Use These 12 Proven Best Self-Editing Tips For Romance Authors

December 4, 2023

Best Self-Editing Tips for Romance

Are you ready to dive into self-edits, but not quite sure where to begin or what to do?

I’ve got your back! I’m Kaitlin, a fiction editor for indie authors and I’m here to lay it all out for you! Keep reading to find out my twelve best self-editing tips for romance authors.

Tip 1: Map Out Your Beats

Mapping out the plot (or beats) of your romance novel can show you:

What your story is missing
Where the pacing needs to be adjusted
The emotional arcs of the characters

As a romance editor, I like Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. (This is an affiliate link and I may make a small commission if you purchase using it.) It introduces an easily understandable story structure, while weaving in expected conventions of the genre.

You can absolutely plot out your novel in a different way, but I do think that mapping your story out before you begin hardcore editing helps you see the bigger picture of your content. It can provide you with a more macro view of the manuscript and help you to see immediately where adjustments and revisions will need to take place.

When mapping out your story, remember to also pay attention to the INTERNAL conflict, as well as the EXTERNAL conflict. In romance, the emotional journey is more important than the external plot, so make sure the emotional journeys of your characters are well-developed.

Tip 2: Where's the Action?

When you’re writing a first draft it is easy to start a scene in the “beginning”…like say, on a bus, or when waking up, or walking down the hall…but those are (usually) pretty boring ways to begin a scene.

When you’re editing, you want to look for those scene starters and revise them so that they begin with the action. Eliminate the minutiae of daily life, and focus on the action that readers need to see.

Tip 3: Is This an Info-Dump?

Keep your exposition short and introduce it naturally. It’s very common in first drafts to have lots of info-dumping or long paragraphs full of exposition because that’s how you as the author create your world and investigate your characters and their motivations.

Those long paragraphs and info-dumps do not belong in your published story. Self-editing is the time to take them out. Ask yourself: Is this information essential to the plot? Be honest! Is it really essential? If not, cut it.

And don’t try and be sneaky by turning your info-dumps into dialogue between two characters. Readers can tell! Dialogue info-dumps are still info-dumps.

Tip 4: Cut Your Adverbs

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “show, don’t tell.”

Adverbs tend to tell the reader what is happening, rather than show them. Too many adverbs is a sign of weak or lazy writing.

For example, “Kaitlin smiled brightly” is telling the reader how Kaitlin smiled. A much stronger sentence is, “Kaitlin’s eyes twinkled as her mouth broke into a large grin.” The second one paints a vivid picture for the readers and is much stronger.

No, you don’t need to eliminate all your adverbs. Sometimes an adverb is what works for a sentence! Don’t feel like you need to replace every single one.

I do recommend that you use the search function on your computer to find adverbs (search for ly+space to highlight them all) and decide for yourself what to do about each one.

Tip 5: Avoid Cliches

Cliches make your story weaker. They’re boring.

Avoid cliche phrases AND cliche situations. If your meet-cute is at a wedding, what makes yours unique? If your heroine loves how tall and burly the love interest is, how can she express that without saying “climb him like a tree”? (I have read that one so many times this year!!)

Just a reminder that cliches and tropes are different. Read more here: Using Tropes in Romance Novels: How to Make Them Work For You.

Tip 6: Do Your Sex Scenes Make Sense?

Another of my best self-editing tips for romance authors has to do with sex scenes. Have you ever read a scene and just thought to yourself… HOW? It totally takes me out of the story!

Look at every scene and think about:

Body size: Do their heights make this impossible? So many romance novels have an incredibly tall main character with a petite main character, but don’t stop to think about how that major height difference would make some things very uncomfortable.
Hand/body part placement: Can she really be doing that if her hand/body part is where you said it was? Once I read a scene where a man basically had to have had at least three hands based on what was written!
Environment: Is this position possible in this environment? What other setting considerations do you need to think about? Have you incorporated elements of the setting into the scene? For instance, I read a book where the main characters got busy in a parking garage. There are very distinct sounds and smells in that environment, but none were mentioned. It could have made the scene so much stronger (and hotter!) if some of those elements had been woven throughout.
Character: Would the characters speak to each other like this? Does this make sense for their emotional journey? For example, don’t make one of your characters randomly into a Dom during a scene if that character has never expressed any dominant qualities before. It can feel random and a little like pandering to readers. Write scenes that keep your characters authentic.

