Chapter 13...

Last week I re-read my story to put me in the mindset to re-work chapter 13. It was a good thing I did. I picked up a couple of minor typing mistakes. Not big problems really. However, reading through chapter 12, I discovered I'd told readers that the boy was 14 years old, two years before his eighteenth birthday. I'd similarly messed up the girls ages. I know how that happened. I'd amended the story-line in one paragraph but had not followed through in a later one which also talked about their ages.

The problem I was having with Chapter 13 may have been resolved. I scrapped the first draft, although I did use some of the original ideas in the second draft. This time though, I moved away from the idea that it was the man's business dealings that was his downfall and came up with a more suitable, I think, solution.

I'm still writing it, but I'm more confident that this idea will take the story in the direction it needs to go - to tie up with the present day events discussed in chapters 1 and 2.

Also last week, my husband made some time to go through my work and checked the grammar and punctuation. To my surprise, there were not as many suggested corrections as I'd expected. I've now sent the first 12 chapters to my eldest daughter asking for her opinion on the story rather than grammar and punctuation checking. I hope she will come back with constructive criticism about where the story is weak and needs rewriting and which bits she thinks work well.