John Dean – Crime Writer

September 28, 2025

The valuable role of the delete button

I have been working on the latest DCI John Blizzard novel and am editing the final version before I submit it to the team at my publisher (The Book Folks, a Joffe Books company) for consideration for publication.

As I have mentioned in blogs before, but it’s worth mentioning again, even at this late stage an author still has to be prepared to be brutal with their words.

In my case, the words that tend to become victims of the delete button turn out, when I analyse it, to be the ones which were written to increase the word count.

Now, in the final edit, they must go because they’re unnecessary, usually excess dialogue or internal point-of-view passages that overdo it.

Does that mean I wasted my time writing them? Far from it, they were the words that triggered those many others that did survive.

When they are removed in that final edit, it’s like removing the bits of scaffolding that kept the building up when you were still engaged on construction but are now  no longer needed.

Removing them tends to give the remaining chapters extra pace and a sharper focus and, for me, the words that don’t make the final cut are just as important as those that do.

September 8 2025

The tried and trusted Page 95 Test

I am working on the latest DCI John Blizzard novel and will find myself with a working first draft in a matter of weeks.

The next task will be to print it out then embark on editing the manuscript. I have written extensively in my free Handy Hints -Editing section about what an author should be looking for in the first draft and it can be a complicated, forensic and protracted process.

So, here’s a useful quick and easy tip to work out, before you edit anything, if what you have produced is any good.

Turn to page 95 (always page 95, book after book, in the interests of consistency!) and read it top to bottom. If it’s an excellent page, you know you have produced a good draft, if it’s not very good… you know the rest!

It may sound simplistic but I have never known the Page 95 Test to fail.

August 1 2025

At the risk of repeating myself

I am fast approaching the finish line on my latest DCI Jack Harris crime novel for my publisher the Book Folks, a Joffe Books company (details to be released soon).

The final stage has been working with my excellent editors Polly, Tarek and Lucy and any author who has gone through the editing process will know that it involves turning a fiercely forensic eye on the manuscript.

One of the questions it often throws up is the issue of excessive repetition, something which I have mentioned in a previous blog, and which is an important consideration for authors, who often do not realise they are doing it.

An author may not realise, for instance, that they have used the same phrase repeatedly – with me it tends to be phrases in dialogue like ‘if memory serves me right’ and those used to describe a person when they are talking, including ‘he said with a wicked smile’, which I use far too often.

Such phrases are fine once or twice in a book but not six or seven times because the reader will realise that they are being over-used and it will become an irritant – and irritants drive readers away.

There are times when repetition is needed; for instance the latest book features a number of foreign criminals whose names may be unfamiliar to readers so a degree of repetition about them may be required to remind the reader who they are but probably only once more after the initial mention because there is a danger that the  reader will say ‘enough already, we’re not stupid, you’ve told us who he/she is’ and that can quickly become an irritant, which… well, I’ll not say it again. Don’t want to end up repeating myself.

Calling authors: If you are an author who appreciates the free Handy Hints pages on this website but would like more personal support ahead of sending your manuscript to a publisher or agent, or to be designed for self-publishing, you can hire John Dean for services including manuscript assessment, editing, proofing, mentoring or taking part in his online crime fiction course.

A number of authors who have taken up the option have gone on to secure publishing contracts – who knows, you could be the next one to taste success?

Details can be found in the relevant pages accessed through the home page and John can be contacted at deangriss@btinternet.com

July 11 2025

The best a book can be

I have written quite a bit about selection in recent blogs, something that the best authors do so well.

But why is selection of what stays in a book and what should go so important and what does it look like when done well? It’s important because it stops stories slowing down unnecessarily and it is something that every author has to confront, even the most experienced.

I am writing this post because the latest Jack Harris crime novel has been accepted for publication in a few weeks but needs to go through edits first, a process which relies on the right selection.

My excellent editors at publisher The Book Folks, a Jasper Joffe company,  have pointed out, for example, one or two places where removing the odd line of dialogue would give some of the scenes a better pace and also some in which characters duplicated each other when they speak.

That’s selection at work, choosing what stays and what goes. It might only be a few lines that disappear but if the story can exist without them and the cuts provide better pace and clarity, it’s job done and the editing process will have proved its worth.

As one of editors says, it’s about making sure that the manuscript that goes for publication is the best it can be. It can be a testing process for an author as cherished lines encounter the delete button but one thing authors need to realise is that they can’t be precious about their work, not if they want to achieve the editor’s stated aim of coming out of the process with the best book possible.

I have nearly finished the final draft of the latest DCI Jack Harris crime novel, part of the popular series published by The Book Folks, which was recently acquired by Joffe Books.

From now on in, the focus will be on my favourite element of writing and what is, for many authors, the most disliked part of the craft because the creative stuff is done and what is left is the highly technical business of editing.

I have always said, somewhat glibly, that I dislike writing and love editing and there is an awful lot of truth in the statement. Although I derive plenty of satisfaction from the initial writing process, my mind tends to focus much more when it comes to editing the manuscript, something all writers must do if they are preparing it for submission to a publisher, agent or for self-publishing.

Key to editing is ensuring that the manuscript is as good as it can be and that’s what I am doing now, going through every page, every line, every word. The end result will not be perfect but if I do it correctly, it will much better than when I started editing.

So, what does editing involve? Well, partly it’s the big stuff – does the plot work, are there missing plotlines, does everything make sense?

Then the author has to ask if the pace is right and if the reader has been given the information that they need to understand the story.

But it’s also the little things – examining every word and asking if it is doing its job. Is it needed, is it an example of overwriting to keep the word count up, is it the right word in the right place, would a different one be better? Are the spellings right, is the grammar clunky?

In my case, the editing process means making well over a thousand changes as I prepare the final draft, everything from removing or deleting sections to writing new ones, taking out single words or correcting punctuation.

I find the whole process fascinating but, even if as an author you detest editing, if you do it properly, it will reward the effort. It’s where everything comes together. It is akin to polishing a piece of silver to give it the right lustre. Get it right and your manuscript will shine.

Although my website contains plenty of free handy hints, you can also hire me to work on your manuscript – check out Editorial Services on the main menu here at www.johndeancrimewriter.co.uk