u/Mundane_Conflict5576

Okay, so in my mind, the correct thing to do is separate multiple adjectives with commas, as in:

"the big, red, noisy truck"

But I was just working on something and had to say:

"ruched white summer dress"

And, I can't explain why, but I don't want to put those commas in it, like "ruched, white, summer dress".

Grammarly is not even flagging it as a problem when I leave out the commas.

What gives? How is that okay to not use the commas, and why do I not even want to use the commas???

I am writing a novel with a time travel element, and the MC spends time as a teenager in both the early 90s and also late 2010s. Being displaced in time, she kind of clings to her music as a link to when she's from, and I often refer to specific songs she listens to when she's fighting negative emotions or whatever. It also comes up a lot as she tries to acclimatise to her new decade.

So, my question is, do you find it irritating when writers talk about specific songs, if it's music you don't particularly like, or music that you've never heard of? Or are you more likely to chuck the song on to get more connected to the book and the character? Is it better to be non-specific about music so as not to alienate readers due to differing taste, or is it fine to take advantage of the evocativeness of the music?

I'm hoping that it'll also be some nice nostalgia for readers who remember the 90s.

(I do know the copyright rules - artist names and song titles are fine, but never quote any actual lyrics without express permission.)

I'm an author doing some research, and not much of a drinker, so I need some expert advice so I don't sound like an idiot. Here are a few characters, they're chilling in an upmarket sportsbar on a Friday night, what are they most likely drinking? TIA!

1. 31yo male math/physics nerd.

2. 21yo tattooed female martial artist / motorcyclist

3. 27yo female yoga instructor

Okay so I'm up to 44,000 words, and apparently the average reading rate is 238 words per minute, so that means I have written over three hours of reading.

I'm starting to find that there's more and more of the book that I wrote and then haven't gone back to read for a while, so I'm starting to worry about continuity problems creeping in because the entire book no longer lives in my conscious memory. So, I think I need to introduce a practice of regularly going back and re-reading everything, on some sort of planned basis.

Does anyone else have this worry, or do anything like this? How much do you go back and read as you go, and do you have a system?

This paragraph is a punctuation nightmare. It's a line of dialogue. It's also an awkward collection of controversial comma use examples.

“Lucky you, with that gorgeous colouring. Oh, I almost forgot to say; we have a guest for dinner tonight. One of our former foster kids, Brooke. She’s a little older than you, seventeen.”

I have read that it is grammatically acceptable, but frowned up for clarity reasons, to use a comma simply to indicate a pause in speech.

Grammarly claims the semicolon should be a comma. It rejects the comma after "foster kids", but accepts the one after "older than you".

Anybody want to weigh in?

Does anyone remember these from the 90s? I'm writing a scene in a book where a couple of teenagers are catching a bus in 1994 and I need to know how they pay 😂😂😂

I decided to take up creative writing a whole week ago, I've been working on my novel for THREE DAYS and it's not even finished yet. I hate my story and I'm so depressed and I don't even want to finish it. I suck and everything is too hard.

I've written 231 words, what's the best publisher to send it to so they can finish it for me and just publish it already? I keep checking my bank account but I'm not rich yet, how come my advance still hasn't been paid?

How do you guys stay motivated when the entire world is trying to stop you succeeding and everything is unfair?

I am reading a new novel and something happened that really irritated me, and I realised it was an actual pet hate of mine. The first person narrator described meeting his wife, and he portrayed her as being INCREDIBLY attractive, charming, fun and fascinating, and himself as being boring and plain. It just made the whole scene completely unconvincing. It's something you see so often - a romance that's not believable because the MC is dull af and the love interest is AMAZING. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I feel like you seriously need to at least show your MC as charming in the moment, or having SOMETHING attractive about them so that the whole situation is less "manic pixie dream girl".

What are the things that really annoy you when you come across them in a story?