If you’ve ever felt like your edits aren’t improving your story enough, especially considering how much time and energy you’ve poured into them, then you’re going to love today’s post.
When I used to revise my work, I was ineffective at best. I’d swap in a stronger verb, tighten some pacing, or polish a line of dialogue. But somehow, the story never got better.
It took me years to realize that I was editing wrong.
Once I figured it out, everything changed. My revisions became more focused, more effective, and, best of all, faster. I was finally making meaningful improvements to my story.
Today, I’m sharing the exact lessons I learned so you can stop completing endless revisions and start making real progress.
What You’ll Learn
- The #1 mistake writers make when self-editing
- Why this mistake sabotages your revisions
- What to do instead
- A clear editing roadmap to guide your next round of edits
The Biggest Editing Mistake Writers Make
I used to edit like I was meandering through a meadow—pausing to pick a flower (aka fix a sentence), then skipping to the next one that caught my eye. It was peaceful, but ultimately pointless.
Sure, I’d fix a few lines. But the story itself? It stayed the same.
The mistake? Editing everything at once without a plan.
I didn’t realize I was blending multiple types of edits together—story edits, sentence-level tweaks, grammar corrections—all at the same time. No wonder I never made any real progress.
In college, I was taught to critique creative writing by considering everything at once: pacing, tone, grammar, word choice, even character motivation. And that’s what I did with my own stories.
But those edits only polished portions of the surface. They didn’t fix the actual problems.
That’s because I didn’t yet understand the different levels and types of editing, and how important it is to focus on one at a time.
The Secret to Effective Edits: Focus
Editing without focus is like going grocery shopping without a plan, grabbing whatever looks good, and assuming it’ll all come together later.
You pick up some fresh herbs, a random protein, pasta, maybe a dessert—but you’re not following a recipe, and you don’t really know what meal you’re making.
Then you get home and try to cook… and realize nothing quite fits together. You’re missing key ingredients, and some of what you bought doesn’t work with anything else.
That’s exactly what happens when you edit your story without knowing what kind of edit you’re doing. You might improve a sentence or two, or spot a typo, but without a clear goal, you’re not actually moving the story forward. You’re just collecting pieces that don’t form a full, satisfying whole.
To make real progress, you need to edit in layers, and each layer has its own purpose.
4 Types of Editing (And What They Focus On)
There are four primary types of editing. Each has its own job and should be done at a different stage of the revision process.
1. Structural Editing
Focus: Big-picture story elements.
Structural editing looks at your story as a whole—plot, pacing, character arcs, world-building, and thematic threads. You’ll ask: Does this story work? Does it build to a satisfying resolution? Do the characters grow in believable ways?
Structural edits usually happen at the story level (macro view) and then at the scene level (micro view) once the big pieces are in place.
💡Tip: Don’t waste time fixing sentences you might delete. Structure comes before style.
2. Line Editing
Focus: How the story is told.
Once your story structure is solid, you can zoom in on how your prose reads. Line editing focuses on tone, voice, sentence rhythm, wordiness, and emotional impact.
You’ll ask: Does this flow? Does it sound like my narrator? Am I repeating myself? Is the dialogue sharp and realistic?
This stage works mostly at the line level, with some attention to word-level choices.
3. Copy Editing
Focus: Technical correctness.
Now it’s time to put on your grammar hat. Copy editing checks your work for correctness—grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency (e.g., character names, timeline), and style guide adherence.
You’ll work at the line and word level, and this phase is more rules-based than intuitive.
4. Proofreading
Focus: Final polish before publishing.
Proofing is your last line of defense before publication. You’ll look for typos, formatting issues, and any remaining grammar or spelling errors that slipped through.
This should be done after your manuscript is formatted. Otherwise, you might miss issues introduced during layout.
Levels of Editing
Each editing type happens at a different level:
- Story-Level: Big-picture arcs and structure
- Scene-Level: Pacing, escalation, and purpose of each scene
- Line-Level: Sentence clarity, rhythm, tone, and flow
- Word-Level: Precise word choice, grammar, and technical errors.
If you skip around without a plan, you risk doing the same work multiple times, or worse, missing the biggest issues altogether.
Editing Roadmap (Your New Revision Plan)
Here’s the order I recommend for tackling your edits:
✅ Step 1: Structural Edits (Story-Level)
Look at the big picture. Fix major issues with character arcs, pacing, theme, and plot structure.
✅ Step 2: Structural Edits (Scene-Level)
Once your story structure is locked in, make sure each scene pulls its weight, escalates conflict, and earns its place in the story.
✅ Step 3: Line Editing
Refine how the story is told. Elevate your voice, trim redundancies, and clarify the emotional tone.
✅ Step 4: Copy Editing
Clean up grammar, punctuation, and consistency issues.
✅ Step 5: Proofreading
Do one final pass after formatting to catch typos and ensure everything looks perfect before hitting publish.
Quick Recap
- The #1 mistake writers make when editing? Trying to fix everything at once.
- When you lack focus, your edits don’t stick, and your story doesn’t improve.
- Instead, edit in stages: Structural → Line → Copy → Proof.
- Each phase serves a purpose, and each deserves your full attention.
If this breakdown helped clarify things for you, leave a comment or share what phase of editing you’re currently in. And if you’d like a future post on the difference between editing your story and editing your writing, let me know. I’ve got a lot to say on that too.
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