One of the best ways to tighten up your prose is by learning to find and eliminate redundancies. Trust me, this is easier than it sounds.

First, you have to put some distance between yourself and your manuscript (if you can, give it a month but at least a minimum of 2 weeks if you’re working on a deadline).

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Second, look for places where give readers more detail than necessary.

For example:

She opened the door and got in the car.

Just say –

She got in the car.

You really don’t need to tell us that the door was opened – it’s implied by the natural order of things. Now, if you’re writing about a superhero just getting a hold of her incredible strength, then perhaps this simple every day fact might be worth mentioning if she’s been struggling with keeping doors on hinges. Otherwise, consider it commonsense and delete it.

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He smashed his fist through the wall cursing in anger.

Just say –

He smashed his fist through the wall cursing.

Here it should be obvious that he’s angry or doing this action ‘in anger’ based on the build up of tension prior to this point or immediately after. It isn’t necessary to tell us how a character is feeling if you’ve already shown us.

So, go forth and rid your prose of these redundancies for a cleaner, sharper, better flowing manuscript.

Happy Editing!

Categories: Editing

Tags: editing advice, editing for clarity, editing help, editing tip, excessive detail, M.J. Moores, redundancy, tightening prose, too much detail