After completing your rough draft and revising it until you’re satisfied with the basic structure and content, it’s time to start polishing it for submission.
At this stage you may want to get someone else’s input on your work. Some people have critique partners look over their manuscripts, but even readers who aren’t writers can offer useful insights into problems with clarity, pacing, characterization, or awkward sentences.
This is also the time to review your manuscript for:
1. Errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Don’t rely on the spell check function of your word processor as it isn’t always right. Words that sound the same but are spelled differently (homophones) are easy to overlook when editing.
Make sure you’re following the appropriate style guide for the publisher you’re targeting. Agent Rachelle Gardner suggests making an Editorial Style Sheet to help keep track of pertinent details that an editor will want to know about your manuscript.
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2010/07/keeping-track-of-details.html
2. Smooth transitions between paragraphs and scenes.
Make sure your point of view changes are clearly indicated.
Try to have a cliffhanger or unanswered question at the end of each chapter to entice people to keep reading.
3. Correct format and headers.
Using the proper manuscript format is essential to make your writing look professional. In the absence of specific guidelines, use a standard format: double spacing for hard copies, 1 inch margins, black Courier or Times New Roman 12 point font, headers with last name, title, and page number. Don’t forget a cover page. (See my post on manuscript formatting.)
Each manuscript will have special needs. There are many resources available on line and in books to help you figure out what’s best for yours. Many people also pay free-lance editors, or book doctors, to help them get their work ready to submit. If you decide to hire an editor, be sure to check their background and references before entering into a contract with them.
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What are the final steps you take to prepare your manuscript for submission to an agent or editor? Do you have any tips to share about revising or polishing a manuscript? What type of feedback do you ask for from friends, family, or critique partners?
The Writing Place 
I like any feedback I can get.
As for tips: right now I’m submitting excerpts of my novel to lit mags. Segregated into short stories helps me see it with new eyes, and I’m better able to polish it that way.
I never thought of submitting novel excerpts as short stories. Sounds like a great idea. Good luck!
Carol
While I always grateful when my readers point out spelling and grammar errors, I’m much more appreciative when they point out the other issues you mention: problems with clarity, pacing, characterization, or awkward sentences. Unfortunately, those are the types of calls most F&F readers (friends and family) are usually uncomfortable making because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. So I always explicitly tell people that I have a thick skin and to please point out those types of things too. It helps a little to let them know up front what you’re looking for.
I think Tricia’s idea is great. Plus it could land some good publishing creds in the interim. Neat.
~jon
Jon, even if someone says they have thick skin, it’s hard for me to tell someone negative things about their work. Knowing the type of feedback a writer is looking for makes it easier, but it’s still difficult when I know the person.
Carol
More great advice Carol. I don’t think I’ve ever ‘polished’ anything to industry standards. I just try my best to go through line by line, paragraph by paragraph and make sure they are correct and make sense. I will admit I’m not good at those things.
Elizabeth, I think you’re too hard on yourself. I’ve seen enough of your work to know you are very good at polishing. 🙂
My final step would be pure, unadulterated panic. ^_^
Oh, yes. How did I forget to mention that step? 😉
I tend to reread my short stories several times for structural errors first. Then I review them a final time for grammar and spelling errors. Once I feel they are to my satisfaction, I will ask my family and friends to read them. I ask family to be brutally honest. I will give them a series of questions to answer after they read the short story to let me know if the story flowed well. Also if the story is off a bit, they will stop wherever the story went off course and ask, “Why did I have the character do this or do that?” “What will happen next to the character?” “Why didn’t I end the story this way?” These questions help me to understand how the reader perceives the story, which can often be very different than my intended message.
That’s a great way to approach revisions. I like the idea of giving someone a series of questions so they know what to focus on, especially if they aren’t writers or work in a different genre.
I’ve yet to come to this part of the process with my current MS but with my older writing projects I’ve always paid a special attention to “Errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.”… Thank you for the great tips, advice and the link Carol 🙂
You’re welcome, Lua. 🙂
I was reading back in your series, and saw where you mentioned “By the time you’ve finished the first draft, you should know what the book is about (plot), and the idea you want the reader to take away from reading it (theme).” I guess I go at things differently because I have to know those two before I start writing the first draft. Then, when it’s done, I read through it once to correct the obvious stuff… whatever jumps out at me, whether it’s punctuation or plot holes. Then I let it sit.
After a few weeks I’m ready to read it through with an eye to revising, and that’s when I work from the big picture issues down to the details… looking for different problems each time. I like to feel I’ve done all I can before I let anyone else read it, but I know there will always be more revisions. I never seem to be totally “finished”. I suppose all the tweaking is part of the polishing process.
Carol, I think there are many people like you, who know the general theme and major plot points before they begin, even though they may not develop a complete outine. However, I’ve read that many people write “by the seat of their pants,” and watch the story unfold itself. Those people may not know in advance what will happen at the end of the story, but need to have the plot and theme figured out before they begin revisions.
I started my first novel with only a basic idea of what the plot would be, though I had the theme in mind. It didn’t turn out well as I kept changing the antagonist and revising scenes to fit in subplots. It took a lot of work to make it come together. From now on, I’ll be figuring out the major scenes before I start.
One thing I’ve learned is that almost every writer puts his or her own twist on novel writing. We tend to pick and choose whatever seems to work at any given time… sometimes changing methods from one book to the next. The genre may make a difference as to which method works better than another.
My first novel was a “seat of the pants” effort and despite major revisions it still isn’t publishable. I just couldn’t make it work. Maybe one day I’ll rethink and rewrite it but for now I’m moving ahead. There are too many other ideas clamoring for attention. I still like letting my mind roam free as I write, but, like you, I seem to need a little bit of pre-planning to keep in the background or I’ll wander around too much.
Questions to ask yourself about your novel.
Are the characters actions and reactions true to their personality?
Will readers cheer for your characters and want them to win the day?
Does the first chapter totally grab your attention and make you unable to do anything else but turn the page?
Can you randomnly stop on any paragraph within your novel, read it and find it engaging? Imagine you are a customer who’s flicking through a book in a store and opens a random page and reads a few lines. Would you buy it, or put it back on the shelf?
Every word in your book needs to deserve its place.
Are the reasons for your characters decisions understandable in relation to their back story?
Make sure your novel doesn’t sag in the middle. Nothing worse than a reader who struggles to keep going with the book. Is there something in each chapter to keep them wanting to turn the page?
Does your book stir up emotion? Does it do this enough?
What does your character learn through the experience?
I could go on forever with my list of questions, but i’ll end with this final one.
Is the ending not only dramatic, ties up loose ends, but is it satisfying? Don’t want your readers to feel cheated after reading all those words, do you?
Those are great suggestions, Helen! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Carol