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  • Critique the beginning of my story

    Well I was bored when I got up this afternoon, I was kinda daydreaming and one of them was quite cool so I thought I'd write it as a short story. I'm not going to say what the plot is going to be or whatever, and if I did it sounds kinda cheesy, but I think the story is pretty cool and hopefully the end product will reflect that.

    Anyway, the purpose of this thread, is that I've made an initial attempt at the first paragraph or so. Although I don't expect you to be able to tell how good the story is going to be, I'd like you to critique my writing style. I've not written a story since I did my English coursework when 16 (It was about a man who killed his cat then ended up killing himself). So yea, I've not had much experience writing things and it's quite hard to get an idea of how well it reads when you've written it yourself.

    Anyway here it is:

    It was just like any other December morning in Southampton, cold, damp and depressing. I say morning, in reality I didn't actually wake up until the afternoon, I can't recall the exact time but it must have been some time between 1 and 4 as the house was empty and the sky wasn't yet showing any signs of giving in to the night. I got up with the thought niggling at the back of my mind that I really should do some work. Deadlines were mounting and I really had nothing to show for it. I wasn't kidding myself though, I knew full well that I wouldn't do any, the day would end up like every other monday, hell, like most of the days of the last week. I'd get up, have a toasted cheese sandwich, and spend the rest of the day lounging around in my dressing gown, flitting between the TV and the computer, leaving one for the other whenever boredom started mounting. If I was feeling a little adventurous, I might even leave the house, probably just to the petrol station a few hundred yards away to buy a pizza. So, loyal as I am to tradition, I got up, donned my dressing gown and headed down to the kitchen. Lunch was pleasant, but not particularly satisfying, I was getting bored of living like this for the last week or so, but I really could not be bothered to put any effort in to changing. I remember, with dry amusement now, wishing something would happen to change this humdrum, not necessarily a lifechanging event, just something to talk about. It could be the death of someone I knew, some sort of freak accident, a natural disaster, maybe even a "nine-eleven" type event. Some might've called me callous for thoughts like this, but I didn't really care, no one was going to be reading my mind and I wasn't exactly going to go preaching my thoughts to others.

    It didn't happen in any way I could have expected, but I guess I got my wish on this dull day in Southampton, although I can't exactly call it a non-lifechanging event.

    It probably should have dawned on me earlier than it did that things weren't quite right, I couldn't connect to the internet and Sky TV wasn't getting any signal. I didn't think much of why this might be, I just thought it must be down to the dreary weather and our internet connection was always breaking anyway. It was pretty depressing, though, to think what I'd do for the rest of the day as these were my principal time-wasting passtimes. I cursed to myself and thought maybe I'd have to do some work afterall, or I could read a book, yeah, reading a book seemed a better idea, less effort.


    I've purposefully not been an adjective whore, it's a pet hate of me when reading a story when every minute detail is un-needingly described.

    So anyway, please be as negative or positive as you'd like, although I'd rather not get stuff like "OMG that sucks". If you're going to be negative, please can you give reasons and pointers as to how to improve.

    Thanks guys.

    (As a side note, that first paragraph happens to be 100% true to real life)
    USS Banana after years of superior jav play has amassed 17999 kills, he is 1 kill away from 18k, Type ?go Javs FOR A GAME OF HUNT (no scorereset) -Kim
    ---A few minutes later---
    9:cool koen> you scorereseted
    9:Kim> UM
    9:Kim> i didn't
    9:cool koen> hahahahahahaha
    9:ph <ZH>> LOOOOL
    9:Stargazer <ER>> WHO FUCKING SCORERESET
    9:pascone> lol?

  • #2
    Originally posted by Ewan View Post
    It probably should have dawned on me earlier than it did that things weren't quite right,
    It's not that bad, this sentence doesn't seem to run smoothly though, maybe a , between did and that. For the rest you'll need TK or Sarien, or whatever. But yeah, it doesn't sound too bad. This sentence just didn't run smoothly to me.
    Maybe God was the first suicide bomber and the Big Bang was his moment of Glory.

    Comment


    • #3
      I thought it was pleasant reading. The thing that would motivate me to read it in book form would be a teaser on some of the highlights of the entire story or some sort of profound discovery.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Ewan View Post





        [I]It was just like any other December morning in Southampton, cold, damp and depressing. I say morning, in reality I didn't actually wake up until the afternoon, I can't recall the exact time but it must have been some time between 1 and 4 as the house was empty and the sky wasn't yet showing any signs of giving in to the night. I got up with the thought niggling at the back of my mind that I really should do some work. Deadlines were mounting and I really had nothing to show for it. I wasn't kidding myself though, I knew full well that I wouldn't do any, the day would end up like every other monday, hell, like most of the days of the last week. I'd get up, have a toasted cheese sandwich, and spend the rest of the day lounging around in my dressing gown, flitting between the TV and the computer, leaving one for the other whenever boredom started mounting. If I was feeling a little adventurous, I might even leave the house, probably just to the petrol station a few hundred yards away to buy a pizza. So, loyal as I am to tradition, I got up, donned my dressing gown and headed down to the kitchen. Lunch was pleasant, but not particularly satisfying, I was getting bored of living like this for the last week or so, but I really could not be bothered to put any effort in to changing. I remember, with dry amusement now, wishing something would happen to change this humdrum, not necessarily a lifechanging event, just something to talk about. It could be the death of someone I knew, some sort of freak accident, a natural disaster, maybe even a "nine-eleven" type event. Some might've called me callous for thoughts like this, but I didn't really care, no one was going to be reading my mind and I wasn't exactly going to go preaching my thoughts to others.
        Racist
        Rabble Rabble Rabble

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Ewan View Post
          my notes are in bold.

