You wrote a novel. That’s freaking amazing! Before we talk about fixing anything, pause and acknowledge that.

Okay, but now real talk. I have a hard truth that you may already know: Writing the book is only the beginning. Now you’re stepping into the part that often feels overwhelming—editing and revising. Even though good writing is rewriting, this stage terrifies most writers. It excites me because I live here. But you’re not me. I’m not going to sugarcoat it: self-editing is hard work and takes time.

So let’s start with some of the quickest wins: easier changes that really make a big difference.

1. Remove Filter Words to Close Narrative Distance

When you use filter words, you’re reporting the character’s experience instead of letting the reader experience it alongside them. That reporting creates narrative distance.

In real life, people don’t narrate their senses or thoughts. They don’t think, I realized I was angry. They just feel angry.

How to remove filter words

Filter words include:

·      realized

·      wondered

·      knew

·      decided

·      hoped

·      thought

·      felt

·      saw

·      heard

·      smelled

·      tasted

·      because (when used to explain motivation)

·      to (when used to explain motivation)

These words subtly remind the reader that they’re being told a story instead of living inside it.

Example: thought filters

Original: Phillipe realized he’d forgotten his tool belt.

This sentence summarizes an internal realization instead of dramatizing it.

Revised: Phillipe reached for his tool belt. Crap! How could he forget that?

The realization still exists, but now the reader experiences it through action and reaction instead of being told it happened.

Example: sensory filters

Original: She woke up when she heard the robins singing outside her window.

Revised: The robins cheerfully whistled, waking her from her sleep.

The sound exists independently of the character noticing it. Removing heard brings the reader closer to the moment.

Example: emotional filters

Original: She felt a sudden wave of panic.

This labels the emotion instead of dramatizing it.

Revised (using physical reaction): Her chest tightened. She scanned the room again, faster this time.

The panic is still clear, but now it’s embodied.

Example: action motivation filters

Filter words also sneak in through explanation-heavy phrasing.

Original: She stepped back because she didn’t trust him.

Revised: She stepped back, eyes flicking to the door.

The revision lets the reader infer distrust through behavior instead of explanation.

Key Takeaway

Removing filter expresses interiority directly—through action, voice, and free indirect thought—so the reader stays close to the character’s experience.

This single change often makes prose feel more confident, more immersive, and more emotionally grounded.

2. Fix Told Prose

It’s not show, don’t tell. It’s know when to show and when to tell. But since newer writers tell often when they should show, I’m focusing on that. To learn when it is okay to tell, check out my blog: Showing and Telling Part 2. The goal is to understand how to recognize telling and when it weakens the story and should be shown.

Showing Emotion

We talked a little bit about this in filter words, but I wanted to expand here since it’s really the quickest win.

Told:

He felt defeated.

Most writers will change this to show through physical action, but that isn’t the only way to do it. Where do our emotions come from? Our thoughts! So you can use action or thoughts.

Show emotion through physical action

Example:

As his voice droned on, the air seemed to thin. I tugged at my collar and stared at the stain on my pants. Sometime after I’d rubbed the stain further into my pants, he said, “I have to let you go.” I lifted my head, looked him straight in the eye, and nodded.

No emotion is named. The reader experiences the moment through bodily response and delayed reaction.

Show emotion through thoughts

Because emotions come from thoughts, interiority is one of the strongest showing tools you have.

Example 1:

Just say it already. Geez. I didn’t need this. Why was he prolonging it? As the air seemed to thin, I tugged at my collar and stared at the stain on my pants. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. How would we get through this? My wife—

 The emotion unfolds organically through mental pressure and interruption. You can also do this with third person.

Example 2:

Of course it was hailing again. Why did she stay in this horrible city and this unfulfilling job? She knew why. But still. Why? Even the door into the office posed another obstacle. The damn door should just open with a keycard or a code. But, nope, multiple times a day, she struggled with the door.

This is using free indirect speech to show her thoughts by blending them into the narration.

These two tools—action and thought—do the heavy lifting of emotional showing. You don’t need labels once they’re doing their job.

Telling Meaning Instead of Letting the Scene Speak

Another common form of told prose is author interpretation: when the narration explains what an action means instead of letting the reader infer it.

Told:

Crag curled his lip, picked up his gun, and pointed it at her to show he meant business.

You can’t act out to show he meant business. That phrase exists purely to interpret the action for the reader.

Revised:

Crag curled his lip, picked up his gun, and leveled it at her chest.

The meaning is embedded in the action, so no explanation needed.

When revising, watch for phrases that explain intent, meaning, or significance. If the action already implies it, the explanation is weakening the scene.

TOLD Info Dumps vs SHOWN Info Dumps

Sometimes you need to dump information, but when you do, try to use the “showing” type of info dumping. A shown info dump is in the character’s voice and is natural information the character would think at that moment.

