"I do a first draft as passionately and as quickly as I can. I believe a story is only valid when it is immediate and passionate, when it dances out of your subconscious. If you interfere in any way, you destroy it." –– Ray Bradbury

As writers, maintaining consistency in a story is a constant struggle, and being our own worst critic's it is hard not to turn on the inner editor at every chance we get. A general rule is to avoid revising as you write, so how do you make sure the characters stay in character throughout the course of the story?

Have a couple of note cards that list the characteristics of each character. You can adjust the character cards as you see fit, to be minimally or extremely detailed or something in between. Right ear is pierced, blue eyes, lopsided smile to the right, left handed. It's surprising how little such little details can escape your notice. Some authors like to add a visual element, such as a picture of someone you are basing the character on.

Create separate dialogue files for each character. More than anything else, a character's dialogue needs to sound consistent (unless, you're using it to indicate character changes).For example, if you have one character that curses like a sailor or has the tendency to lose his or her temper at the drop of a hat, you don't want all your characters behaving that way.

If this happens, your characters will blend together, and your readers will have trouble telling them apart. You don't want your readers having to back track to be sure they have understood who is speaking or narrating. Readers know by identifying your characters from the way they speak, move and behave.

Mastering the voice of each character is important, especially when working on different stories at the same time and stories with multiple POV's.

If there are long spaces between writing and editing sessions, then be sure to re-read the previous sections. Revising previous pages can help you get back into the flow of the story.

Hemmingway used to stop at the middle of a sentence so that when he came to it, he was immediately back in the flow. Whatever trick you come up with, find what's best for you and use it.

At some point in your story, the first quarter or so, (if you're writing a 60,000 word novel that would roughly be the first 20,000) it's always good to look back and stop and access your story. This helps to find weak spots and problem areas that need to be worked out later on.

Track important aspects of your story: characters, relationships, story and chapter synopses, plot elements, themes and your research. Keeping a journal will help in organizing your thoughts, ideas, and keep creative chaos orderly. They are beneficial when you get stuck or need a quick reminder about an important detail.

If you're a panster and like to go in head first into a story, it's good to keep a short outline of scenes. Perhaps, you could outline a few scenes ahead as keeping a record will help during the revision phase of your story.

Before you begin to revise your story, I strongly recommend that you first sit down and read (or listen to) your story and your notes. The fresher the story is in your mind, the less likely you are to make additions that alter the tone, story line or the characterizations.