Hatrack River Writers Workshop   
my profile login | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Hatrack River Writers Workshop » Forums » Fragments and Feedback for Short Works » Start of Novel

   
Author Topic: Start of Novel
gisele
New Member
Member # 3435

 - posted      Profile for gisele   Email gisele         Edit/Delete Post 
Thank you so much for any opinions on the beginning below !! Gx

I woke to the sound of my mobile ringing. I switched it off and stretched clumsily, my whole body stiff and aching. Stephan was asleep on the chair beside me. Though the curtains were drawn, the red in them was bright as if burning, and I could tell it was daytime and the sun was in full force. Someone had drapped a blanket around me. I glanced around the room. There were empty bottles everywhere, ashtrays full, glass littered the floor.
“You are aware that you’ve just spent three days in a bar” Erwin noted evenly, from the far side of the room. He had an amused expression on his face. Damn. So much for being enigmatic. As if to double my pain, I kept having flash backs of the night before, how I met him, what I had said. “Coffee” he said, rising up out of his chair past me to the bar. And I trundled over

[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited May 18, 2006).]


Posts: 5 | Registered: May 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
wyrd1
Member
Member # 3366

 - posted      Profile for wyrd1   Email wyrd1         Edit/Delete Post 
I have one problem, how can someone spend three days in a bar? Now, I would read on just to find out but if you let me down I would toss the book in the trash. Stay faithful to your reader. Other than that, and a few spelling errors, I would read more.
Posts: 48 | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
wbriggs
Member
Member # 2267

 - posted      Profile for wbriggs   Email wbriggs         Edit/Delete Post 
A little punctuation and paragraph stuff will work wonders.

Beyond that: who's Stephan? Who's Erwin? How do they relate to MC? What was the "being enigmatic" about? Telling us the significance will help a lot, I think.


Posts: 2830 | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Shendülféa
Member
Member # 2964

 - posted      Profile for Shendülféa   Email Shendülféa         Edit/Delete Post 
There's a few punctuation problems here and there (i.e. there should be some sort of punctuation at then end of each piece of dialogue before the end quote). Also, I think your hook would be Erwin's comment, but be sure to tell us how he relates to the MC.
Posts: 107 | Registered: Nov 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
tchernabyelo
Member
Member # 2651

 - posted      Profile for tchernabyelo   Email tchernabyelo         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm more puzzled than hooked.

The MC wakes up to his/her (I initially pictured her, but then decided it was probably his...) phone ringing, which doesn't wake Stephan. Meanwhile, Erwin is across the room - did he ring the mobile? What room is this, and where? Why are three men (or two men and a woman) sharing it? Who's ringing the MC (and after that first line, the phone is completely ignored -- normally if someone is woken by a phone, they answer it, they don't start up a conversation with someone else).

I have no idea who these people are; where they are; why they're there. A novel can be more relaxed in its lead-in than a short story, but as it stands I think I'd like to know at least one of these things up front, because at the moment I'm too busy asking questions to concentrate on the actual writing.


Posts: 1469 | Registered: Jun 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
thexmedic
Member
Member # 2844

 - posted      Profile for thexmedic   Email thexmedic         Edit/Delete Post 
I think it's an information problem - there's not enough here. You've got your opening three or four paragraphs condensed into one. Take it slower. Give a little more description of the surroundings. Also let us get inside the character's head a little more. You do it with the lines "Damn. So much for being enigmatic" but that doesn't mean anything to me, because it's my first dip into her mind. It sounds like a payoff but there's been no set up.

It certainly sounds like you know a lot more of what's going on than the reader. Let him/her know too.


Posts: 205 | Registered: Aug 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Woodie
Member
Member # 3346

 - posted      Profile for Woodie   Email Woodie         Edit/Delete Post 
My first issue was with not knowing the gender--I hate having to guess. The sentence:

>Though the curtains were drawn, the red in them was bright as if burning, and I could tell it was daytime and the sun was in full force.<

felt really choppy to me.

Also, Erwin informs him/her that he/she has been in the bar for three days. That made me think that the MC had been passed out for awhile, but then he/she remembers the night before...


Posts: 88 | Registered: Apr 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Elan
Member
Member # 2442

 - posted      Profile for Elan           Edit/Delete Post 
You lose me immediately by starting your story out with a character who wakes up... just like 70% of new writers do. Starting out with "It was a dark and stormy night," would actually be a less common opener.

I am confused with two characters in the room? Your details of the environment are descriptive, but the more important detail of" "Who is present and what is their purpose for being there?" isn't. Don't be vague with the things we need to know. Give us an emotional reaction from the MC's POV. Give us more details on the characters, too.


Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
wetwilly
Member
Member # 1818

 - posted      Profile for wetwilly   Email wetwilly         Edit/Delete Post 
If whatever it is that happened last night in the bar is important, maybe you would be better off backing up and starting the story there. Or maybe not; I don't know enough about your book to say, just a suggestion to consider.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Sara Genge
Member
Member # 3468

 - posted      Profile for Sara Genge   Email Sara Genge         Edit/Delete Post 
"and I could tell it was daylight". Better have a period before that sentence and start: "I could tell it was daylight"
I have no trouble imagining how someone can spend three days in a bar, but it involves taking drugs to keep you awake or being the owner.

Posts: 507 | Registered: Jun 2006  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

   Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Hatrack River Home Page

Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2