How I Revise

I tend to get very little writing done in the spring because I'm spending so much time planting and weeding my garden along with other outdoor spring activities. However, those activities are now slowing down for me, so it's time I start thinking about getting back to revising my second novel.

The problem is that I've hit a mental block: My first readers are impatiently waiting for me to get this novel revised and to them so they can read it, so I want to revise as many aspects as possible in each pass I make over the manuscript. However, there's so much I need to look for that I mentally can't even get started because it's not possible to effectively cram these steps together.

So I'm making a nice, neat list of what things I'm going to look at for revising on each pass. Feel free to point out in the comments anything I missed or tell me how you revise your manuscript.

First Pass - First Fifteen Pages
1) Is it clear who the protagonist is and what her problem is? Is the problem vital/big enough (even if just to the protagonist) that it will raise the reader's interest?

2) Is it clear where and when the action is occurring, what's happening, and why the protagonist is involved? Is the pacing too slow because so much information is dumped at the beginning instead of worked in later?

3) Are too many characters or too many technological, magical, or cultural concepts being introduced at once? Is it clear who is talking and what their relationship to each other is? Am I telling the reader about the characters or letting the character's actions reveal their personalities and engage the reader's interest?

4) Is the tone of the whole story revealed in these pages (i.e. dark and gritty, lighthearted, serious but optimistic, etc. as well as level of bad language, sexual content, and violence levels)? Does it foreshadow or reveal the novel's primary conflict and the obstacles to come?


Second Pass -- Whole Story
Read the manuscript out loud. Look for misspellings (especially ones like "peek" instead of "peak"), dialogue that sounds unnatural, awkward sentences, and characters that aren't acting "in-character." Also look for story elements "coming out of no-where" (i.e. that weren't appropriately foreshadowed), often-repeated words, overuse of adverbs or adjectives, and for the other basic "writing rules."


Third Pass -- Whole Story, In Each Scene
1) Is there a balance between dialogue, action, description, back story, and motivation (internal dialogue)? (i.e. How is the pacing?)

2) Are the details given in the physical descriptions (or people, places, or actions) necessary and revealing? Do they quickly invoke a vivid mental image? Or are they so packed with detail or metaphor that the reader can't process it all without pausing?

3) Are the descriptions occurring in large chunks or worked throughout the story as it's needed? Only give the reader the information that's absolutely necessary for them to understand that scene.

4) Are the senses engaged? Imagine yourself in the scene: what sights would catch the main character's attention, what sounds would be heard, if any strong or unusual smells are present, and (if applicable) any taste and touch. What's the air inside the room or weather like and how is it affecting everyones actions and moods? What are the "background" people (and animals and setting) doing and how does that affect our main characters?

5) Look for dull or listy description. Either cut it up and distribute it throughout the action or discard it. Or, if the information is necessary and important and has to be in a chunk, make it clear what the Point-of-View character thinks or feels about the person/thing being described or make it clear why the POV character is spending so much time looking at the person/thing. Or add motion to the description (from wind, animals, other people, etc.) or somehow have the POV character interacting with it.

6) Is dialogue, body language, etc., being used to reveal the reactions and motivations of non-POV characters? Do secondary characters have varied characteristics, quirks, and motivations?


Fourth Pass -- Whole Story, In Each Scene
1) Is it clear what the POV character's motivation is for acting the way she is (via introspection, dialogue, or actions)? If there are several ways she might deal with a problem, why does she chose the one she does? What does she feel about the situation? Always make it clear what's driving your main characters because that is what makes the characters understandable and engaging.

2) Does each scene serve a purpose? If the scene was cut from the story, would the story flow still be understandable? If so, then the scene needs to be cut or fixed.

What changes between the start of the scene and the end? What's the conflict and/or what's at stake? If a question is answered in the scene, is another question asked or a promise of future conflict foreshadowed before the end of the scene so that the reader will continue reading?


Fifth Pass -- Whole Story, In Each Scene
1) Is there tension?

1a) Are the main characters likable? Do they have faults, ideals, regrets, or even strengths that cause them to land themselves (and maybe their friends) in trouble when faced with the current situation? Are the characters too good (either morally or in succeeding against opposition) to be interesting or someone the reader can relate to? Or do they have such a disgusting or off-putting characteristic that no reader would want to spend time with them?

(Writers who deliberately create unlikable protagonists need to make them interesting and/or show early on that they have a redeeming characteristic that foreshadows future change for the better.)

1b) Are the characters aware of the danger and acting like it is danger even if the author knows nothing will come of it? Does the character stay tense and ever-mindful of the danger until it is diffused? What's at stake? Is there foreshadowing of danger even if the character isn't totally aware of it's presence? (The reader at least needs to know of the danger, though you also need to be careful to explain why the character doesn't see it or dismisses it.)


Overview Look:
1) Have the characters changed any by the end of the story?

2) What was the point of the story? What was the theme or what did the reader get out of it that will bring them back for more? Is the story emotionally satisfying?

3) Is the story promised at the beginning of the novel the one delivered by the end of the story? Are all the major loose ends tied up satisfactorily without the story dragging on too long after the climax?