Inside my Revision Toolbox

The 10 Most Important Tools For Revising

1.     What is the story that I am telling?

2.     How will my character change?

·      Does my character get to where s/he needs to be?

No – How do I make her change?

~  Introduce a crisis situation that makes my character  change.

Yes – Do the things that happen along the way help get my character where s/he needs to be?

3.     What does it mean to move forward?

·      Reveal something about the character.

·      Propel the plot.

·      Build a relationship that is important later in the book.

4.     Summarize the things that don’t move the story forward.

·      An example of this is Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy speaking, but the adults always sound like, “Blah, blah, blah.”

·      One sentence summary of the scene.

5.     Is my main plot a character development arc?

·      Subplots

~  Do they fit in?

~  When do they resolve?

~  How do they resolve?

6.     Characters

·      What are my character's quirks and personality traits?

·      Do my secondary/minor characters grow with each appearance they make in the book? 

7.     Dialogue

·      Do my characters have unique voices?

·      Do they reveal everything about their characters?

An example of this is sub vs grinder (sandwich) 

Their socio-economic placement

·      Does the dialogue let their relationships evolve?

·      How authentic do they sound?

8.     Setting and Description

·      Picture it then brushstroke the description. Let the reader envision it, unless it must be specific.

·      For it to be specific, it must be important later in the book. If not, take it out.

9.     Wordsmith

·      Search for commonly used, but unnecessary words.

~  Examples are just, so, next, that, but.

10.  Show, don’t tell.