Are you in the process of rewriting your project? Here's a checklist of questions to consider:

Have you introduced setting (time and place) to ground the reader and orient them? Does the setting offer the mood and tone of the story? Have you used setting and situation to convey character emotion?

Have you made it clear whose POV the reader is following? Is that point of view consistant throughout the story? (Or do you accidently slip into other points of view?)

Have you introduced the protagonist and main supporting characters? Are the protagonist's flaws, problems and story goals apparent? Are character and narrating voices unique and distinct? Does your own unique voice and worldview shine through?

Are there too many characters? Or have you introduced the characters all at once? Consider using fewer characters in your narrative and introducing them one or two at a time.

Do you give too much backstory or character history when you introduce a character, that nasty "information dump"? If so, pare it down.

Do you show, rather than tell? Is exposition, description and interior monologue overused, or is it used sparingly to support scene (action and dialogue)?

Have you introduced the protagonist's main conflict early in the story? If so good. But are they avoiding or running away from their conflict, by, say, wandering around alone ruminating over their problem? If so, rethink situation so your protagonist is facing their conflict directly.

Do you have unnecessary flashbacks that could be moved into the “now,” the present of the narrative?

Does the protagonist have clear story goals? Are you sure you know what they want? Are they actively taking steps to reach that goal? What’s stopping them (what or who is their antagonist)?

Does your story or chapter have a clear narrative arc? A beginning, middle and end? Does one thing lead logically to the next? Do events build, creating tension that leads the reader to ask, “What’s going to happen next?” Do you see the bones of classic dramatic structure in your story? But has it also swung away from that “formula” into something fresh and unique, your own? Perhaps a structure that says something about the subject matter? For example, if you are writing about the looping nature of memory, perhaps your story isn’t presented chronologically, but jumps around in time.

Is the theme of the story introduced early in the narrative, perhaps through the dialogue of a supporting character? Is the life lesson the protagonist needs to learn evident?

Have you noticed repeating objects or elements of the setting that might have symbolic value? Can you think of a way to get those symbols ringing (but not chiming annoyingly) in a way that highlights your theme, what the story is about?

Finally, tidy up your manuscript with a spelling and grammar check. For shorter projects, we offer a clean sweep service that will help you do just that.

In another blog, I talk about ways to gain distance, including shelving your manuscript for a time. I suggest that once you've completed this round of revisions, you do just that: shelve it. Put this version of your draft to the side for the moment. Part of the process of writing is letting things stew on the back burner for a while. When you come back to your project for the final revision before sendng it out, you’ll have a fresh perspective on your manuscript, and you'll see what further changes you need to make.

Finally, consider enlisting the help of a beta reader, to give their perspective on the questions I've outlined above. Getting the help of a beta reader is a necessary step in the revision process, one you want to take before handing your project over to an agent or editor. If you don't have a beta reader, consider our beta reading service.