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 » Our World

   
Author Topic: Our World
skadder
Member
Member # 6757

 - posted      Profile for skadder   Email skadder         Edit/Delete Post 
This is the rejected story. Well nearly...it has been edited--and is now better.


As soon as I stepped into the terrace bar, I spotted her. She laughed at some joke the young man at her elbow was telling, and her teeth flashed in the candle-light.
People were milling around, the men mostly watching her, but I found spare seat at a table for one near the jazz-pianist. His soulful melodies drifted on the twilight air. I sipped my Cabernet while I waited.
I’d only had two sips when, like a tiny aviator returning from a perilous mission, I heard the drone of mosquito’s wings. It landed on the back of my hand, its abdomen swollen with her blood. I nudged it towards the mole near my wrist.
It seemed drowsy and unresponsive, but it dutifully sank its proboscis through the dark flesh and deposited the blood into the


Posts: 2995 | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Christine
Member
Member # 1646

 - posted      Profile for Christine   Email Christine         Edit/Delete Post 
Hi! I noticed your topic in the open writing forum and got curious enough to take a peek. A couple of things stood out here, including one place where "overwritten" might apply....

"As soon as I stepped into the terrace bar, I spotted her. She laughed at some joke the young man at her elbow was telling, and her teeth flashed in the candle-light."

Something about the way this is written already has me wondering why you don't tell us a bit more about who she is, right from the start. I think it might be the pronoun (her) in place of a name. Or, if the narrator doesn't know the name, then the pronoun is in place of something he does know about her. Maybe "I spotted the woman I've been waiting for all my life." or "I spotted the b**** who stole my heart." Whatever.

"People were milling around, the men mostly watching her, but I found spare seat at a table for one near the jazz-pianist. His soulful melodies drifted on the twilight air. I sipped my Cabernet while I waited."

You're missing an "a" between found and spare.

At this point, I'm noticing that you are bringing in a lot of descriptions but they are distracting because I still don't know anything about the woman, the narrator, or why we're there.

"I’d only had two sips when, like a tiny aviator returning from a perilous mission, I heard the drone of mosquito’s wings."

The use of this simile does seem overwritten to me. Also, since I had no idea what the simile referred to until the end of the sentence, I had to read it twice to figure it out.

" It landed on the back of my hand, its abdomen swollen with her blood. I nudged it towards the mole near my wrist.
It seemed drowsy and unresponsive, but it dutifully sank its proboscis through the dark flesh and deposited the blood into the "

Interesting...here's a hook

Especially in flash, the more information you can put up front, the better. I need to know what's going on quickly so I can get into the story and enjoy it for as long as it's going to last.


Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
JeanneT
Member
Member # 5709

 - posted      Profile for JeanneT   Email JeanneT         Edit/Delete Post 
Well, it's a stylistic difference of opinion, I'm sure, Christine but I generally don't like a lot of description \at the start especially in flash. If you stop to describe it slows down getting into the action for me.

Of course, I have the advantage of having read the whole thing.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited December 09, 2007).]


Posts: 1588 | Registered: Jul 2007  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Christine
Member
Member # 1646

 - posted      Profile for Christine   Email Christine         Edit/Delete Post 
I'm confused...isn't that exactly what I said? I'm going to have to go re-read my post now, but I was sure I said that the description up front before we really knew what was going on was a problem.
Posts: 3567 | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
annepin
Member
Member # 5952

 - posted      Profile for annepin   Email annepin         Edit/Delete Post 
I agree with Christine here. There's a lot of description, but not a lot to ground us. The first paragraph seems to set us up for some sort of broken-hearted revenge story, except that it's devoid of emotion or characterization.

Your simile is misplaced--the way it's written, "like a tiny aviator" it would refer to "I", which doesn't make a lot of sense.

However, the hook, when we get to it, is interesting. Though I'm still not sure what's going on.


Posts: 2185 | Registered: Aug 2007  |  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