What to Expect When Working with a Line Editor (With Two Birds Author Services)
If you've been wondering what line editing actually involves—when you need it, what the process looks like, and how to find the right person to help you—you're not alone. It's one of the most asked-about topics in the fiction writing community, and honestly, one of the most misunderstood stages of the entire revision process.
Most writers assume revision goes something like this: finish the big-picture story edits, clean up the spelling and grammar, and you're done. But there's a whole stage that lives between those two things, and it's the stage that determines whether your story actually shows up on the page the way you always imagined it would.
That stage is called line editing.
In this post, I'm breaking down everything you need to know about line editing—based on my conversation with Andrea and Michelle, the managing partners of Two Birds Author Services, who have been editing fiction together since 2018. They've worked with many writers from my own community, and I've seen firsthand how their feedback helps authors not only polish their current manuscript but also grow as writers in every book that follows.
What Is Line Editing (And What It's Not)
Let's start with the most common misconception: line editing is not proofreading, and it's not just fixing spelling and grammar. Those are two separate stages entirely.
Line editing happens after you've completed your big-picture revisions—after the plot holes are filled, the character arcs are working, and the story structure is solid. At that point, you're ready to zoom in and look at your manuscript on a sentence-by-sentence level.
As Michelle explains, line editing is about asking questions like: "Do the sentences make sense?" Is there a logical flow from one paragraph to the next? Are the word choices working to create the atmosphere and tone you want? It's a deep dive into the craft elements that make writing stand out—sentence structure, paragraph connection, word choice, pacing, and what Michelle calls your "authorial style."
This is where your voice as a writer really comes through. And it's also where a lot of writers get tripped up, because they either jump into line editing too early, or they skip it altogether and wonder why their manuscript still doesn't feel quite right even after multiple rounds of revision.
Here's the thing: if you rush into line editing before your big-picture story problems are solved, you're going to end up polishing scenes that might get cut later. That's a frustrating and time-consuming experience that's completely avoidable.
When Is Your Manuscript Ready for Line Editing?
This is one of the most important questions to ask before you hire anyone—and a good line editor will help you figure it out before they agree to take on your project.
The short answer is: your manuscript is ready for line editing when the story is working at a structural level. The plot makes sense. The characters are compelling. The scenes are doing what they need to do. You've likely been through at least one round of developmental feedback, whether from a developmental editor, beta readers, or both.
Once those foundational elements are in place, it's time to shift your focus from the big picture to the sentence level.
One thing that surprised me in my conversation with Andrea and Michelle is that they actually ask to see the full manuscript—or at least a significant chunk of it—before they agree to take on a line edit to make sure the manuscript is genuinely ready for this kind of feedback. If it still needs developmental attention, they'll tell you that directly. And honestly, that kind of transparency is exactly what you want from an editor.
How to Find the Right Line Editor for Your Manuscript
Finding the right line editor is a lot like hiring for any other role—you're looking for someone who communicates clearly, understands the type of story you're writing, and is the right fit for you as a person.
Here are a few practical steps to get started:
Ask for referrals. Talk to other writers in your community and find out who they've enjoyed working with. Word of mouth is one of the most reliable ways to find an editor who delivers.
Look at their website and portfolio. Once you have some names, do your research. What genres do they work in? What does their portfolio look like? Can you picture your book fitting there?
Think about genre fit. Genre familiarity matters, especially at the line editing stage. A great example Michelle gave: if you're writing romance with steamy scenes, you want an editor who understands the specific ways those scenes need to be handled—the word choices, the phrasing, the balance. The same applies to science fiction, where an editor who's read widely in the genre will be much more equipped to handle world-specific terminology.
That said, Andrea makes an interesting point: at the line edit stage, you're going more granular than at the developmental level. So while genre familiarity is helpful, it's not always the most critical factor. An editor who loves to read widely across genres can actually bring a really valuable perspective.
Always get a sample edit. This is non-negotiable. At Two Birds Author Services, Andrea and Michelle offer a free sample edit of around 1,000 to 1,500 words. This gives them a chance to see your writing and confirm whether it's ready for line editing. More importantly, it gives you a chance to see what their feedback looks like and whether their style resonates with you.
If you like what you see on those four or five pages, that's a really good sign. If it doesn't feel right, that's okay too. It just means there's a better fit out there for you.
Use the sample edit to protect yourself. Getting a sample edit is also one of the smartest ways to avoid scams. A reputable editor doesn't just take every manuscript that comes their way. They'll evaluate whether your work is ready and whether you're a good fit for each other.
What the Line Editing Process Actually Looks Like
Once you've found the right editor and decided to move forward, here's what you can typically expect from the process.
Onboarding and the style sheet. When you start working with Andrea and Michelle, part of the onboarding process involves creating a style sheet together. This document covers everything from your preferences on em-dash usage and slang to world-specific terminology, character names, and any series documents you want to share. This is how your editor gets up to speed on your story's world so they can work with it rather than against it. And if you work with the same editors across multiple books—which a lot of Andrea and Michelle's clients do—these style sheets carry forward, which means by the time you're on book three, they already know your world inside and out.
