Editing checklist!

General editing checklist

-          DIALOGUE – how much repetition? Does it lead anywhere? If conclusion, does it actually tie relevant issues together? If they’re arguing/having two different conversations even though they think they're talking about the same thing, is that signposted well? What does each character want from the conversation and do they get it and can the reader conceivably know? Do we force in the sassy at the expense of content/relationship? does it sound like something people would conceivably say out loud?

-          CHARACTERISATION – consistent? Nuanced? Realistic? makes sense with age, background, and situation of relevant character? Where is it most obvious and how can that be balanced?

-          VOICES – are characters distinct/distinguishable from their dialogue alone? Narrator’s voice?

-          NARRATION – who is the narrator, how much do they know, what info do they have access to, and how obvious do we make it that they’re unreliable? Watch out for head-jumping pov!! if we start out in one person's head we gotta hang out there for at least 1 sequence or it gets wacky and impossible to follow.

-          STYLE – sentence length, structure, variety; was/ing constructions (variations in verb usage!); watch out for repeating vocabulary; paragraphs!! How do we refer to people (first names, pronouns, etc.), is that clear (+ consistent with what info narrator has access to), and are we avoiding epithets where physically possible

-          TENSE - there will be no victory unless we check this man

-          PARENTHESES - inevitably too many. kill at least half of them.

-          IMAGERY – We wanna make the words pretty!! Do we use a single image. Do we use a single metaphor. Do we hyperfocus on an insignificant detail in the environment to prove a point. Are there any subtle symbols that no one will pick up on but when I read it I’ll know. How well does level of imagery fit with characterisation of narrator if that’s relevant?

-          DESCRIPTIONS – Do we know where they are and what that looks like? Do we know what the characters look like/have they been described in the past? Any significant objects that need describing? Do descriptions interrupt the dialogue awkwardly? Sprinkled in with introspection? Make em work harder and make em matter.

-          ACTION – sequential? Clearly described? Well-choreographed? Do we know where people are, what they’re doing there and how far they’re apart from each other? Watch out for repetition (esp. with rolling eyes, folding arms, clearing throats and snorting).

-          FLOW – does the scene move logically? Is there a sense of progression where we started out in one place (literally or thematically) and end up in another? Does the end of the scene feel like a natural break?