Editing Fiction: Step One of the Revision Process

The three great truths I have embraced this year - Write first edit later, read what you want to write, and don't be afraid to delete.

Revision opportunities begin with shortening the piece. Remove sections, sentences and characters if they don't move the story forward. Remove or shorten passages if you have allotted more space to the topic than you should have. Beautiful words are damaging if they don't support the work, no matter how long you labored.

Perform major chopping prior to other changes you will make, since you may end up deleting those changes. When looking for chances to tighten the words, look at flashbacks, monologues and lengthy descriptions. If you can find the description that really conveys your intention, it might have greater impact than a longer passage.

This is not to say you shouldn't use words - use the words you must - just don't use the words you mustn't.
Things you should consider revising: glanced briefly, few in number, disappear from sight, manner (The gorilla beat its chest in a menacing manner), in nature (This article, educational in nature…), type (This is not the type ofarticle…) and (educational-type article...), appears to, like a, seems to, seem to, as though, seemed like, seems as though, with a ( It landed on the deck with a thud), apparently, look as though, looks like, would appear that, more or less, both (Both Tom and Jim wanted the...), the development of, if and when, unless and until, in any shape or form, more preferable, continue to remain, perpetuate for all time, predict in advance, the reason is because, in regard to, despite the fact that, essentially, basically, ultimately and inevitably.

The idea is that if we look for redundant and unneeded expressions, we are likely to find ways to express our sentences more clearly. Trim verbosity and avoid writing about things that aren't relevant to the passage.
You should not use the same words, words with identical meanings, or similar sounds too close together, unless you are doing so intentionally.