A NaNo Hangover - 20 Editing Tips

It's been 8 days since I became a NaNoWriMo winner.  

I competed the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel in a month (nanowrimo.org)  

Yeah me...I think...why doesn't it feel like I've succeeded at something?

Ever since I've had writers hangover

I look back at what I've written and see 200 pages of editing and re-writing and the further 40,000 words I still need to write to complete the book

To get myself motivated I've set up Pinterest boards that I have open on one of my screens while I write

I have a couple related to the book, 'Solomon's Secrets', but I also have one that's just writing tips and help for writers:  http://www.pinterest.com/amymorse184/writing/

A month of free-flow writing has left me with so much editing to do that I've been gathering tips.

Here's my Top 20 Tips for Editing Your Work:

1. Delete the unnecessary adverbs
2. Is at least 50% of the book Dialogue?
3. Lose 10% - be ruthless
4. Are all the characters necessary?
5. Reduce the adjectives
6. Show don't tell
7. Multi-sensory; does the scene appeal to all the senses?
8.  Have you kept points of view consistent?
9. Cut up long sentences
10. Are there any holes in the plot?
11. Are the characters believable?
12. Does each character have a distinctive voice?
13. Have you done your research?
14. Is there enough conflict?
15. Check spelling - using more than just the spell checker
16. Get at least two other people to read through and edit your work
17. Are sentences logical?  too many 'as', 'and' & 'thens' can have characters doing everything at once
18. Less is more - cut unnecessary words from sentences
19. Read it out loud, anything that doesn't flow will jar and be immediately obvious
20. Always use 'said' as a conversation tag

A couple  of strong coffees and some carbs and hopefully I can cure this hangover and get back to writing