In her February 2008 article in Writer’s Digest titled "Novel Revision for the Faint of Heart" Jordan E. Rosenfeld recounted the story of what a student of hers had said about revision. It’s “like beating up a good friend. Now, why would I want to do that?” the student had complained. Because, said Rosenfeld, without a little pummeling all you have is a nice draft.
The following six considerations will help you revise your first and subsequent drafts.
Let Your Work Breathe
Once you’ve completed your draft, set it aside for a while. This lets you make objective observations about your writing when you return.
Take Inventory & Deepen Your Characters
Take stock of how each chapter contributes to plotline and theme; root out the inconsistencies as you relate the minutia to the whole. You may decide to merge two characters into one or add a character or change a character’s gender or age to better serve your plotline.
The revision process is an ideal time to add subtle detail to your main characters: a nervous scratch of his beard, an absent twisting of the ring on her finger, the frequent use of a particular expression. This applies to minor characters as well. When you paint your minor characters with more detail, you create a more three-dimensional tapestry for your main characters to walk through. This heightens realism in your story and involvement of your reader.
Purge & Un-clutter
Make a point of shortening everything; this forces you to use more succinct language, replacing adjectives and adverbs with power-verbs. Doing this will tighten prose and make it more clear. Reading aloud, particularly dialogue, can help streamline your prose.
Make a Plot Promise
Given that you are essentially making a promise to your readers, it is advisable that you revisit that promise. Tie up your plot points; don’t leave any hanging unless you’re intentionally doing this. But, be aware that readers don’t generally like it. Similarly, if you’ve written a scene that is lyrical, beautiful and compelling but doesn’t contribute to your plotline, nix it. You can file it away for another story where it may be more applicable.
Write Scenes
Use the revision process to convert flat narrative into “scene” through dramatization. Narrative summaries read like lecture or polemic. They tend to be passive, slow, and less engaging. Scenes are animated by action, tension and conflict, dialogue and physical movement.
Be Concrete
Ground your characters in vivid setting and rich but unobtrusive detail. Don’t abandon them to a generic and prosaic setting, drinking “beverages” and driving “vehicles” on “roads”; instead brighten up their lives by having them speeding along Highway 66 in a Mini Cooper, while sipping a Pinot Noir.
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