If you haven’t read it already, please read Part 1 first.
The next step, once you have the plot as air-tight as you can, is to read through your manuscript as a reader. But first, make a backup of your original manuscript and tuck it away somewhere. (You never know when you might want to resurrect a character that you’ve deleted previously.)
Read it all the way through once, without stopping to correct or edit. You can make notes as you go through it but don’t take up time editing and perfecting dialogue, adding setting details, etc. I like to print out my rough draft, double spaced, in a readable font. Some prefer to work directly on their computer. Either way works.
This is where you note down any changes you need to make to ‘fix’ your plot. Cross out paragraphs that are fillers, note characters who appear briefly in the beginning of your novel, but then disappear or characters who are so bland, they add nothing to the story. If anything comes to mind during the initial reading, write a note to yourself about it. Don’t actually make the change. That comes later.
Remember this initial read-through is to help you identify what parts of your story work, and what don’t; which characters are essential to the story, and which aren’t; identify plot holes and write notes in the margins how to fix them.
Once you have read your entire manuscript and notated what needs to be change, then you are ready to begin editing.
Revising your Rough Draft Part 1
Revising your Rough Draft Part 3