Go through each scene and evaluate each of these questions:
- Whose scene is it?
- Who is dominant in the scene?
- Who has power in the scene?
- Is there a shift of power within the scene?
- What conflict generates the action of the scene?
- Does the scene escalate in tension giving a forward momentum of story?
- Are new elements of character revealed in conflict?
- Is the dialogue interesting?
- Have you deleted cliches?
- Have you corrected format?
- Have you cleaned up punctuation and grammar?
- Did you present the narrative with clarity and brevity?
- Is the final line of dialogue, “the tag”, in place to anchor the scene and form a hook for the next scene?
- Did you begin at the last moment and exit at the highest point of drama?
- Did you play with the dialogue?
- Finding a more interesting and compelling line delivery?
- Is the dialogue about conflict?
- Does the dialogue reveal character?
- Is the dialogue easy to read and deliver?/li>
MORE REWRITE TIPS:
- Check scenes at the act breaks. Make them work.
- Don’t trust the first joke if you’re writing a comedy.
- Delete repeat lines.
- Monitor characters. Do you have too many characters that are doing redundant work and deflating the conflict?
- Do you need more characters?