What are the 20 Essential Editing Tips for Aspiring Authors? Your Guide to Polishing Your Manuscript

You have written your first draft—great job! That's an accomplishment! However, writing the last word of your draft is only half the process. Now you're at the point where you will separate amateur manuscripts from well-edited manuscripts that are published-ready. That’s when the necessary as well as essential editing tips come to the scene to help you polish your draft before hiring a professional editor. These top 20 editing tips will help sharpen your prose and uncover the potential of your story.

1. Walk Away Before You Edit

Allow yourself a couple of days (or weeks) away from your manuscript. The time off will help you re-evaluate your draft with a fresh perspective. It's often much easier to identify flaws in flow, pacing, and logic when you've allowed time and distance. 

2. Read Your Work Aloud

Reading your work aloud will force you to hear any awkward phrasing, repeated words, and unnatural dialogue. Our ears often catch things our eyes miss.

3. Structure, Structure, Structure

Don't get caught up in editing grammar when you need to examine the bigger picture. Checking the big picture includes: Does the story flow well? Are there plot holes? Is each chapter propelling the story? Fixing your structure to begin with will save you time and energy if you end up cutting a chapter or paragraph. 

4. Kill Your Darlings

This is a classic piece of editing advice and it holds importance even today. If you have a line or a scene that doesn't serve the story (no matter how beautiful it is)—cut it!

5. Eliminate Redundancy

When writers repeat ideas, phrases, or feelings, they're usually unaware of it. Look for places where you're repeating yourself, and eliminate the text and ideas wherever appropriate to get a tighter read.

6. Remove Redundant Adjectives and Adverbs

Rather than saying, "very tired," consider "exhausted." Strong nouns and verbs will always beat a sentence loaded with modifiers.

7. Use Stronger Tags

A good rule when it comes to tags is to use "said" and "asked" far more than "exclaimed" or "chortled." What happens in the dialogue and the circumstances it occurs in should convey a feeling, rather than the same old cliched tags.

8. Varying Sentence Length and Structure

Mixing short and long sentences creates rhythm and movement, which helps the reader engage. Too many of the same form become robotic or chaotic.

9. Use an Active Voice

"He closed the door" is stronger than "The door was closed by him." Active voice produces a more immediate and energetic experience than passive voice.

10. Cut Filter Words

Words like felt, heard, noticed, and realized detach the reader from the experience— for example, instead of writing, "She felt cold", write, "She shivered."

11. Look For Consistency

Ensure your character’s names, timeline, tense, and details remain consistent through the book. If fact-checking is not your strong point, create a style sheet to keep track of key facts.

12. Don't Info Dump

Avoid dumping large amounts of backstory at the same time. Insert it naturally through dialogue, action, and thought. 

13. Check Your Pacing

Are you spending too much time on slow scenes that gloss over the big turning points? Is the pacing equal to the emotion? 

14. Make Sure Your Scene Transitions are Smooth

Choppy or confusing transitions can scare the reader. Make sure one scene flows logically into the next. 

15. Make Sure You Have Emotional Beats

Ensure that your characters are emotionally strong! Moments when the character plays a crucial role in making a choice, taking a new direction, or facing an important dilemma - and don't bury them in filler. 

16. Get Beta Readers (Before Professional Editors)

 Beta readers can provide you with valuable feedback on what is working and what is not. The strength of your manuscript will be better before a professional even looks at it. 

17. Line Edit for Voice and Flow

Once the structure is locked in, the next step is to work on line-level clarity. Does each sentence serve a purpose? Is your tone consistent? Are your metaphors original? 

18. Proofread Last (and Separately)

Don't take proofreading into the phase of making developmental edits. Only proofread once the structure and wording are settled—because if you do it earlier, then you will need to do it all over again!

19. Use Editing Tools—With Care

At a basic level, tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid can be useful in spotting some of the easier mistakes to catch, but don't trust them too blindly because there are a lot of things they miss and they don't know your tone, voice or context. 

20. Know When to Bring in an Expert

If you're serious about publishing (especially if you are self-publishing) then you can make a professional editor your best ally. They will take your manuscript to a level that will attract agents, publishers, or readers. 

Conclusion

Editing is the stage where the magic of your story can shine. It's not about perfecting the draft; it is about precision, clarity, and connection.

So whether you're honing a novel, a memoir, or a thought-leadership book, these 20 tips are meant to guide you toward a manuscript you can feel proud of.

Need professional support on your editing journey?

At Rolling Authors editors have experience with Indian & international publishing standards. If you need developmental edits or something a bit more final, we are at your service, guided by your voice and where you want to go with your work.

Explore our editing services at www.rollingauthors.com