October Novel Prep Challenge

You just gave us one definition in your description: Hopper.

You could spend some time on the computer virus: where did it originate? Who made it? Why? How does it manifest itself? What are the symptoms? Can it be removed?

You could define the software applications the detectives normally use (which has presumably been affected by the virus.) Is it a database of some kind? What does the screen look like? What data do the detectives type in it?

This crosses over into cultural setting, but depending on what info you need to keep your story straight, it might be worthwhile to spend some time building the government of your fictional town. It has a police department, so I assume it has its own government (for comparison, my town has a post office but is too small for its own government, so we get water from the township and police service from the county sheriff. ) Is there a city council? Mayor? Do any parts of the town fall under the jurisdiction of the county, and thus cause any friction or cooperation between departments? Are there any community organizations operating in the city that might be relevant to your investigations? What are the SOPs in your police department? Who gets assigned what cases and why? How many employees are in your police department, and what are their roles?

Would any of that be helpful? Remember, the goal is EVERY Prep exercise is to help you develop, understand, and keep track of the details in your own story. What things in your story do you need to keep track of?


Cheers,
Michelle