Editing “Let The Dead Stay Dead”

A writing project I am currently engaged in is the editing of my third thriller, “Let The Dead Stay Dead.” I found it quite fascinating to return to this manuscript which had been put on the back burner in October 2012. You may recall that I had written the first 50,000 words for “Let The Dead Stay Dead” during NaNoWriMo of 2011. The next step was to build on to the novel, which I did over the next few months taking the total word count to nearly 80,000 words. Then came November 2012 and this project was, as I mentioned, parked away as I concentrated on completing NaNoWriMo 2012.

In January 2013, on resuming this project I felt like I was entering a familiar but yet different world. You sort of reach out to the characters whom you have last seen some months ago and renew acquaintance with them, as it were.

I find in the process of editing:-

• Quite often, you think to yourself, ” Gee, how could I have written this!” Better words and phrases come to mind. You might change the construction of a sentence. You could change the punctuation. You could change the sequence of events as they transpire in the story and at all times you seek to make the story both more readable and interesting.
• Some times, though not very often, I must admit, you love what you have written. That’s great. If you can’t improve upon it any more, just leave it alone.
• At other times, you go back to what you have researched, to verify data, cross-check facts and make sure what you have written is credible and accurate. In this story for the first time, I write of criminal proceedings culminating in a court trial. This compelled me to do a lot of research on these subjects which otherwise I don’t know much about.

It’s been a wonderful experience and you can follow my journey in completing this book and having it published on my website Prem Rao, Story Teller and/or in my Author Page on Facebook. 

More about his later. You need to excuse me, I have to return to my editing….