(4 min read.) I’m a huge fan of any low-effort, high-impact, easy-to-remember editing tip for writing. This is one of my favorites because it’s SO simple. If you can only handle three words of writing advice today, make ’em these:
STICK THE LANDING. Your story, your paragraph, your sentence; everything you write ends with one word. The final word is what people will remember the longest, so make sure that word matters most. Stick the landing at the end.
Slam ‘em with the last word.
This isn’t just about style; it’s neuroscience. The “Recency Effect” has been studied and documented as a cognitive phenomenon. Scientists investigating memory have confirmed that when subjects are given a list of words to remember, they’re most likely to be able to recall the word they heard last (science fact.) This is great news for writers. It’s only a tiny fact, but if you apply this small truth as one of your regular practical editing tips for writing, it can transform your readers’ experience.
A little bit of knowledge can be a big advantage.
What STICKS AROUND in your reader’s (or listener’s) mind is the word they meet last. Advertisers use this information in how they shape their commercials and slogans. Why shouldn’t you use the same technique to better serve your audience?
How to use this Simple Editing Tip for Writing
Hopefully, by now you’re on board with the idea that the last word matters. Maybe you’re even game to put this idea into action and stick all your landings by ending each sentence with a key word. But how do you know which word in a sentence is actually the most important?
Not sure what the last word should be?
Order makes meaning. Let’s look at an example:
“I was hungry, so I ate the sandwich.”
“I ate the sandwich because I was hungry.”
Can you feel the difference? The first is a story about a sandwich. It has a happy ending. We end by thinking about the sandwich. The second is the story of hunger. A little ugly. Kinda needy. It feels primal and (to me) a bit unsatisfied and uncomfortable.
Which sentence is the kind of story you want to tell?
Exercise: edit one page of your writing so that every sentence has its most important word at the end. This may feel clunky or awkward at first, but it wakes you up to what it feels like to stick a linguistic landing. Writing is built from details. Hone in on this detail and train it.
When to use this Simple Editing Tip for Writing
Like any editing tip for writing, this is a tool not a rule. You don’t need to stick the landing on every single sentence. I don’t! Make exceptions when you need to for flow or sense, but look at how you can stick the landing. Do this as often as you can. Consider it your default editing strategy.
If you plan to do big edits (like moving chapters or deleting large sections), try your best to make those larger changes before you zoom in to this level of detail. Use this simple editing tip when your work is getting its final polish. Doing close word-by-word edits like this after all your huge structural changes are settled is the most efficient use of your time.
Here’s the exception to that advice (there always is one.) Let’s say you’re not sure whether you need to cut a big chapter or a section. In that moment, it can be useful to zoom in on the details and use this simple editing tip. Once you’ve polished a paragraph or a chapter to be the best version of itself line-by-line and sentence-by-sentence and word-by-word, it often becomes starkly clear whether that section is adding anything important to your manuscript. If you’re not sure about big revision changes, use this simple editing tip as a diagnostic tool.
Getting comfortable switching between detailed edits and big-picture thinking can help make you a more agile creative thinker.
The Next Level of this Editing Tip for Writing
The last word matters. But “stick your landing” is more than good advice for word choice. You can apply this editing tip for writing to every level of your story. Land the last sentence of your chapter, the last chapter of your book, the last book of your series, the last shot of your film, the last moment before intermission at the end of your play’s first act. The ending is what will matter most.
What’s true of a sentence is true of a whole chapter. What’s true of a chapter is true of a whole book. Just as they’ll remember the last word of the last sentence, the final moment of the final scene is what people are mostly likely to remember the strongest and the longest. Stick every landing.
Sentences are an easy way to practice for these bigger gestures and larger swings. Practice small. Get in the habit.
Train your brain to stick your landings.
If you’d like some help finding or strengthening the ending of your work, I’d love to see you in a sliding-scale coaching session. We can look at your specific project, your unique narrative goals, how you want your audience to feel when the word is over, and nuts-and-bolts craft on how to make that happen. But even if you’re not feeling the urge to chat with me, at least know that there’s some good science on your side if you decide to spend an obsessive amount of time getting your finale just right. As a writer, you might even want to start with your ending.
xo, megan
There’s no one way to write. There’s only your way. I hope some of my tactics and ideas can help you find it.
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