You may have to cut out some words and you will remember the hours you spent crafting them. It will fell bad - it will hurt to have to cut hem but that is necessary. Once you have an overview and see the while you can cut the bits that don't fit.
Editing is more than doing a spell check and grammar check. Your computer can help with this but don't always believe the suggestions it makes for grammar! Your prose is more than the suggestions of an auto grammar checking program!
Do you over use certain words - we all do. Use a computer search function and count . You may be surprised!
Is anything clunky - do you stumble over it when you try to read it out loud. If you do that sentence needs re- writing!
Does the story make sense in a chronological way? Are there things that are impossible? I once ended one chapter with a person in a certain place and began the next chapter the same day with the same person somewhere else. It was an impossible journey in the timescale I had written but I had not noticed!
Have I used excess words? - sometimes it it better to say it with less than more. Purple prose - those over flowery descriptions do not often have a place in contemporary fiction.
Are there loose ends? Did you introduce a character early on who has disappeared as the story progressed? They can probably be deleted because to leave them in will cause confusion.
Finally read through thinking about consistency. Do all your characters act in character all the way through? Do they ever slip up and speak in a tone or use vocabulary that would be out of character. Small slips can destroy credibility of characterisation!
You can get your copy of my novel "Capcir Spring"by clicking HERE if you are in the USA or here if you are in the UK
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