Editing Tip: Eliminate Ambiguity

​Read Time: 5 minutes

During line editing, ambiguity is one of the most important things to identify and eliminate. You should be looking for ambiguity during your self-editing process, and your professional editor will also root out instances that invite misreadings. Let's explore a few common causes of ambiguity and how you can fix them.

In this context, we're talking about unintentional ambiguity. Sometimes authors may want to be intentionally ambiguous. For example, crime writers may write scenes in such a way that the author cannot identify one of the characters. Remember to use intentional ambiguity only when it is necessary, as it can confuse and frustrate readers.

1. Comma Usage
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 The most common issue leading to ambiguity that I see as a professional editor is undoubtedly comma usage. Specifically, commas determine the object of many descriptive phrases. Let's look at an example:
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She sat on the chair with hair white as snow.

This reads as though the chair has white hair. You might be thinking, But I know the chair doesn't have white hair. Maybe, but oftentimes it's not that obvious. And even if it is, the reader may still stop and think about it, which is not what we want. We never want to pull the reader out of the story.

Here is where you take the step from writer to editor. You need to be able to identify the intended meaning of the sentence and what the sentence literally says. If those two things are not the same, an edit needs to be made.
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She sat on the chair, with hair white as snow.

For even more clarity:

With hair white as snow, she sat on the chair.

Now, this is not a great sentence. Were this a real piece, I would likely break this up and combine it with adjacent sentences. But looking at clarity only, we now know that "she" is the one with white hair.

Remember, readers are literal first. Be sure your writing actually says what you intend for it to convey.

2. Ambiguous Pronouns
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Where would we be without pronouns? We'd be using characters' names in every sentence—that's where. But using pronouns without defining the noun the pronoun refers to can be extremely confusing. Whenever you use a pronoun like "he," "she," or "it," be certain that the reader can easily determine to whom or what that pronoun refers.

When in doubt, replace the pronoun with the name. It's better for the reader to see your character's name one more time than for them to have to reread the sentence to understand who you're talking about.

​Also be cognizant of this if you are using singular "they." While the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using singular "they" over more awkward gender-neutral phrases (and always using it if the individual cites it as their preferred pronoun), singular "they" does create the potential for ambiguity. Just like when using other pronouns, double check that it's clear to whom you're referring. If it's not, go ahead and specify.

3. Passive Constructions
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One reason passive constructions are problematic is that they create opportunities for ambiguity to creep in. By definition, a passive construction does not identify the subject, the entity that is doing the thing. That can be useful in instances that we want to place the emphasis on the object—or when we want to keep the subject hidden. But for general use, passive voice can cause issues. Consider this sentence:

The children were abducted.

​We know who was abducted: the children. But who did the abducting? Were they abducted by kidnappers? By aliens?

You see how this ambiguity has the potential to allow for vastly different interpretations. This simple passive-voice sentence could refer to a dark mystery plot or to a sci-fi adventure story.

And yes, sometimes context clears up these issues. But remember that the reader does not have the depth of context the author has. Things that seem clear and obvious to the author—with their deep knowledge of the story—may create ambiguity and confusion for the reader. This is one reason professional editors are invaluable. They have training and practice in being objective and in reading work from this critical perspective.

4. Ambiguous Speakers
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Using dialogue tags ("he said," "she said") after every line of dialogue is distracting and should be avoided. However, it is important to make sure the reader understands who is speaking. Few things are more confusing than reading a line of dialogue without knowing who spoke it.

Don't shy away from using dialogue tags, but when you can, try to use action beats instead. Here is an example:

"I can see clearly," Jimmy said.

"I can see clearly." Jimmy gestured toward the clear sky.

The second example incorporates an action beat. The reader understands that Jimmy was speaking, even though we didn't use a dialogue tag. If a character does something immediately before or after a piece of dialogue, the reader will attribute the dialogue to that character.

Editing for Clarity
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Line editing involves changes for concision, consistency, correctness, and clarity. Watch out for the issues above to eliminate ambiguity and improve the clarity of your prose.

Remember to complete your story-level revisions before digging into these issues, though. You wouldn't want to spend days and weeks tightening up your prose only to wind up cutting or rewriting big sections of your work.

Once you've gone through your self-editing process and corrected all of the ambiguity you can find, consider sending your work to a professional editor. At Blue Pen, our team includes experienced line editors with specializations across genres. We match each author with the editor who is best suited to strengthen their prose while maintaining their unique narrative voice.

Did any of these examples of ambiguity sound familiar? Which do you see in your writing, and are you fired up to line edit them out of existence? Leave a comment.

​Related Articles:

• Singular "They"
• Answering Your Quotation Questions
• What is Developmental Editing?