Told info dump

Rylan hesitated at the edge of the alley. Leaving the safe zone was dangerous. Ever since the corporate security grid had failed, gangs controlled the streets, and anyone caught alone after dark risked being robbed or worse. Most people stayed inside at night, but Rylan didn’t have a choice. He pulled his hood up and stepped into the shadows, hoping no one would notice him.

Revised shown info dump

Rylan’s hand found the alley wall. Brick, solid. Better than what waited out there. He pulled his hood up. The fabric rasped against his ears, too loud. But he couldn’t back down now. He didn’t have a choice. Taking a step forward, he whispered, I have no choice. He slid his hands into his jacket, fingers brushing the small knife hidden in the lining. Fat chance that had against the gangs, but it was something. He took another step, the shadows swallowing him whole. Before he could think better of it, he raced into the streets. 

Some authors try to fix info dumps by writing flashbacks, but flashbacks can be a form of info dumping. To learn more about this, see my blog on How to Fix Info Dumping.

Editing steps

• Search for filter words using Word’s Find feature and rewrite to get rid of them. (You can also use a macro that will highlight all of them for you. AI is pretty good at creating macros.)

• Fix passages that tell emotions; instead, show them either through physical action beats or thoughts.

• Cut anything that explains a character’s motivation, and show it instead.

• Fix longer chunks of told information by:

  o deleting what isn’t necessary to know in that moment

  o  putting the information in the character’s voice and in a way that’s natural for them to be thinking at that moment

• Integrate characters’ backstories into the action throughout or delete if unnecessary.

3. Refine Tags & Beats

Dialogue tags identify who’s speaking (e.g., “she said,” “he whispered”) and sometimes include how they’re talking. Action beats are actions a character performs during a dialogue exchange—before, during, or after they speak (e.g., She slammed the door. “I’m done.“).

Overusing either—or using them poorly—can weaken your dialogue. So edit to avoid the pitfalls.

Revise dialogue tag pitfalls

Overtagging

You don’t need to tag every line of dialogue. Only tag when

• We need to know who said it

• The character took a specific, need-to-know action while talking at the same time

• We learn information about the character from the tag

In the last two situations, you could also use an action beat rather than a tag.

 “Creative” and unnecessary tags

Some editors and authors say you should never use tags other than the standard “said,” “whispered,” “yelled.” Others say to use different tags for variety.

In this instance, variety isn’t a good thing. Standard tag words are invisible to the reader, while creative tags call attention to the fact that a story is being told and could pull readers out of that story. If you have one or two creative tags used with intention, fine. But for the most part, I suggest sticking to the standard ones.

And definitely don’t use unnecessary tags that describe what is already clear: “replied,” “interrupted,” etc. If someone spoke before the character and that character is now speaking, it’s clear they’re replying. If the previous character doesn’t finish what they’re saying, then it’s clear this character is interrupting them.

Using adverbs

Most of the time, you should remove adverbs from your dialogue tags.

Could you imagine going to see a play and after certain lines of dialogue, the author stands up and says, “Okay, so just now the character said that angrily,” or “the character said that annoyingly”? It would take you out of the experience. The same thing happens when you’re reading.

Example:

This example is a narrative I wrote in college, which I then modified to include all the tag pitfalls I’ve discussed. Since this narrative is a true account of an incident that happened while I was volunteering in Ecuador, it’s not a fictional example; however, it includes dialogue, so it works for our purposes.

Jorge said he wanted to talk, to explain, and being who I am, I let him.

“I didn’t know it was whiskey; I thought it was water,” he said.

“Then why did you just tell Lindsay it was whiskey?” I asked incredulously.

“Because I realized it was whiskey,” he confessed.

“So when you went to the bar, you ordered water?” I asked.

“Yes, I got you water,” he said.

“But it was alcohol,” I exclaimed vehemently.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Did you order alcohol or water?” I asked.

“I ordered alcohol, but it was for me, not for you,” he insisted.

Two people are talking back and forth, so it’s clear who’s speaking, yet each line still has a tag. Two used an adverb (“vehemently” and “incredulously”). One used an unnecessary “replied,” and two used creative tags (“confessed” and “insisted”).

Revised:

Jorge said he wanted to talk, to explain, and being who I am, I let him.

“I didn’t know it was whiskey; I thought it was water.”

“You can’t be serious. Then why did you just tell Lindsay it was whiskey?”

“Because I realized it was whiskey.”

“Oh, so when you went to the bar, you actually ordered me water?” I said, letting the sarcasm seep into my voice

“Yes, I got you water.”

“But it was . . . alcohol,” I shouted.

