The Rest

[dreamer_easy]

The third sample chapter is now 4200 words long, with a satisfactory ending (the sun blows up - I love a good punchline). It should be 5000 words, but no problem, I have some blah blah about one of the character's teenage delinquency to put in.

The second sample chapter, aka Planet of Coffee, is stuffed up in the middle, with a really bad scene of postcard buying and some foreshadowing which doesn't go anywhere. I have to fix that.

The synopsis is too short and has a couple of gapers in it.

That's my to-do list...

ETA: For bonus points, work out how to correctly punctuate "one of the character's teenage delinquency", 'cos I'm sure not going to.

Comments

[jblum.livejournal.com]

Do you still have my notes about pacing and throughline in Chapter 2? I think I wrote them on a previous printout.

And I think it's "one of the characters' teenage delinquency"...

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

Yah, I have about a kilo of scribbled-on printouts to go through!

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

"And I think it's "one of the characters' teenage delinquency"..."

Yep, spot on. Because "one of the characters" is a phrase identifying the individual in question, and doesn't need to be modified (can't be, in fact, without changing it's meaning); and that individual "owns" the teenage delinquency in question.

Being a fan of intelligent consistency over tradition, I would also accept: "one of the characters's teenage delinquency". It's ugly, and many would throw up their hands in horror at it, but it's at least clear, both in writing and in speech.

[i-ate-my-crusts.livejournal.com]

My motto: if in doubt, reword.

one character's teenage delinquency

the teenage delinquency of one character

one of the characters, a teenage delinquent, one of the characters, whose teenage delinqueny ...
(I can see that this might not be approrpiate, depending on context)

:)

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[purplepooka.livejournal.com]

"one of the characters' teenage delinquency" - because it is one out of many characters, the "s" on the end of "characters" is to show plural rather than ownership.

I need to stop teaching this stuff...

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

My motto is generally if you have to stop and think about it that much, or it's that confusing, reword it. I liked someone else's idea of "one of the characters, whose teenage delinquency..."

(In particular with the original phrase (admittedly out of context), I really want to read it as delinquent, not delinquency...)