The editing period. For an average-length novel of around 80,000 words, Andrea and Michelle typically like to have four to five weeks to work through the manuscript. This gives them enough time to read slowly and provide thorough feedback. During this period, you might not hear much from them—they're heads-down, working. But they will reach out if they have questions or if they notice something that needs to be discussed. As Michelle puts it, if everything's going smoothly, it's quiet. But if something needs to be addressed, they'll communicate.
How the feedback is delivered. Their feedback comes through a combination of tracked changes and comments—so you can see exactly what's being suggested and why. This is an important distinction. Good line editing feedback isn't just "change this." It's "here's what I noticed, here's why it matters, and here's one possible way to address it." The final decision always stays with you.
Working through the revisions. Once you get your manuscript back, Michelle's advice is simple: do the easy stuff first. Go through the feedback, address what feels clear and straightforward, and skip anything that feels confusing or needs more thought. Track changes means nothing disappears—you can always come back. Most of the time, the feedback will be actionable, and working through it in stages makes the whole process feel much more manageable.
Will a Line Editor Damage Your Writing Voice?
This is the fear I hear most often from writers considering line editing, and I'm glad I asked Andrea and Michelle about it directly.
The short answer: no. A good line editor is not there to rewrite your manuscript in their own voice. They're there to help your voice come through more clearly on the page.
As Andrea put it, she actively tries to emulate the writer's style when making suggestions. It's your book. The feedback is there to offer possibilities, not directives. You don't have to accept anything you don't agree with. And a good editor will always explain the reasoning behind their suggestions—not just tell you what to change, but why it might be worth considering.
I can vouch for this from my own experience watching writers in my community work with Two Birds. They come back with specific, actionable awareness of their own patterns—and they carry that awareness into their future writing. That's the mark of an editor who genuinely cares about helping you grow, not just turning your manuscript around.
The Three Most Common Line Editing Mistakes in Fiction Manuscripts
One of the most valuable parts of my conversation with Andrea and Michelle was when they shared the most common sentence-level issues they see in manuscripts. Here's what they catch most often:
Clarity issues. This is the big one. It shows up at every level—from physical blocking in a scene (where is the character standing? what are they doing with their hands?) to emotional clarity (why is this character reacting this way?) to the logic flow from one paragraph to the next. As a writer, so much lives in your head. What feels obvious to you on the inside can be completely invisible on the page. Andrea's approach is to flag everything she notices and let the writer decide what actually needs to be addressed.
Weak word choices. The most common culprit here is what Andrea and Michelle call hot words. These are words that are perfectly fine in everyday conversation but become exhausting when a reader encounters them 400 times in a single manuscript. Every writer has their own hot words (mine is "that"), and certain genres have their own patterns too. Romance writers might lean on "growled" or "sighed" more than they realize. On top of hot words, this category also includes passive verbs and -ing constructions that can be replaced with stronger, more active choices that move the story forward.
Inconsistent rhythm and tone. This one is more subtle but just as important. If your manuscript has multiple POVs, each one needs to sound and feel distinct. If it's a single POV, the writing style needs to be consistent from beginning to end—not noticeably tighter in chapter one than in chapter twenty. And at the sentence level, your pacing needs to match what's happening in each scene. A slow, intimate moment calls for longer, more meandering sentences. A fast, high-stakes scene calls for shorter, sharper ones. When the sentence rhythm doesn't match the emotional temperature of the scene, readers feel it—even if they can't articulate why.
How Sentence Length and Structure Control Your Novel's Pacing
Pacing isn't just a big-picture concern—it shows up at the sentence level too, and it's one of the things Andrea and Michelle look for closely during a line edit.
As Michelle explains it, the length and rhythm of your sentences should match what's happening in each scene. A slow, intimate moment calls for longer sentences that let the reader settle in and absorb everything. A fast, high-stakes scene calls for shorter, sharper ones that create that feeling of barely catching a glimpse of something before it's gone.
When those two things are out of sync—when your sentences are long and meandering in a scene that should feel urgent, or clipped and rushed in a moment that needs room to breathe—readers feel it, even if they can't articulate why. That's precisely what a line editor is trained to spot. And it's something you can start paying attention to in your own writing before you ever hand your manuscript off.
Ready to Start Revising Your First Draft?
Before a line editor can do their best work on your manuscript, the big-picture story problems need to be solved first—the structure, the character arcs, the scene-level issues. If you're not sure whether your manuscript is there yet, that's exactly where the Revision Accelerator comes in.
In just five days, you'll learn how to evaluate your manuscript, identify what's not working, and walk away with a clear revision plan—so when the time comes to hand your manuscript off to a line editor, it's actually ready.
Click here to learn more about the Revision Accelerator →
And if you want to hear the full conversation with Andrea and Michelle—including their specific advice on the onboarding process, how they handle genre fit, and what to do when the feedback feels overwhelming—you can listen to the full episode right here on this page.
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