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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35022
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

- Isolate
- Distance
- Identify
- Feedback

**Isolate:**

Pick something you want to isolate, such as a particular plot point or a character or location's description. Then copy-and-paste any reference to it into a new document. Read that. It's very easy to realise you mentioned the wrong hairstyle/colour when the other reference is right there on the same page.

I find this works even better for subtle hints. Let's say you want to slowly reveal that a character is a badguy. You can isolate every scene they are in, and slowly ramp up their evil behaviour as you progress through the book.

It's surprising how little something can be in a book. You often only mention the weather once or twice in a scene, if at all. That may not even be three paragraphs in a whole chapter.

**Distance:**

Get some distance from what you wrote. Take a break. Read something different. Do some exercise. When you are doing a read-through, make sure you don't do it all end-to-end. You only have so much mental stamina and you will miss details if you're mentally tired.

When you have written something you will often skip over it, because it's still in your memory. You know how it should read, and your brain reads that instead of how it does read.

Try reading it in different ways. Print it out, change the font, read it on the bus, read it out loud, record yourself reading it out loud and listen to it, get someone else to read it out loud. Try to reinterpret it.

**Identify:**

Have a checklist of information you need to make sure is correct and then **do a read-through for each of them**. For example:

- Spelling
- Grammar
- Timeline
- Weather
- Description

Do a read-through for each of those, only focusing on one topic at a time. The problem is you can forget yourself what was previously said, or what it should be saying. Trying to keep it all in mind is difficult, but focusing on one at a time can often work quite well.

Make sure you actually know what and how you want it to be. Make some notes on how the story should be. Every time you read through, make sure what you have wrote fits your notes.

Character descriptions are easy (hair colour, style, etc.) but this also works for more complex things, like "it often rains in the city". If you go through half the book before it starts raining in a scene, there's something for you to fix.

Try writing a quick summary of what happened at the end of each chapter. "Bob met Murray and learned he was adopted. His super power is uncontrollable. It was raining on a Tuesday."

**Feedback:**

Someone else will read in a way you don't, they'll notice something you won't. "beta-readers", editors and other forms of feedback exist for a reason. Ask questions about things you are worried about once they've finished.

Original score: 10