You’ve finally finished your novel. It’s time to go back, edit for mistakes and clean up the countless things you didn’t have time to stop for as you were writing. Stopping meant slowing down the action on what you know is a stupendous, magnificent thriller. You’re excited!

As you begin to read though, you wonder, “who wrote this.” Where is your book? Some of it is familiar, but this isn’t what you wrote. Your book was much more exciting. And where did these long, boring passages of exposition come from? Where’s the action?

You read further and wonder how your reader will be able to put up with this … this average story. It’s halfway in, now and you haven’t planted any clues as to who the culprit is. There are no red herrings, and/or you’ve written a road map to the killer’s identity. Now that everybody knows…