Top ten list: an editor's pet peeves #1

First in a series on making every word count

Earlier this year, I taught a course on fiction writing. An attendee asked what my pet peeves were as an editor—what writing issues do I see repeatedly. She clarified her question to focus specifically on the prose, not the story, plot, characters, etc.

She wanted to know how to polish and tighten her writing. A writer after my own heart!

Photo by Matthew Dockery on Unsplash

I’ve edited more than 200 manuscripts, and each one was different. Every writer has strengths, weaknesses, and unique ways of seeing the world.

But there are some little things I see over and over again, whether I’m editing a manuscript for a client, reading a published book, or re-reading my own writing. These little stains add unnecessary words, slow the pace, and distance the reader from the story and the characters.

They are little things. Little things that can …