Line edits are where the real magic happens. You’ve got the plot and characters nice and solid, the setting’s good and your scenes contain plenty of action and conflict. Now, in line edits, you get to give your writing the polish it needs to really stand out and grab readers. Today I’d like to share five quick line editing tips to help your writing be tighter, more vivid, and engage your readers more in this awesome story you’ve written. These tips are also great to keep in mind when you’re first writing your book too.

Slay the Passive Voice: Passive voice is often what makes an action filled scene feel flat. Take a look at this sentence: “Jane was being chased”. Jane is the focus of this sentence. But Jane isn’t actually doing anything. Instead, something is being done to her. This is passive voice. Now let’s turn the sentence around so Jane isn’t the focus. “The zombie chased Jane.” Now the sentence is active, and much more interesting. If you think a sentence might be passive, try adding the words ‘by a zombie’ to it. If it still makes sense, it’s written in the passive voice. Taking our first example: “Jane was being chased by a zombie.” See how that works?

Delete Filter Words: Filter words distance readers from the main character. A close point of view helps readers connect with your main character. But filter words, words like ‘thought’ and ‘felt’ break the connection between the reader and the main character. For example: “The street was dark and forbidding. Just the right place for a zombie attack, Jane thought.” Instantly we’re spectating, not inside Jane’s head, experiencing the spooky street. This is really easy to fix. In most cases, you can take out the filter words and the sentence will be fine.

Remove Some Adverbs: Adverbs are words that modify verbs and often end in the letters –ly. For example: “Jane ran quickly towards the door.” The word ‘quickly’ is an adverb. Often, these words aren’t needed and can be replaced by stronger verbs. For example: “Jane sprinted for the door.” Here the weak verb and adverb combination has been replaced by a much stronger verb. However, don’t be afraid to keep an adverb if it’s necessary. In this sentence for example, leaving the adverb would be totally fine: “The door swung gently on one hinge.”

Be Wary of the Phrase ‘Started To’: In many cases, the phrase ‘started to’ is useless. Take a look at this example: “Jane started to hammer on the door.” Here, the words ‘started to’ could be cut with no problem at all. Removing those words leaves you with: “Jane hammered on the door.” Now the sentence is shorter, more active, and much nicer to read. There are some places to use ‘started to’, like in this sentence: “Jane started to hammer on the door, but was interrupted by a zombie.” Here the phrase shows that the character began a task but was interrupted before they could complete it.

Look Out ‘Weasel Words’: Weasel words are words that creep into your writing over and over again, even when you don’t mean to use them. Does your character always quirk an eyebrow? Or sigh a lot? Maybe things always happen ‘suddenly’. These are all examples of common weasel words. Have a read through and see if any words turn up repeatedly. Switching out your weasel words keeps your writing fresh and interesting. Weasel words can be almost any word too, so if you want an example of other words to look out for, Stephanie Morrill@Go Teen Writers has an excellent list of her weasel words for you to look at.

These are my five tips. What would you add to this list? Are any of these tips new to you? And would you be interested in seeing a part two?

Also, as you can tell, I am back from my unannounced blogging break and very happy to be back to blogging once more, with a new burst of inspiration. Thank you for all being so patient while I took time away from the blog.

So you’re preparing to edit your book. It’s probably been a while since you last set eyes on it. Time has taken the rough edges off your memory of the book. Everything looks bright and positive. The book was actually pretty solid when you left it last time. A quick read through and you’ll know exactly what to do to fix the few problems lurking in dark corners. It’s going to be the most epic book in the history of publishing. It might even beat Harry Potter for popularity.

Then you start reading.

All of those bright dreams are shattered in an instant. Who wrote this pile of rubbish? This is not the book you were imagining in all its perfection. This is so bad it hurts to look at it. Suddenly editing this book doesn’t seem like so much fun after all. It’s going to take ever so much work to make it right. Is it even worth it? Suddenly this isn’t your most favourite book after all. That one about the mutant three legged goat was so much better surely.

Fear not. Most books are pretty rough around the edges when you first start editing. It’s very easy to fall out of love with your book, no matter how great the concept is. But there are several ways to ease the pain of editing and stay in love with your book throughout the process. Here are my top four.

