Any insights would be appreciated.

Then I look for --ly, --ing and see if I have too many of them or if the sentence can be made more active by getting rid of them.

I do punctuation next.

Then I look down the side of each page and make sure each paragraph starts with a different word. Dumb? You'd be surprised what a difference it makes. Same with sentences in a paragraph--no two in a row starting the same.

After that the big thing is to look for clarity, repetitive info, and sentences that need simplification. Do you need more info, less? Also look for inconsistencies--John had blue eyes in chapter one and green in chapter 30, that sort of thing.

Have you used clichés? Too many adjectives--

The list can go on and on.

And even after you have edited it to the best of your ability--when you make a sale or land an agent--it starts all over. But the thing is an agent or publisher will recognize that you put the work into it. But be prepared for a long haul and a lot of work.

Read your draft for flow. If you stumble on something, figure a reader probably would also.

This one is hard to explain. If there are any places in your draft that, in the very back of your mind (and I'm talking almost a subconscious level here), you've felt not quite sure about, or have been vaguely thinking you might change or that something doesn't work -- take another look. Most likely you should deal with those places. Your mind is picking up something you're refusing to see or don't want to deal with. Bite the bullet and deal with it.

1. I let the manuscript sit for a while. In fact, I will start and complete another, smaller writing project before rereading the manuscript. This way, my mind has been focused on something else; it hasn't been stewing about the reread and rewrite.

2. I try to reread the whole thing in one sitting. Why? Becasue what I'm looking for duing my first reread is the unity of the story, characters, and plot. Sometimes that's hard to see if you read your manuscript over the course of a week. If I see grammar, spelling, or vocabulary issues, I'll change them. But that's not my focus. I'm asking myself: Does the story flow? Are the characters consistent? Are the questions answered? I'm also looking for various mistakes -- a character who puts on a red tie in the morning and wears a blue tie home that evening. Stuff like that.

3. Once you examined the story's logic, it's time to fix the mistakes you see. This means (possibly) rewriting scenes or chapters. Again, my goal is constructing a unified story.

4. Now that you think you have a unified story that doesn't have any blatant logical mistakes, it's time to let others see it. Don't ask them to focus on any one thing. Ask them to both make comments on the story itself as well as correct what they think is wrong with it -- including grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Hand it over to your group of readers and say, "Make any comment, change, or correction you want."

5. Your next rewrite should be based on what your readers told you. You have to decide which comments are good and which ones are not so good. If you have 10 readers, and 8 of them highlight a scene in Chapter 3, then you might want to work on that scene. And in case of a tie, the writer wins: So if five say "A" about a scene in Chapter 3, and the other five say "B", then feel free to keep it as it is -- so long as you don't agree with what they're saying. You might not agree with the 8, but it would be unwise not to listen to them. Just remember, you can't please everybody.

6. Now comes another reread, and once again your should be focused on the unity of the story. You should also, I think, start looking for symbols of themes that you can bring our. For example, if a series of characters walk across the same bridge to a significant event, then you might want to think about highlighting that bridge through description and in dialogue.

7. After another rewrite (they should be getting shorter), you are now in the position to read for grammar, spelling, and vocabulary issues, as well as cutting 10% of your story. Yes, you'll want to make sure the grammar and spelling is correct, but that's something that probably fixed itself in the course of the rewrites -- especially if you and your readers are semi-competent in this area. Anything awkward should, of course, be fixed.

More importantly, I think, is your vocabulary. I follow Theodore Sturgeon's rule: The more important a scene or description is, the more poetic the prose needs to be. Are you using banal and pedestrian words in these important scenes? If so, change them.

You should also try to cut 10% of from your story. A 400-page manuscript should end up being 360 pages. Do you have unnecessary descriptions? Do you have dialogue that doesn't enhance a character or move the story along? Can two scenes be combined?

Some authors (such as Stephen King) say that the 10% rule should be used between the first and second drafts. Others (such as James Patrick Kelly) use the 10% rule for their last draft. I like using the 10% for my last draft. This way I can focus entirely on the unity of the story, and then focus entirely on the utility of the elements that comprise the story.

I recommend getting Stephen King's On Writing and reading what he has to say about rewrites. I haven't read the other books that have been recommended.

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First thing I do is look for my pet words--that, just, was, had--and rewrite anything using them.

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Looking for was is always a good idea. NO I am not trying to start a firestorm of but you need was--yes you do, but not all over the place all the time. And almost always a "was" sentence can be made more active and stronger by rewording a was if it can be.

As you write, and receive good crits you will learn your own pet words. Just is a big one for me, that is second, I have to watch the ly words as well.

I think this is what makes editing so hard to do--you cannot see the errors you make very well.

