Editing Checklist

by Jude Aquilina

•  Is your story special/original/unusual?
• Is your meaning/message clear?
• What shape is the story? Are the sections in the best order for impact?
• Are the sentence lengths appropriate – a mixture of short and long sentences often works well.
• Is the punctuation consistent? [less is more these days]
• Are there words or lines which could be eliminated without affecting the story?
• Are there accidental repetitions?
• Are the voice and tone consistent and authentic?
• Is every word of dialogue necessary?
• Is there enough dialogue to break up long passages of text?
• Have you used figurative language?
• Have you adequately described your characters and setting?
• Do you need paragraph breaks to let the reader absorb before reading on?
• Is the font plain and easy to read [Times New Roman or Palatino are good]?
• Have you used double or 1.5 line spacing?
• Is your name on the piece of writing?
• Are there childish words [like ‘yummy’] in an otherwise ‘adult’ story?
• Is your title memorable/catchy/specific?  [Titles such as ‘Love’, ‘Summer’ & ‘Flowers’ are not, nor is ‘Untitled’ – give your babies decent names!]
• Do the first lines make the reader want to read on?
• Have you read the story (especially the dialogue) aloud and listened for problems with sound, pronunciation or rhythm?
• Have you left time between edits? [I never send new work to publishers, as I always find ways of improving it, plus like to seek feedback from a friend]
• Have you kept all drafts?  You may need to refer back to earlier drafts. [plastic sleeves are a wonderful invention]
• Have you used a Thesaurus to enrich the vocabulary?
• Have you researched any factual parts to ensure they’re correct?
• Have you checked for clichés?
• Are there feeble words, which can be replaced or omitted? [Words such as ‘very’ ‘really’ ‘nice’ ‘sad’ ‘fun’]
• Have you received feedback from another writer or trusted reader?
• Are you sure your story isn’t insulting, racist, ageist, slanderous?
• Is the ending satisfying/suitable- or give does it give a sense of ‘ending’?
• Have you used your five senses?
• Have you used too many speech tags?
• Are there too many adverbs ‘showing and not telling’?
• Have you given the piece a major prune?
• Have you tried a different tense?
• Have you tried a different point of view?
• Does the language suit the time, place and character?
• Are there unanswered questions or parts that need explaining?

 
And don’t forget the importance of punctuation …
 
A teacher asks his students to punctuate this sentence:
"Woman without her man is nothing." The men all write, "Woman, without her man, is nothing." The women all write, "Woman! Without her, man is nothing!"
 
If you feel like a punctuation challenge, try punctuating this sentence:
James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher   (11 x had)
The answer:
James, while John had had "had", had had "had had"; "had had" had had a better effect on the teacher