The Review Process

A cover concept I'm exploring.

Unlike Songsaengnim: A Korea Diary, where I was retelling my own experiences with a fictional character, Dark Matter is entirely made up and I have to keep track of what I had written at the beginning of the story so that if something comes up, later, I have my story straight.

Detectives, after all, like to have facts neatly tied up.

Now that I've completed the first draft of my crime novel, I've started re-reading it to make sure it flows well. And I'm finding that going back to the beginning has raised questions.

Yesterday, I read the prologue, which is only six pages long. And within the first two paragraphs, I realized that I had left something out of the epilogue, which sort of brings the story full-circle.

And so, I spent the morning writing that content for the ending.

After lunch, I started at the beginning of the prologue again and realized I had some contradictions. I also wanted to fact-check something that I had quickly written on my first day. That took about a half an hour to sort out.

It took me the rest of the afternoon to get through the six pages and I was tired, though satisfied that the opening to the novel is ready for a bona fide editor. I don't need to work on it anymore.

But I did make a list of things that came out in the prologue that I will use, going forward, to make sure they're covered later in the story. They are small points but are clues that the detectives should follow up on.

I think the re-read and potential changes will take some time to complete, after which I'll likely read the story one more time, without stopping, to make sure I'm happy enough to send the manuscript to an editor.

Otherwise, I'll start the re-reading process all over again.

I do have DW, my biggest critic, plus some friends who have offered to read the rough draft and give me their honest opinion, so I think I'm on the right path. With any luck, the final draft will be ready by the end of September.

If you're a writer—especially one who writes mysteries—what are your techniques for getting your book editor-ready? Do you have a system that works? Let me know.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get through the book faster as I move along. When I worked as a technical writer and editor, I was able to edit 20 or so pages per day, depending on the content. I'm used to moving faster.

Happy Tuesday!