Give your book permission to be bad. This is a piece of advice often suggested for first drafts, but I think it’s equally important to remember this when you’re editing. After all, it’s the same terrible book you allowed yourself to write before. So let it be a heap of rubbish. You can totally fix it all in time.

Make a list of things you love. It’s important to remember exactly what you loved about the book when you’re wading through its terribleness. Make a list of the things that you love about your story. Maybe it’s one of the characters. It could be the setting, one of the scenes in particular, or a relationship. Whatever it is, write it down. Then, when you’re feeling down about your book, you can remind yourself of just what makes this book worth fixing.

Find someone to root for your book. One of my sisters is very good at cheering me up about my books, even when she doesn’t know anything about it. Find someone to be enthusiastic about your book, preferably someone who doesn’t mind listening to you moan about your story regularly. Just having someone to vent to and to remind you of all the good things you’ve said about your book can be a big relief.

Make a physical reminder of your book’s awesomeness. Find pictures that remind you of your book’s setting or characters. Or draw your own pictures. Make a playlist of songs that remind you of your story. Whatever it is that reminds you of your book and characters, gather those up and use them to remind yourself of how cool your book really is.

These are my top ways to stay in love with my book while editing. How do you combat the editing blues? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Being an avid reader and writer, books are obviously a very important part of my life. Which means that my bookshelves house a pretty impressive array of books (in my opinion anyway). Today I’m linking up with Sunny Smith@A Splash of Ink's Bookshelf tag, which is all about sharing our awesome bookshelves with other booklovers. Too good to pass up, right? So, without further ado, here we go with the questions.

1. If you can, share a picture of your bookshelves (piles of books, boxes of books, anywhere you store your books) or describe the set-up you have. 

I was going to share a picture of my bookshelves, but there are nine of them and I have no pictures to hand, so I shall have to get out my powers of description and tell you about them instead. As I said, there are nine of them. Two are huge and green and filled with double rows of fiction books sitting in the family room. By the front door is another large bookshelf filled with the rest of the fiction. Then there’s another six dotted around the house with classic fiction, Shakespeare play scripts, and various craft books, cook books, and other interesting non-fiction. We might possibly have a lot of books.

2. How do you sort your books? Author, genre, not at all?

Our bookshelves are rather mixed up unfortunately, despite my best efforts to reorganise them occasionally. Fiction books are grouped by series and authors, but certainly not by alphabetical order. Don’t be ridiculous! As for the rest of the books, craft books are together, but not organised by type, and the same with cookbooks. The rest of the shelves are a hodge podge of mixed books. No organisation there.

3. Do you have any special trinkets or decorations on your shelves, or are they purely business?

Our bookshelves are covered in all sorts of things, from screwdrivers, gaffer tape and small engine parts to birthday cards, pictures, candles (unlit), and many, many statues. The decorations are as many and varied as the books. Those shelves are just so handy for so many purposes.

4. What genre dominates your bookshelf? Or what genres make up your bookshelf?

There are rather a lot of genres on the shelves. I can’t even begin to work out what genres I have the most of.

5. Are there any books on your shelf that you're particularly proud of?

I think that would be the collection of Shakespeare plays. For many years, my family has been collecting second hand copies of his plays and reading them aloud. We have quite a respectable collection by now, though I’m sure people do wonder why we have five versions of Henry V on the shelf.

6. What is the ratio between read books and TBR books on your shelf?

In the fiction books, I am proud to say that I’ve read probably 90% at a rough estimate. Seriously, I was clearing out the bookshelves a few weeks ago, and I realised there was barely a book on there that I hadn’t read at some point. Bookaholic? Maybe. Non-fiction, I’ve probably read 10% at best.

7. What is the most recent addition to your bookshelf?

Hmm, it was probably Rick Riordan’s Greek Gods. Which I still need to read at some point. I’ve heard it’s rather hilarious, but that impossible TBR list stays as long as ever, so I haven’t managed to get around to reading that one yet.

