Get the feel for page turns, flow, and language. Reading books in your genre will also help you keep up with what's trending.
Some ideas just hit ya.
For the times when ideas are lacking, I share this tip from Stephen King's book ON WRITING.
Ask yourself "What if?" What if... the sky opened up and little teddy bears floated down on chocolate bars to greet us?
Try it! It's great advice from Stephen King, to me, to you!
The best thing you can do for a completed manuscript is to forget about it and work on something else! The more time you have away from a manuscript, the easier it will be to see where work might be needed. Plus, most agents request three additional complete manuscripts before they will offer representation.
These priceless pals are essential to your success as an author. No matter how many times you reread your manuscript, you will miss something! That's where critique partners come in. They are reading it fresh, and they'll see what you may not. Good critique partners know how to celebrate what's great and help you fix what isn't shining as bright.
You can find critique partners on facebook author sites. Simply ask if anyone wants to start a group!
Oh, this one takes time!
I once tried to keep a picture book alive because I loved a line that I wrote! Silly, but I thought it was perfect. "Killing your darlings" is being able to leave the line you loved behind when it's not working.
Again, it takes time! But nothing creative is ever really lost. That picture book now rests in my "Stepping Stones" file.
Now that the manuscript is complete, you may want to rush out to find an agent, but I caution you to wait.
As I mentioned earlier, agents want to see a body of work. They don't want to publish one book, they want to work with an author who's approaching writing as a career.
Plus, you may come up with a better idea for a manuscript as you're writing another!
It's also important that you're taking the time to research agents to make sure your sending submissions to the person best for you. It's a partnership, so the more you know about an agent the better. We're lucky today with all the resources we have. See if the agent is on youtube! You can get a feel for their personality.
Remember, you don't just want an agent, you want the right agent!