Crafty advice

The Cold of Doom(tm) is threatening a revival, so here's some interesting writing related content I didn't have to think of myself...

From the Guide to Literary Agents blog, tips on revisions from agent Cricket Freeman:

As you work your way through each scene in a novel ask yourself:
What is happening in this scene?
Why is it important?
Is it believable?
What is the conflict? Who wants what, and who or what won’t let them have it?
What does this scene contribute specifically and integrally to the plot? How does it drive it?
Can it be cut, partially or completely, and not effect the plot?
Can the integral part of the scene be folded into another scene, and the rest eliminated?
When does the scene occur?
Would the plot be better served if you moved the scene to another place in the unfolding of the story?
From whose point of view is this scene experienced?
How does this character contribute to the plot? Can another character do it so you can eliminate this one, or combine the two into one character?
Where is this person?
What is the POV character in the scene doing?
What is he/she feeling emotionally about what’s happening in the scene?
What is he/she feeling emotionally about things outside the scene?
What is he/she seeing? Hearing? Touching? Even smelling and tasting?
Can you exchange “he said”s and “she said”s with action?
Can you exchange passive verbs with active ones?
Can you exchange adverbs (“ly” words) with action?
What does each paragraph within the scene contribute? Can it be eliminated?
What does each sentence within the scene contribute? Can it be eliminated?
While these questions are designed for fiction, as well as memoir and creative nonfiction, set in scenes, they can also be applied with some ingenuity and prove helpful to nonfiction, too.
- Cricket Freeman, literary agent, The August Agency

And here's a hilarious post on character traits from agent Barbara Poelle thanks to agent Janet Reid's blog.