The Self-Help Writer"s Manuscript Review Checklist
When you finish your book, use this checklist to review your manuscript for key mistakes before you submit it to agents or publishers.
Clear your mind as much as possible and attempt to read the manuscript with fresh eyes as if you had never seen it before.
Scrutinize it for the following: Case histories and anecdotes: Have you introduced them all and characterized each person involved? Chapter theme: Is the theme of each chapter, as well as how it relates to the overall theme of your book, clear? Condensing: Is there anyplace where the manuscript seems to go on about one subject too long and might benefit from condensation? Definitions: Have you defined every technical, academic or professional term? Hint: Look for any words the reader might not find familiar.
Exercises: Have you introduced each fully, explained how to do it in sufficient detail, explained how to interpret their results or what changes the reader should expect in their life? Examples: Is there anyplace where you feel the idea being discussed would benefit from being illustrated by an example? Hint: Typically involves how something works or how someone behaves.
Explanations: Are there any important, technical or complicated ideas or concepts that you have not fully explained? Facts.
Have you double-checked all dates, heights, populations, statistics, attributions and other facts? Hint: When you trust your memory it is always wrong.
Flaccid writing: Are there places where you have become too wordy? Hint: If you can condense six words into one to three words without changing the meaning, you probably should.
Focus: Have you stuck to the main topic throughout a chapter or section? Hint: Look for spots where you have gone on tangents.
Headings and subheadings: Are they plentiful? Hint: You should have one for each new idea or subject.
Introductions: Have you introduced chapters, sections and subsections fully before discussing them? Negative comparisons: Have you inadvertently explained only what something is not? Hint: Anytime you discover you have defined something by what it is not, look back to see if you first remembered to explain what it is.
Proportion: Have you given more space to important issues and briefer treatment to less important ones? Questions: At some point, have you answered every question you formally ask in the text? Reader involvement: Have you consistently remembered to write the reader into the book? Hint: Is the reader addressed frequently enough through the use of "you"? Run-on-sentences: Do you have any sentences of three lines or longer? Hint: If you can rewrite it into two sentences, you probably should.
Clear your mind as much as possible and attempt to read the manuscript with fresh eyes as if you had never seen it before.
Scrutinize it for the following: Case histories and anecdotes: Have you introduced them all and characterized each person involved? Chapter theme: Is the theme of each chapter, as well as how it relates to the overall theme of your book, clear? Condensing: Is there anyplace where the manuscript seems to go on about one subject too long and might benefit from condensation? Definitions: Have you defined every technical, academic or professional term? Hint: Look for any words the reader might not find familiar.
Exercises: Have you introduced each fully, explained how to do it in sufficient detail, explained how to interpret their results or what changes the reader should expect in their life? Examples: Is there anyplace where you feel the idea being discussed would benefit from being illustrated by an example? Hint: Typically involves how something works or how someone behaves.
Explanations: Are there any important, technical or complicated ideas or concepts that you have not fully explained? Facts.
Have you double-checked all dates, heights, populations, statistics, attributions and other facts? Hint: When you trust your memory it is always wrong.
Flaccid writing: Are there places where you have become too wordy? Hint: If you can condense six words into one to three words without changing the meaning, you probably should.
Focus: Have you stuck to the main topic throughout a chapter or section? Hint: Look for spots where you have gone on tangents.
Headings and subheadings: Are they plentiful? Hint: You should have one for each new idea or subject.
Introductions: Have you introduced chapters, sections and subsections fully before discussing them? Negative comparisons: Have you inadvertently explained only what something is not? Hint: Anytime you discover you have defined something by what it is not, look back to see if you first remembered to explain what it is.
Proportion: Have you given more space to important issues and briefer treatment to less important ones? Questions: At some point, have you answered every question you formally ask in the text? Reader involvement: Have you consistently remembered to write the reader into the book? Hint: Is the reader addressed frequently enough through the use of "you"? Run-on-sentences: Do you have any sentences of three lines or longer? Hint: If you can rewrite it into two sentences, you probably should.
Source...