Tip 7: Be Ruthless

Time to kill your darlings. #sorrynotsorry

Stephen King said that ten percent of a first draft should be cut during the self-editing stage. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it is nice to keep in the back of your mind.

What scene slows down your narrative?

Which scene is unnecessary?

Which conversation can be eliminated?

Is there a sub-plot that doesn’t add anything to the novel?

I know it’s tempting to keep it all in there, but a tighter story is a better story. (And you can only get a tighter story if you cut things out!)

Tip 8: Map Character Arcs

In the editing process it is important to take a look at each character in your manuscript to make sure you don’t have any cardboard characters in your manuscript.

A cardboard character is a flat character. Literally, one made of cardboard. One dimensional. Boring. No motivation.

I see this a lot with “sassy friends” in romance novels. Yes, these are secondary characters, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to be developed.

If you are writing a Why Choose romance novel it’s essential you map out your characters. There are so many main characters that it is really easy for one of them to be under-developed.

Character development is essential for every novel!

If you aren’t sure how to create a character map, check out this guide from Reedsy (there’s even a downloadable template). If you’re looking for another resource, here’s an article from Reedsy all about character arcs!

Tip 9: Filter Out Filter + Filler Words

Filter words and filler words. One of my best self-editing tips for romance authors is to get rid of as many of these as you can!

Filter words are verbs that remove the reader from the character. They literally FILTER the experience and create distance between the story and the reader. Some examples are:

noticed, seemed, spotted, saw, realized, felt, thought, wondered, believed, knew, decided, heard, looked, look, see, hear, listen, taste, smell, feel.

Want to know more about filter words? Read this article from Louise Harnby.

Filler words are padding. As a former English teacher I used to see this all the time with my students. They either wanted to sound smart or increase their word count so they would add all kinds of phrases to lengthen their essays. It is exhausting to read something that says in twenty words what could have been said in five! By eliminating filler words from your manuscript you will be creating a tighter, more interesting story.

As an editor, I see filler words as extraneous or redundant adjectives, or other words that don’t provide meaning. For example, some filler words to look for are:

that, just, only, really, very, almost, absolutely, basically, actually, sort of, kind of, a little.

Want to know more about filler words? Read this article from Writers Write.

Tip 10: Take Your Time

Publishing isn’t a race. You don’t get a medal for finishing your self edit in one week. It took you months to write your book, it’s going to take some time to go through it with a critical eye.

Yes, there are deadlines with editors and publishers, but try to set yourself up for success when setting them. Make your deadlines realistic so you can spend an appropriate time revising and completing your edit.

Tip 11: Read it Out Loud

This is one of my best self-editing tips for romance authors who are concerned about their dialogue! Read your story out loud to find dialogue that sounds clunky or unnatural.

For example, contractions are normal in everyday speech. If your characters never use them… their conversations are going to sound formal and stilted.

Whom is another word that sounds strange in dialogue. Yes, it may be “proper” to use it in some instances… but have you ever heard anyone say it in real life?

Pay attention when you’re reading and change anything that sounds strange or unnatural while you edit.

Tip 12: Be Kind!

Be kind to yourself!

No, you aren’t the worst writer on the planet.

You wrote a book! Be proud of that!

Your writing isn’t garbage. You can do this!

Every author struggles with their first draft edit, so know you aren’t alone.

Next Steps for Your Manuscript

Once you have finished your edit, you will likely want to find beta readers who can give you feedback on what you’ve written.

Take their feedback, incorporate it into your next draft to improve your story.

Then, begin looking for an editor. Depending on your budget and needs, you may start with a developmental edit, then move on to a line edit or copy edit. A proofread (a last check for formatting, grammar, and spelling) by a professional editor will be the final step before publication.

Linked below is a blog that details the entire book editing process.

Additional Resources For Your Self-Publishing Journey

My blog is geared toward indie and self-publishing fiction writers. Here are a few more blog posts you may find helpful about publishing your manuscript and the self-editing process:

Do You Need to Hire an Editor for Your Self-Published Book?

Unlock the Book-Editing Process: A Step-By-Step Guide

How to Find a Romance Editor You’ll LOVE

Use These Best Self-Editing Tips for Romance Authors

Have you finished your self-editing? Ready to hire a professional editor for the next stage in your self-publishing journey? Fill out my contact form and let’s chat!