#AtoZChallenge Jump Start your Editing

The #AtoZChallenge 2017 Theme at Operation Awesome is the Publishing Journey.

Are you ready to Jump start your editing? Here are some tips.

This is a flow chart I created.

By the first one hundred words of your book, not only should the reader be hooked, but the genre also established.

Examples:
Words 100- 103 The Shining by Stephen King = "the local undertaker" (horror)
Words 96- 99 The War Of The Flowers by Tad Williams = "In the mortal world" (fantasy)
Words 28- 34 Friends and Lovers by C. Solet ="going out tonight was a good idea" (erotica)
Words 6- 22 Self-Help 101 or: How I Learned to Take Over the World Through Tolerating My Family by L.G. Keltner "I can assume you either want to take over the world and are looking for some pointers" (humor)

Here are some questions to think about while editing:

What is the key dramatic question that will take whole story to answer? How is that dramatic question addressed in each scene?
What in the opening scene has put the protagonist on an inevitable collision with the antagonist?
What consequence will transpire, and how soon, if hero fails?
What is the most memorable trait or visual oddity of one of your characters?
What emotions do you hope your book will evoke for the reader?
Which character has your favorite Personality Contradiction? (responsible and spontaneous, humorous but secretly abusive, sexy yet celibate)


Does each scene have at least four obstacles or obstructions in the way of the main character achieving a goal? (Internal obstacles are things like worry, fear, or lack of knowledge. External obstacles are things like people or terrain.)
What nouns and verbs best express the primary emotion of the scene? How do the details of the scene's setting reveal relevant information about the story?
How do reactions to the setting reveal information or details about the characters?
How many of each of the following sensory details are in each scene?

• Touch/ Feel
• Taste
• Hearing/ Sound
• Smell/ Scent
• Visual

With which of the following does the scene end?

• New information relevant to the story question or prevention of the consequence that will happen if the hero fails
• New important character added
• Conflict that tests the moral values of the protagonist
• Another available choice, which has both good and bad consequences
• The main problem is now more complicated
• The current course of action is more hopeless

Try Grammarly for amazing proofreading.

What editing tips do you have to share? What's your biggest "someone should have fixed that" pet-peeve when reading?