Editors are busy people, and they receive mountains of manuscripts each week. If they take one look at something and see problems, they’re likely to slip it into the SASE and move on to the next one.
As the Story is Being Written
If the story takes more than a day to write, pick it up and read the previous day’s work. This serves two purposes. It immerses the writer back in the story, and mistakes can be caught and fixed.
After the Story is Written
Read through the manuscript one more time before putting it away for at least a few days—but preferably a couple of weeks. In their 2004 edition of the book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers from HarperCollins, Renni Browne and Dave King claim, “There is no better way to spot room for improvement in your manuscript than by looking at it with fresh eyes.”
Some authors stop writing altogether during that cooling off period, but others find that writing something completely different cleanses their mental palette.
First Round of Revisions
After going back to review the work, look for opportunities to fine-time the writing. Check the introduction and look for the opening hook. At the end of each chapter, there should be another hook to keep the reader from putting down the book. Replace as many passive verbs as possible.
Hunt for pet words, such as “just,” “that,” “anyway,” and “then,” and find others that crop up with each new project. Either omit them or swap them out with other words and phrases. If there are too many dialogue tags, replace them with beats or action tags. Look for a variety of sentence structures for a sophisticated flow.
Fictional Character Consistency
Look for physical and motivation changes in each character. If the character starts out with blue eyes, unintentional switching to brown eyes midway through the book or story is jolting. If a character has emotional issues in the beginning, logical changes must take place for the character to grow from the beginning to the end of the story.
Time, Sequence and Consistency Revisions
If an outline of the plot based on the characters' development has been followed, check off each event as it unfolds in the story. For seat-of-the-pants writers, keep a running list of events during revisions.
After finishing the project, look it over and decide whether each incident is well placed and makes sense in the story. Each scene must move the story forward to the ultimate goal. Pacing needs to quicken and slow down at the right times with a balance of action, dialogue and internal thought. All dialogue needs to be relevant.
If seven days pass in the story, mark off a week. If months go by, look for each main character’s transformation. Also check to see if the seasons change as the story progresses. At the end of the story, the resolution needs to make sense without feeling rushed.
Final Read-Through
Put the manuscript aside once more then come back to it at least a few days later. Grab a cup of coffee or favorite beverage, relax in a comfortable chair, and read the story as a reader would. If any errors are spotted, fix them. Reading a well written piece with no obvious errors should boost any writer’s confidence.
Well Written Fiction Sells
After reading the story the final time with very few revisions, it’s ready to be sent to the editor with confidence.
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