I am on my last edit for my agent--the nit pick every small detail one. He sent me a list of pages he found typos on--on one page I read it five times and could not see the typo. My hubby read the page he could not see it. I read it again. I was about to send an e-mail to my agent asking where it was--when a crit group friend said--send me the page.

She had read the MS a long time ago, but because it was fresh in her eyes she found it.

Also added to what Kathleen said--and I do this, but not until I've done my other edits--read it into a tape recorder. You'll hear many things on playback, and anywhere your voice falters--rework.

You can hear the long awkward sentences and the over abundance of pet words as well.

Shawn

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More importantly, I think, is your vocabulary. I follow Theodore Sturgeon's rule: The more important a scene or description is, the more poetic the prose needs to be. Are you using banal and pedestrian words in these important scenes? If so, change them.

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On the subject of Theodore Sturgeon, he apparently suggested that tense action passages should be written almost as if they are poetry. Pay attention to the rhythym of the words, and how they flow. Passages that flow smoothly pull the reader on to the next section more quickly, more deeply. An even, continous rhythym can achieve that particularly well. Abrupt changes in the rhythym can subconsciouly pull the reader back, make them feel the change. In places where the pace of your story changes dramatically, try using a rhythmic pattern leading up to it for a few lines, and then a different one after it for a few lines... it is an interesting affect, certainly.

I don't do that. Most of my scenes get that poetry flow (if they are going to have it) on the first draft.

I have also heard that one way to rewrite is to rekey the entire story--not me.

I always stick a Post-it note right beside my screen and on it are these words: PLOT and PEOPLE.

I write, rewrite and revise as I go along, checking for stylistic things, etc., but before sending anything out, my biggest and most time-consuming check is for the above.

With only plot and people in mind, I look at my work in sections, meaning chapters and the scenes within each chapter.

This is the point where I pull out the outline I created for the story. In it I've listed all that must happen within each chapter concerning the plot and the people, plus have made a breakdown of what must happen within each scene in order to propel the plot and the people forward. Over time, I've written, what I thought, were great scenes, but once I put them to the litmus test of whether or not they propelled both the plot and the people forward, I ended up cutting them.

So, my best advice for your question is to ask yourself these things:

Have you started your story at the exact point it should begin, not a moment too soon or a moment too late in terms of plot and people?

Have you established right up front and with impact the "one thin veto" upon which your main character's (or characters’) happiness/tragedy hinges? The past and present history of the main protagonist and the plot in which you've embroiled him/her/them must be intricately woven into a fast-paced, exiting read right from the get-go, I think. With the very first sentence you must plunk your reader into this character's(s') troubles. There's got to be something immediately at stake for someone we care about or could care about, and then you must keep that investment at a high level through every scene of every chapter, revealing layer by layer plot and people as you whisk your reader to THE END.

I like Kolona's point about things that raise a red flag in your unconscious. I always frame these sections in red, and then come back later. If they make me pause twice, I pitch them or find another way to rewrite them. Oh, heck, who am I kidding?! I struggle with them even if they make me pause once!

No, not an entire story, usually. But a sentence or paragraph, yes. Also, when I've plot summarized my way past a block, I always completely rekey it, even when I end up using a lot of the words.

I don't say "I re-wrote the whole thing" unless I rekeyed it. If I'm just rekeying a few sentences, then that's what I say.

And while I've fooled with cut and paste edits, I always end up rekeying those as well.

Tonight, in my crit groups chat, one member suggested I read it backward. As in start at the end of the lines and read them in reverse to look for typos.

It won't work to find missing words--but I applied that to a couple of pages that my agent said had typos (ones I could not find) and presto they jumped right out at me.

So thought I'd share this.

But then the original was severely lacking, IMO. There were a few structural problems with the story, the viewpoint was all over the place, it didn't get close enough to the central characters... and I've changed the name I use to refer to the protagonist (following advice received here, I'm no longer using his surname to refer to him). Oh, and it came out shorter than I was hoping for, so I've added sub-plot. The original was the kind of draft I'd be embarassed to let anyone critique :-)

I am most intrigued by a lot of your comments. Could you provide me with some specific examples of your work and how you improved it by hunting for pet words, eliminating was, et cetera.

The manuscript has been aging for a few months now while I have been distracted by the birth, and caring for, of my first child.

To be honest I am dreading the work - I work my best in a plain room, alone and undistracted. So when I use my computer for actual work, I find it very difficult to concentrate. That said, I am very sure, especially since it is my first novel, a full rewrite is exactly what's needed.

However for the further editing, I have decided to go more or less along with Stephen Kings advice in On Writing (a thoroughly great book), and this topic has further clarified both why and how. Though I am unsure when I will remove the 10%, I feel a long way from having that become a pressing issue.

Congratulations Marianne.