quote:
The only thing in the attic was a painting covered in canvas. (1)Roger was relieved – he wouldn’t have to move a bunch of junk before he could paint the room. (2)Even better, the attic was free from the old-man smell that pervaded the rest of the house.
Roger’s footprints made deep dents (WC)in the dust. He set his buckets of paints and his brushes (3)down to pull up a corner of the canvas. The painting displayed a girl in early twentieth-century clothes.(4) She was beautiful. (5)Chestnut brown hair fell across her shoulders, and her slender figure bulged (curved?)in all the right places. The painter was good(rephrase)—he had captured a gentle expression and vivid blue eyes. Roger leaned closer. It was almost as if her eyes were alive and flickering with blue fire.
Roger didn’t even have time to scream. (6)The canvas fell back
I think is really good. This is how I think it could be better:
(1) I hate "was" at the beginning of a story. What you've done is forgone the opportunity to immediately bring me into Roger's head in favor of telling what's in the attic. I suggest showing me that image through Roger's eyes, which means I want to see Roger before I see the painting.
(2) Major empathy issue here. Painting an attic? Aren't attics usually the space between the top floor and the roof? Pretty much every attic I've been in has had nails from shingles sticking through the ceiling. Why attempt to paint?
(3) Another empathy issue. He carried multiple buckets of paint, and paintbrushes at the same time?
(4) Two issues here. "The painting displayed" The painting didn't display. The painting was. Probably not that big of a deal, but it threw me off. Also, "early twentieth-century clothes." I'm a firm believer in everything coming from your characters POV, therefore, I don't buy this phrase. Saying "early twentieth-century clothes" is you telling the reader. What I want to read is what Roger sees - a description of the clothes.
(5) "Beautiful" is relative. It gives no strong image. Since you go on to describe her beauty, I don't think you need this sentence at all.
(6) Scream about what? The flaming blue eyes? I'm confused, although I guess that might be the fault of the 13 line rule.
And of course, this is all IMHO.
Except rooting everything in POV. In the modern publishing world, there are very few who can get away with not doing that.
[This message has been edited by TheOnceandFutureMe (edited November 30, 2007).]