After the first draft, what do you do? How do you approach all those revisions you have to make? Here's a checklist for early revisions; just adjust it to reflect your weak areas if you find the whole list a bit overwhelming. Once you've used the checklist, workshop it and use reader comments to pinpoint anything that still needs work.

Please note that some of the Run Through Revisions are based on using my Novel Plot Buidling Method of novel writing.

Run Through Revision
» break the novel up into larger, non-chapter chunks
» add in any "fix-its" and notes and address any major issues commented on by readers
» create a personal list of revision notes - keep in mind that this is a "run through and catch it as you see it" revision: it is NOT in depth

Personal Notations
» work on any personal notes written down in the run through revision

Five Major Steps
» 1. Plotting: make sure the major storyline isn't overwhelmed by the minor subplots
- is there so little time spent on a subplot it can be removed?
- check character plots as well.

» 2. Structure: develop your plot - make sure events are in the right order and that the plot builds up to a satisfying crises and conclusion
- make sure each scene has a beginning, middle, end; conflict, crises, and resolution
- make sure the scenes are in the best order for your novel, move them around if necessary

» 3. Texture: develop descriptions - watch for too little or too much description, info dumps, too many adjective, or info in the wrong place
- remember, description is a style issue, but anyone can have too much style.
wink.gif find your balance
- word choices can make the biggest difference in your description - mark places where the words themselves just don't seem to work, then use a thesaurus or flip dictionary to make them better; change entire phrases if necessary

» 4. Dialogue: check tag lines - number (too many, too few), kind (not enough action, too much action, too many replacements of 'said' with another word), and placement (beginning, middle, end of dialogue)

» 5. Pacing: watch for repetition (obvious and through implication), slow passages, scenes that go by too fast, etc
- same for sentences: too long, too short, same structure line after line

» break into chapters when ready

Now you can begin the in depth revisions using everything listed below as a guide.

Setting
» make settings 3 dimensional and use all the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste
» reveal setting in the culture around the characters and make sure it's woven into the narrative rather than in clumped exposition

Character/POV
» remove descriptions of character traits, show them through the story
» pov shifts ~> change to one pov per scene
» remove any information the pov character would not know and find another way to reveal it
» characters are present that are not heard from at all during a scene ~> remove the character, have the character doing something, or get the character involved (btw, if a character is removed too often, consider dropping the character entirely; if you need something from the character, see if one of your more active characters can do that something)
» did someone's description change without any reason as to way? (brown hair becoming blonde, blue eyes becoming green, a long nose becoming perky, and so on - it does happen) ~> fix it or explain it
» do the events change your characters in some way? they should

Dialogue
» dialogue tags (said, asked, responded, etc) ~> change to action tags (although keep some as 'said' for variety)
» exposition in dialogue ~> cut
» explanations in dialogue tags ~> cut, change to action, use punctuation to show what trying to tell
» excessive interior monologue, especially with dialogue ~> trim
» dialect (shown particularly by strange spelling) in dialogue ~> revise and use word choice, cadence and grammar to show instead
» make sure each character has a distinct voice, going one character at a time if necessary
» adverbs as part of the dialogue tags ~> remove; if the dialogue doesn't stand without them, consider changing the dialogue
» remember: a dash -- is an interruption, an ellipsis . . . is a pause

Showing/Description
» summary & explanation ~> turn into action (SHOW don't TELL)
- some summary/telling is necessary, but the events/action of the story need to be shown
» vague nouns ~> replace with specific nouns
» non-descriptive verbs (sat instead of slumped) ~> replace with active, detailed, descriptive verbs
» vague adjectives (big, little, beautiful, ugly, etc) ~> replace with specific adjectives or descriptions
» adverb + verb phrase ~> replace with a specific verb that covers both whenever possible (delete the -ly word)
» vague descriptions ~> make them specific and detailed
» block descriptions/static descriptions: weave into story and put them in motion (active verbs)
- at the very least work towards a mix of smaller blocks supported by woven in pieces that fill out the rest of the picture
» telling character emotion ~> revise and show it instead
» telling the reader what to think ~> either describe it appropriately or remove it
» static character descriptions ~> put character into motion and weave in description
» passive voice ('to be' words & 'had + verb' ) ~> change to action verbs

Words/Sentences/Phrases
» stating the obvious or explaining what has already been shown ~> cut/revise the redundancies
» stereotypes, clichés ~> recreate the phrases so they are no longer stereotypical or cliché
» repetitious words, phrases, concepts ~> if not needed, find a new way to say it
» overusing 'as + phrase, phrase' or 'doing phrase, phrase' sentences ~> revise:
make sure actions can be done at the same time first; if not change to 2 sentences; then still remove as many as possible and change to direct action
» search for and trim the uses of: qualifiers (seemed, sorta, etc), adverbs, linking verbs, to be verbs (you'd be surprised at how many of each you have - just do a find and see how many come up)

Miscellaneous
» explanations in dialogue tags ~> cute, change to action, use punctuation to show what trying to tell
» inconsistencies ~> decide which one you want and make it consistent the whole way through (or explain why it's not)
» are both your research and world building used, but also woven into the story so they aren't obvious?

Final Concerns: Polishing
» only once you're in the final polishing stages, it's time to fix spellings and grammar
» spelling: fix any words that have other words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean entirely different things. these are not words your spell check will find. For example: to, too, and two
- if you need to, have someone else help you through this process
» grammar and punctuation: creative writing takes liberties, but make sure you do so knowing what you are doing and in such a way that it fits the scene; if you have to, get out one of your books on mechanics to help you figure it out.