You've finished the first draft of a book or a story. What now? It's tempting to show it to someone else right away, but hold off. Do some revision yourself, before muddying your vision of the story with other people's thoughts on it. This checklist is designed to help you get closer to that vision before showing your work to someone else. (It will also help you get more from your editors when you get to that stage.)
And iron out bigger issues first. Problems with characterization and plot require extensive revision: you may spend hours on the sentences in a paragraph, only to delete that section later.
Have You Fully Introduced Your Main Character?
Long passages of flowery description aren't necessary, but make sure you've given your readers something to go on. The internal qualities of your protagonist may not need overt description, but his or her physical qualities will need to be described, even briefly. Is she short, thin, tall, fat, dark, or blonde? Is he confident or indecisive? Active or passive? Is your character consistent? If he or she changes, is it a result of events in the story, or of your own changed conception of the character?Do You Have a Conflict?
Conflict drives your plot; without it, there is no plot. Is your protagonist's motivation clear from the beginning of your story or novel? What is the central question of your work? Before going any further with your revision, ask yourself this question. When you know the answer, it's much easier to know what to cut and what to expand.
