John Dean – Crime Writer

Are you an aspiring writer summoning up the courage to finally send off your beloved manuscript to a publisher or agent but suddenly assailed by crippling doubts? In fact, the envelope bearing the print-out has been sitting on the kitchen table for a week or your finger is continuing to hover, paralysed, over the keyboard’s ‘send’ button? If so, how do you calm those anxieties?

Well, I feel exactly the same even after 25 published crime novels, so when I finish my final draft, and before I send it off to my publisher for their verdict, which I did a few days ago, I always ask myself the same questions, for which the answer for each one is a non-negotiable ‘yes’ because a strong ‘yes’ in one category does not make up for a wishy-washy ‘sort of’ in another. You cannot afford any weak links.

The questions are:

Plot: Does the book have a strong plot with enough twists and turns to keep the reader interested and does it feel like it could happen in the real world, even if there’s a few coincidences?

Atmosphere: Have you created atmosphere and tension to keep the reader engrossed? Things like poor light, fog, unexplained sounds, empty buildings are ideal tools.

The ending: Is the ending enough of a climax to satisfy the reader and does your final chapter wrap everything up nicely eg if villains were arrested, what happened when they got to court and have you explained every mystery you introduced along the way? That does not mean that you cannot leave some elements open-ended but normally you would only do that if you were planning to return to the plotline in another novel.

Characters: Does the book have realistic well-drawn characters rather than inadequately-depicted cliched cardboard cut-outs? Do the characters come across as so real that the reader would not be surprised if they really did exist? Does your villain have a believable motive for what they did?

Place: Does the book have a strong sense of place, providing the reader with enough information to see the location but not overdoing it?

Pace: Does the story have good pace which allows it to keep moving at a decent speed while at the same time giving the reader the information they require? Are there scenes that can come out because they duplicate similar scenes and are not really required but are actually slowing down the narratives?

Editing: Have you done a thorough edit (too many errors will see an editor or agent wondering if there is too much to correct, compared with other manuscripts they have read that day and which are just as good)? So have you checked for clumsy sentence structure, poor grammar, incorrect spelling, characters whose names change, impossible chronology etc etc – and yes, yes, I have made all the mistakes outlined above, and worse, and, yes, I know that I will have missed things in this blog!)?

Finally, and I accept that not every writer feels that a story needs this but. speaking personally, I do – does your story have themes – revenge, forgiveness, morality loyalty etc? They may not be mandatory but they do add depth.

And now, and only now if you have done all that, you can rush out to the Post Office or hit the ‘send’ button.

Good luck!