1. Set it Aside
   Once you’ve completed your draft, take some time away from it. I recommend as much as two months to really get it out of your brain. When I finished the draft of my memoir, I turned my attention to my clients and their work— It was a relief!
2. Read it Out Loud
   Think of your writing as a piece of music. It will have its own rhythm and cadence. As you read, pay attention to your sentence variety. A long, graceful sentence conveys peace and fluidity. Short, choppy sentences? Urgency. Tension. Suspense. Make your writing as musical as it can be.
3. Change the Font
   When an artist wants to see if a painting is composed well, they can hold it up to the mirror and get a backward image. This way, their eye thinks they’re seeing it for the first time. Mistakes previously hidden will pop out. Anything out of balance will make itself known. It’s the same with your manuscript. Try changing the font and the color to trick your brain into thinking you’re seeing it for the first time.
4. Edit it Out of Order
   Print out the entire manuscript. Break it into chapters. Spread the chapters out on the floor. Pick one at a time and focus on that one chapter. Think about starting at the end and working your way back to the beginning. One well-known writer told me she edits the first chapter, then the last chapter. Then the second, then the second-to-last, and so on. This way, you’re making sure that each and every chapter gets the same attention.
5. Show Not Tell Opportunities
   Look for any pages with that tell-tale density and no white space on the page. Could be you’ve done too much telling. Can you find a way to expand a thought and turn it into a scene?
6. Does Every Chapter and Every Scene Move the Story Forward?
   Start with each chapter and make sure it moves the plot forward. Connects to the theme. Develops a character. Hopefully all three.
7. Check for Passive Verbs and Adverbs
   Run a “Find” in Microsoft Word for the word “was.” Run it again for the word “is.” For each passive (to be) verb, can you adjust this to an active verb? In most cases, you’ll see there’s a more dynamic way to craft your sentence. Same idea for adverbs. You’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way, but keep an eye out for the “ly” words and other adverbs. They scream “amateur.”
8. Check for Transitions between Chapters
   Read the first line of each chapter. Does it flow from the last line of the previous chapter? If you’ve moved any chapters around, you’ll want to pay special attention to this. Read the last line of each chapter. Does it compel the reader to turn the page? You want your reader to say, “One more chapter,” as they devour the pages of your book. You want them to lose sleep for all the right reasons. You want them to recommend your book to their friends with an emphatic, “I couldn’t put it down.”
9. Fix the Double Spaces after Periods
   Use Only One Space After a Period. Many people of a certain generation decry this new rule. True, we’ve used double spaces since the invention of the printing press. But it’s not 1440. You’re not producing the Gutenberg Bible. In the 21st Century, Publishing Industry Standard requires one space after a period at the end of a sentence. If you’re like me, you find it hard to break the double-space habit. Pro Tip: Type it the way you feel comfortable. When the document is complete, do a “Find” and enter two spaces, then hit “Replace” and enter one space.
10. Rinse and Repeat
    Learn to love the editing process. It’s another chance to immerse yourself in your big fat wonderful project and write it exactly the way you want so it says exactly what you want to say. Once you enter the world of querying and revising and agents and professional editors, you’ll long for the days when you could sit with your baby and noodle around with it on your own, as you wish.

Whatever you do, keep writing!