He nodded. I looked at Lindsay to assure myself this was real. She just shuffled her feet and shrugged. I was on my own, but at least she too recognized the madness. With the music from the club echoing my beating heart, I took a deep breath. Then, emphasizing each word, I asked, “Okay . . . did you order alcohol or water?”

“I ordered alcohol, but it was for me, not for you.”

I reduced the number of tags and added “you can’t be serious,” so the dialogue itself shows the emotion rather than telling it through the use of “incredulously.” I moved one tag to the front and removed unnecessary and creative tags. I also switched some tags to action beats.

Action Beat Pitfalls

Poorly balanced action beats

As with all techniques, you don’t want to overdo it, but a few well-placed action beats can strengthen dialogue.

Example:

“I can’t believe you found this place,” Lilliana said.

Ravi replied, “I know, right? Tucked away in the middle of nowhere, but their pie is supposed to be amazing.”

“You and your obsession with pie.”

“Hey, if you’re going to have a food obsession, there are worse things.”

“I guess. So, what’s good here?”

“Everything, supposedly. But I heard the blueberry crumble is life-changing.”

“Life-changing? That’s a big claim.”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

“Fine, but if it’s not the best pie I have ever had, you owe me.”

“Deal.”

Revised:

 “I can’t believe you found this place,” Lilliana said.

“I know, right? Tucked away in the middle of nowhere, but their pie is supposed to be amazing.” Ravi slid into the booth, already scanning the menu.

“You and your obsession with pie.”

“Hey, if you’re going to have a food obsession, there are worse things.”

“I guess.” Lilliana picked up her napkin, twisting it between her fingers. ”So, what’s good here?”

“Everything, supposedly. But I heard the blueberry crumble is life-changing.”

“Life-changing? That’s a big claim.”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

“Fine, but if it’s not the best pie I have ever had, you owe me.”

Ravi extended his hand. “Deal.”

I added in a few action beats but made sure each one had a purpose. They’re naturally sprinkled in instead of following a set pattern.

Unnecessarily stating movement

Readers don’t need to be told every action; we can connect the dots. If a character is talking on the phone, we know they picked up the phone. No need to say it.

Example:

The phone rang, disrupting the quiet night. Bobbie Joe walked over to the phone on the wall and picked up the receiver. “Yes, what?”

You don’t have to add the movement beat. You can just say, “The phone rang, disrupting the quiet night.” “Yes, what?”

Indicating movement is fine as long as it has a purpose. My webinar on the Beauty of Beats and Free Indirect Speech discusses the purpose of beats.

But if it isn’t serving a purpose other than stating movement. Reassess whether the reader could already easily infer a character’s movements. Don’t write stage directions.

Unnecessarily naming body parts

Your action beat doesn’t need to say “he nodded his head,” or “she shrugged her shoulders.” What else does one nod and shrug? Watch out for where you might be unnecessarily naming the body parts doing the action.

Using too many crutches

Be careful not to have your characters always perform the same actions to indicate the same emotions. If your characters always frown or get teary-eyed, think of another way to express sadness. If your characters always smile or chuckle, think of another way to express amusement.

While frowning, nodding, sighing, smiling, rolling eyes, and shrugging tend to be the most common crutch actions, you may have your own crutch action beats. So also look out for ones you use too often. You can run a macro to find these.

Editing steps

Revise action beats and dialogue tags to ensure

·       limited to no creative tags

·       minimal to no tagging when it’s clear who’s speaking

·       limited to no adverbs

·       action beats don’t state unnecessary movement, unnecessary body parts, or what the dialogue or exposition already made clear

·       variety of action beats rather than an overreliance on crutches

Bonus: To learn everything you need to know about punctuating dialogue, check out this free webinar.

Conclusion

Self-editing can be overwhelming, but it’s manageable when you break it into passes and just focus on two or three topics in each pass.

My Self-Editing Essentials for Fiction book teaches a four-pass framework: Story pass, scene pass, writing pass, and technical pass. The topics above are all in the writing pass section, along with eight other writing topics, but one and three are your quick fix wins, and two is a fix that makes the greatest impact at the sentence level.

If you’re ready to start seriously self-editing your draft, sign up to be notified when my book is published (mid-February). It has twenty-nine editing topics with instruction, examples, practice exercises, and clear editing steps. Of course, you shouldn’t edit for all twenty-nine topics. Nope. Just two or three in each pass, for a total of eight to twelve. 

And once you’re done with self-editing, you’re ready for a professional editor. Watch this free webinar on what to expect from the editing process to be prepared for that crucial stage.

About the author: Katie Chambers, owner and head developmental and copyeditor of Beacon Point, loves helping authors learn to write better and editors learn to better manage their business. As a former English teacher, teaching is a big passion of hers. Follow her on LinkedIn or Instagram, and check out her website full of free and paid resources for authors.

Beacon Point is a WW affiliate!