There is so much good information in this article, I don’t know where to start. But how about here: just because you’ve got the novel down—and have polished the plot until it shines—doesn’t mean you’re done. “All of these things might have escaped your notice while you were dealing with bigger issues like plot and characterization—but they won’t go unnoticed by readers,” we’re told.
Cull these items from your manuscript to make it better. The writer of this piece calls this process “close revision,” which is an accurate description. And if you work through this checklist before you send the manuscript to your editor, you’ll free up editorial bandwidth for more important things. Think about it.
Here’s the quick list to check:
1 Adverbs
2 Dialogue tags
3 Everyday actions
4 Excess description
5 Info dumps and exposition
6 Overlong sentences or paragraphs
7 Passive voice
8 Redundant words and phrases
9 Pet words and phrases
There’s a lot of information here—honestly, I could make several articles out of this one—so take your time and digest it. Look for the tips, which tend to be alternate ways of looking at the point under discussion.
Enjoy!
Tweet: Cull these things from your manuscript to make it better.
Tweet: Self-edits that will sharpen your manuscript.
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