Here is my personal checklist for editing my stories, hopefully it will be of use to some of you. The first section is the one that I find benefits me the most. Please note that this text isn't entirely my own. It is a compilation of things I have read elsewhere (cynthealiu.com, the blue board, and The Purple Crayon) along with my own notes.

Use the ‘find’ tool in MS Word to look for the following. Replace or omit them if possible:

Very

Some

Somehow

Something

Thing

Just

Like

That

Instead

To the

To be

Suddenly

Could

Would

Seemed

There

Really

Realized

Managed

Had/have

Only

Is

All

Now

Words ending in -ly

Verbs preceded by was or were

Verbs ending in -ing


The following should generally be replaced with something more interesting:

Ran, sat, looked, talk, ate, fell, pretty, happy, nice, good, big, and small.


These uncertain words should be omitted or made more certain:

Seemed, probably, perhaps, maybe, felt or feel, and would do.


Often redundant are:

Down, up, out, began, back and started.



Here are some more general rules:

Keep the plot and the sentences simple. Don't underestimate he ability of people (adults probably even more so than kids) to get confused.

Remember that kids, like myself, have a short attention span!

Make sure dialogue is realistic for who’s saying it.

Use active and powerful verbs.

Don’t lose focus of the plot.

Don’t overuse adjectives; i.e. the huge, scary, gelatinous monster.

Check your use of: commas, semicolons, colons, ellipses (…), and em dashes. If you don't the difference between an em dash and an en dash, look it up. I had to.

Don't trust MS Word's autoformatting, spellcheck, or anything else for that matter. It will often lead you wrong. So make sure that you proofread everything yourself.

Don’t include too much dialogue.  Dialogue should not exceed 1/3 of MS tops.

Check your structure - Beginning 1/5th, middle 3/5th, end, 1/5th is typical. The beginning and end should not be too long.

There should be opportunity for interesting illustrations.

An adult shouldn’t fix everything.  Kids prefer to see kids or the MC solve the problem.

Give the story a surprising ending.  Don’t be too predictable.

The story should have lots of kid appeal.  The book should be funny, touching, or interesting.  They should also be able to relate to it.

It’s good to recycle elements in the story.  Take something from the beginning and use it in the ending.


Make sure there aren't overly repetitive elements in your story. This includes: 

- Sentences that are too formulaic:

As I X’d, she Y’D

When X Happened, Y happened.

I X’d, [INSERT VERB]+ing.

- Overuse of dialogue tags; i.e. she said, he yelled.

- Action fixiations.  Make sure there isn’t too much running, or laughing, etc.

- And, simplest of all, overuse of a particular word or phrase.