful to review eight of the most common edits I make, with links to blog posts I’ve written that go into more depth for specific topics.

Edit #1: Editing dialogue

Dialogue is a staple in fiction, and there are various considerations and conventions when writing it. There are many aspects I’m looking at when I come across dialogue. Some are straightforward to make sure dialogue conventions are followed. Are quotation marks placed in the right spot? Are action beats incorrectly punctuated as dialogue tags? Does a change in speaker result in a new paragraph? Other decisions are more subjective, like whether the speaker is clear or ambiguous, dialogue sounds stilted for the tone of the story, or a dialogue tag bogs down the conversation.

Additional reading: Writing Dialogue: Tags, Action Beats, and Punctuation Conventions

Edit #2: Assessing pronoun usage

There are two types of edits related to the use of personal pronouns (I/me, she/her, he/him, they/them) that I often make.

Changing names to pronouns

I frequently see characters’ names used repeatedly when pronouns would suffice and actually ease readability. This is especially true in scenes that involve only one character or scenes with two characters who have different pronouns. Otherwise, it can sometimes feel like readers are being hit over the head with characters’ names.

Changing pronouns to names

Pronouns should have clear antecedents, meaning the person they’re referring to should be made explicit when there’s room for confusion. This is important when multiple characters who share the same pronouns are in a scene together. Writers know what’s happening in each scene, so they may not realize that their pronouns are ambiguous and can lead readers to be unclear on who’s doing or saying what. Therefore, in these instances, changing pronouns to characters’ names can make things clear.

Edit #3: Fixing punctuation

It’s hard to narrow down which punctuation mistakes I see the most. There are a vast number of punctuation conventions in English, and it can be hard to keep all of them straight. A running joke in editing is that our job is to move commas around—we remove them in some places and insert them in others. In addition to wrangling commas, I change hyphens to em dashes, remove apostrophes that have been used to form plurals, and add forgotten closing parentheses.

Additional reading: Punctuation Marks: An Overview, Common Punctuation Mistakes in Fiction, Hyphens and Dashes, Video Game Style

Edit #4: Forming contractions

Writers often avoid using contractions, sometimes out of concern that the writing will sound too informal. But contractions are natural in fiction writing, especially dialogue. Reading the writing out loud is a great way to get a feel for how it sounds. When writing sounds stilted, see if words can be contracted to help the flow.

Original sentence: “I would like to, but I do not see how that is possible.” This sentence doesn’t use any contractions, but there are three opportunities to form them.

Depending on the tone of the writing, there are two edits I might make:

Edit 1: “I would like to, but I don’t see how that is possible.” This edit uses one contraction. It still retains some of its formality, but the contraction helps ease the stiltedness.

Edit 2: “I’d like to, but I don’t see how that’s possible.” This edit uses all three possible contractions for the most conversational tone.

Edit #5: Lowercasing terms

I mostly edit science fiction and fantasy, and I run into a lot of capitalized terms, especially with royal titles, military ranks, and occupations. In some instances, capitalization is necessary to distinguish proper nouns from common terms or to denote the importance of certain roles. However, overusing capitalization can also work against the creation of an immersive world. In some instances, changing capitalized terms to lowercase is fairly straightforward (changing “I talked to my Mother” to “I talked to my mother”). Other times, the decision is subjective depending on the context, so a judgment call has to be made on whether the capitalization helps or hinders.

Additional reading: Capitalization in Fiction

Edit #6: Fixing confusable words

English is confusing. Language evolves. Words are spelled the same but pronounced differently, they’re pronounced the same but spelled differently, or they’re used in some instances and not others. I’ll frequently replace laid with lay, canon with cannon, and compliment with complement.

Additional reading: Common Confusables

Edit #7: Ensuring consistency of names and descriptions

Writers have a lot to keep track of when writing a book. Character names, settings, timelines, titles, and descriptions are just a few of the many details that should be consistent. Is the main character’s name spelled Sara or Sarah? Was the mom’s hair blond or red? Is Mei the company’s COO or CFO? To get these details right, I log all of this in a style sheet that I refer to as I’m editing. This way, I can either fix or query the inconsistencies.

Additional reading: Style Sheets: What They Are and How to Use Them

Edit #8: Verifying spellings of real names

When I edit, I’m consulting the internet a lot. One of the most common things I do is verify the spellings of real names, like name brands, corporations, products, or people. This isn’t as frequent when I’m editing science fiction and fantasy because a lot of those terms are invented, whereas it constantly comes up when I’m editing contemporary fiction and romance.

Bonus: Flagging conscious language issues

I can’t technically include this in the list because it’s not an edit, so I’m adding it as a bonus. I flag conscious language issues when a word or phrase has the potential to have an undesired effect on readers, usually because the word can be seen as disrespectful or stigmatizing. I simply write a comment with an explanation and offer at least one alternative. The writer then decides whether to leave as is or make a change.

Additional reading: Conscious Language, Ableism in Writing and Everyday Language, Gender and Inclusive Language

Final thoughts

While these eight types of edits are common in the manuscripts I see, there are an endless number of edits I make. Rest assured that writers aren’t expected to get all of these right and produce perfect writing. After all, there’s no such thing as perfect. Also, then I’d be out of a job.

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Crystal Shelley

As the owner of Rabbit with a Red Pen, Crystal provides fiction editing and authenticity reading services to authors and publishers. Drawing on her background as a social worker, she unites her love of language and passion for social justice by pushing for writing and representation that’s more dignified, intentional, and just. She is the creator of the Conscious Language Toolkits for Editors and Writers, serves on the board of ACES: The Society for Editing, and is an instructor for the Editorial Freelancers Association. When she's not working with words, she's probably swearing at a video game.