          It was just like any other December morningthis opening is cliche in Southampton, cold, damp and depressing. I say morning, but in reality I didn't actually wake up until the afternoon. I can't recall the exact time but it must have been some time between 1 and 4 as the house was empty why does this mean it is between one and four and the sky wasn't yet showing any signs of giving in to the nightawkward. I got up with the thought niggling at the back of my mind that I really should do some workwhat kind of work. Deadlines were mounting and I really had nothing to show for it. I wasn't kidding myself though, I knew full well that I wouldn't do any, the day would end up like every other monday, hell, like most of the days of the last week. I'd get up, have a toasted cheese sandwich, and spend the rest of the day lounging around in my dressing gown, flitting between the TV and the computer, leaving one for the other whenever boredom started mountingthis sentence drags on. If I was feeling a little adventurous, I might even leave the house, probably just to the petrol station a few hundred yards away to buy a pizza This sentence bugs/bores me. So, loyal as I am to traditionfunnyish, we should probably see more of this, I got up, donned my dressing gown and headed down to the kitchen. Lunch was pleasant, but not particularly satisfying, I had been getting bored of living like this for the last week or so, but I really could not be bothered to put any effort in to changing. I remember, with dry amusement now, wishing something would happen to change this humdrum, not necessarily a life changing event, just something to talk about. It could be the death of someone I knew, some sort of freak accident, a natural disaster, maybe even a "nine-eleven" type event. Some might've called me callous for thoughts like thisthis was exactly what you've made me thought. That's fine. But seeing as you're introducing us, this is going to be a major part of a reader's perception of the character., but I didn't really care, no one was going to be reading my mind and I wasn't exactly going to go preaching my thoughts to others.That is exactly what the character is doing.So, we're going to need to know why really soon.

          It didn't happen in any way I could have expected, but I guess I got my wish on this dull day in Southampton, although I can't exactly call it a non-lifechanging event. You're telling the story, so the reader has already assumed that something is going to happen. This paragraph is probably not necessary

          It probably should have dawned on me earlier than it did that things weren't quite right, I couldn't connect to the internet and Sky TV wasn't getting any signal.That's no frequent, but it happens. I wouldn't be surprised. I didn't think much of why this might be, I just thought it must be down to the dreary weather and our internet connection was always breaking anyway.Precisely. So why does he say 'it should have dawned on me earlier' It was pretty depressing, though, to think what I'd do for the rest of the day as these were my principal time-wasting passtimesawkward. I cursed to myself and thought maybe I'd have to do some work afterall, or I could read a book, yeahthis yeah is out of place, reading a book seemed a better idea, less effort tone shift.
          Much of the wording seems forced and awkward, I noted the places it bothered me the most. This may just be an issue of converting from British English to US English.

          I don't have a clear sense of where this story is heading. The narrator hasn't really distinguished himself yet, and we don't have any other characters yet. The narrator is at times self aware (noting that "some would think him callous" and that he "wasn't getting any work done.") Other times he seems oblivious (noted inline). You've painted him as lazy, plain, and a little bit callous.
          The plainness of the character is going to be a struggle. It is by no means impossible to write an interesting story about a boring person, but it is tough. Your desire to avoid description works with the character. That said, if you're not going to do lots of description you'll probably need to either really nail the little description you have, or have characters enough to distract us.
          Related to this, you need to balance your scene and summary. There's about one sentence of action in there. While that may seem like it gives us a better idea of the malaise of the narrator, it doesn't. It simply stifles the reader. It's possible to describe the actions associated with being in a funk.
          You told us at the end that the first paragraph is about you. You didn't need to, it was obvious. Doesn't really matter.
          Ultimately, I have no idea what you're trying to do, and we'll need to see denser writing or more of it to give a full response.

          Comment


          • #6
            too


            much


            to


            read


            fuck


            that


            shit


            dawg


            !

            KEEP YOUR SHIT OUT OF MY POST THX -MONEY
            Last edited by Money; 12-04-2006, 02:07 PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              I read it, and please don't take this as a joke or anything, but I think you should add more tension. Like, sexual tension?
              TelCat> i am a slut not a hoe
              TelCat> hoes get paid :(
              TelCat> i dont

              Comment


              • #8
                1. More explosions
                2. More aliens
                3. More drum solos

                Seriously though, you didn't have to tell me the first paragraph was a parallel to your own life. I already figured as much after I got halfway through it. If you're striving for fiction, which it seems you are, try to sum up the drabness of the character's day in less words so that you might progress on to more entertaining events/dialogue. The reader will understand this character's day is not typically eventful right away, no need to draw it out.

                Or stay the course and write the entire story that way. Who knows, maybe it will be the next Catcher In The Rye (300 pages that produce brain wave patterns comparable to those produced while mowing the lawn or washing dishes).
                PLEASE, DON'T BE MISGUIDED...YA BITIN'. AND I'MA HAVE TA DIS YA, UNDERSTAND MISTA?

                Comment


                • #9
                  for the record i like catcher in the rye
                  Originally posted by Ward
                  OK.. ur retarded case closed

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I read the first 8 words and it was so cliche I stopped reading. Don't start off like that. So I agree with Verthanti on that cliche statement.

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