In this post, I'll talk you through what to look out for when you're reviewing your work in a little more detail.
1. Before you even start editing, print off your work. It's much easier to review something when you can write on it, highlight parts, cross chunks out, change bits around, etc.
2. Spelling, punctuation and grammar. This is something I've mentioned before, but it's definitely the most important thing to be on the look out for, and also the easiest to change! There are a lot of ways to check this before you even hit print - use Microsoft Word (or another document app) 's spell checker. There are also other apps out there that will check your work in more detail. Ultimately, however, I'd recommend a human touch just to make sure words haven't been changed for other words during the spell checking process (think about how annoying autocorrect is).
3. Plot. Does everything add up? Do you need to make any changes or add anything else in to explain things better? As I said in a previous post, it can be beneficial to map this out on a piece of paper: everything should flow and there should be no contradictions.
4. Character. Are your characters fully developed? Do they act and speak in a consistent way? Are their relations to other characters explained? Does your audience know enough about them? Or too much?
5. Are there any parts which are unnecessary? Consider the length of your story and how much time you spend explaining things or on a conversation or a character's thoughts. After a first draft, there is often a lot you can cut without changing the meaning. Instead, the pace becomes faster and the audience are more engaged.
6. Check for any changes in tense. This is a really common problem. Say you were writing in past tense, but things got a bit exciting and you accidentally slipped into first tense. It happens. Reread your work really carefully focusing just on this, maybe even highlight all the tensed words - yellow if they're right, and pink if they're wrong. This way it's easy to find them again when you're redrafting.
Happy writing!
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