Writing is fun. It’s diving into your imagination, watching the story play like a movie in your mind’s eye and then watching it transfer to the written, or typed, page. It’s the most fun you’ll have with your pants on. But, like all good things, there’s some necessary evils that come along with it. For myself, and probably a lot of other writers, editing is one of them.

If you don’t currently belong to a critique group, I would strongly suggest joining one or creating one. Even if your group consists of one trusted person and yourself, there is a lot you can gain from having organized feedback...

The following is a checklist of things I examine as I read through a story, either for myself or for my group. I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me. And good luck as you work through this crazy month of editing...

The sprint of NaNoWriMo is over. You’ve done everything you were supposed to do – written daily, set those word counts, put off school/work/family/showering in order to make your goals.
And didn’t it feel good to see that word counter hit 50k? OH YEAH IT DID! And I’m the first to high-five you as you stumble across the finish line and collapse in a sodden heap, whimpering and glad it’s over.
But here’s the thing: it ain’t over. Here’s the scarier thing: it’s never over.

As you work through your novel, you're probably spending plenty of editorial energy on the big things, stuff like motivation and plot, but making smaller changes can add up to serious improvements. Here are a few things to consider.