Read and Edit and Edit and Read

I printed out the whole manuscript last week, all 279 pages of it, and read it through in about 6 or 7 hours as a reader would. That gave me a clear idea of where I need to even out the story's pacing, where I need to tighten the tension or add a bit of humor for relief, which characters are superfluous and which need to be fleshed out more, etc. My pencil edits include lots of paragraphs and some entire pages X'd out.
I liked my opening scene of Sophie and her friends pledging to Hitler Youth, but I think I'll make that the second scene. I think my first scene will show the girlfriends at weekend camp and include some characters that become important late in the story. I've got some work to do.