8. Describe your dream bookshelf setup.

My dream bookshelf setup is pretty much exactly the same as the library in Beauty and the Beast. Books lining all the walls from floor to ceiling. A whole room devoted to books. With a sofa and a never ending urn of tea. Glorious.

Tell me, what is your dream bookshelf setup? Are you participating in the tag? There’s still time if you want to link up!

Every week, I ask you guys to recommend me some new Writing Music, and I love it when people tell me what they enjoy listening to. I’ve discovered several new favourite pieces that way, and it’s always fun exploring what other people like to listen to. Last week, Natalie J. Williams@Snazzery recommended I try the music of Thomas Bergersen. So, this week, I listened to a few of his pieces, and I was very glad I did. Thomas Bergersen composes epic soundtrack-esque music that is just perfect for writing to, or just for listening to in general. In particular, I liked his piece Dragonland.

This song starts out very simply and quietly and gradually builds up into a full-bodied, exciting piece complete with choir backing vocals. It has a sense of urgency from the very beginning, which only grows throughout the piece. Listening to this song, I am reminded of nothing so much as a battle or chase scene in a fantasy novel. It could also possibly suit a historical novel as well, such as one about Vikings or Romans. To me, this piece would suit a scene involving invaders, or soldiers chasing after an unarmed victim.

What sort of scene do you think this would suit? Have you ever listened to any music by Thomas Bergersen? What was your favourite piece of his? What are you listening to this week? Recommend me some more awesome music. I always love discovering new sources of amazing writing music.

Last week involved another epic library trip, and I came away with an awesome haul of interesting looking books. Amongst the many genres in my stack, I added a new one this time: graphic novels. I’ve never actually tried a graphic novel before, though I’ve read comics like Tintin and Asterix and Obelix. Graphic novels were really introduced to me by people like Cait@PaperFury, and now that my library is finally starting up a collection, I figured it was time to give them a go for myself.

Having read all of one graphic novel since said epic trip, I have a few initial thoughts about graphic novels. For me, it was a very interesting experience. I’m not used to my books having so very few words in them. Looking at a page with six words and twelve pictures is a little strange, but at the same time, having the colourful pictures made a nice change. However, I also found interestingly enough, that I wasn’t as immersed in the story world in the graphic novel as I am in a book. I think it’s the fact that the scene is laid out before me rather than requiring effort on my part to imagine it all. Hmm, does that mean that I prefer to work hard while reading?

I still have five more graphic novels to try before I make up my mind about whether I like them or not. But I would love to know your opinion. What do you think of graphic novels? Have you ever read any? If not, would you? Have you any good graphic novels to recommend to me?

Today I have something a little different from normal. Usually I have an amazing piece of music that is just write for writing to. Well this week is different. Today I have not one, but three pieces of music from three of my favourite artists: Peter Hollens, Taylor Davis, and Lindsey Stirling. These all pieces are linked by one thing. They are absolutely perfect for writing action scenes to. So without further ado, let’s get to the music.

This first piece is an awesome acappella medley of music from World of Warcraft, performed by Peter Hollens. This music reminds me of two armies marching across a battlefield, facing off in a pivotal fight, perhaps where the odds are stacked against our heroes. The lighter section in the middle gives this piece a feeling of hope, as if, though the fight will be hard, there is still a chance for good to triumph.

The second piece is a violin cover of the Avengers Theme, performed by Taylor Davis. This piece has a very positive feel to it. To me it suits a smaller cast of characters. Perhaps they are setting out on a mission that is by no means easy, but at the same time is not impossible either. My interpretation of this piece is coloured by my knowledge of the movie, but I would be very interested in hearing what you think this song suits.

The final piece for today is the Halo Theme, performed by Lindsey Stirling in collaboration with another very talented musician, William Joseph. This piece starts quite slowly and softly, but with an underlying feeling of tension that builds up into a song of grim determination. I see a character facing a difficult situation, perhaps on their own, or with a small but loyal group of friends, willing to risk much for their cause.

What are you listening to this week? Which of these pieces do you like the best? What sort of scenes do you think they would suit? What music gets you in the mood for a great action scene?