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Worlds
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well, this is my first post here. so...uh...yeah, tear it up. This is from a short story I wrote a little while ago.


The fence rattled loosely and loudly as Damon and Aaron climbed over it.

“What are we doing here?” hissed Aaron through clenched teeth, his heart racing.

Damon sort of smirked and kept climbing, his eyes dancing with malice and his lips playing with fire. The chain link fence gave a little with every pull of hands or push of feet, creaking and whining under the weight of the two boys. Aaron looked back over his shoulder longingly, hoping for something to come by to stop their stupidity. Damon looked up and forward with blind determination, relishing what was to come.

Damon reached the top of the fence and stopped. Aaron was close behind.

“Look at that,” whispered Damon, with respect, staring out blissfully into the night.

Aaron followed his gaze, finding the outline of a large house in a large field, with the porch light on. The house itself seemed to lean forward, beast like, it’s support pillars bending ever so slightly under the strain. The porch light shone to the left of the front door, revealing gray cracked flooring and gray cracked walls, and a gray cracking, old rocking chair.


thanks for reading

[This message has been edited by Worlds (edited November 02, 2004).]


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ChrisOwens
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Welcome. Pretty good so far. It has a type of Tom Sawyer feel to it.

The only thing I can think of it the so-called empty adverbs, such as 'loosely, loudly, longingly, blissfully, slightly'. IMO, try to reword so that you don't have to use them.

<“What are we doing here?” hissed Aaron>
<“Look at that,” whispered Damon>

And though I don't have a problem with it myself, most times people tell me to just use 'said' in my WIPs.


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J
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I like the way you use colloquial phrases like "a little" or "sort of" to convey a homey, child-like perspective, but I would caution you to be deliberate in your usage. A little of that device goes a long way.

I'll second the crticism of your adverb use. There are no rules in writing, only effects, but I don't think the effect of all those adverbs is one that you want.

Overall, you do a good job setting the tone. The excerpt has a nice feel to it.


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Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
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Worlds, Chris is right about trying to find stronger verbs and getting rid of adverbs (-ly words), but this does not apply when it comes to the verb "said."

What you have done with "hissed" is the major exception to that rule. This is because "said" is the best word for the job it does in 99% of the cases. And when it isn't the best word, there are only a few words that will actually work instead of it.

"asked" (and some of its synonyms, like "inquired")

"yelled" (and some of its synonyms, like "shouted")

"whispered" (but not "hissed" unless the words spoken have a lot of s-sounds in them)

are a few examples.

"said" is almost invisible, and you really don't want to call the reader's attention to it. The verb used to refer to speech is really only there so the reader knows who is doing the speaking. If the way the dialog is spoken isn't clear from the words and the context, then another verb may do, but any word other than "said" needs to be chosen very carefully so as not to distract the reader.

I hope this helps.


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Magic Beans
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Welcome! The pacing is good. It feels natural. Some points to consider:

Cliches:
clenched teeth
heart racing
blind determination

Redundant description:
rattled loosely
cracked flooring and gray cracked walls, and a gray cracking, old rocking chair. (crack, crack, crack)

Vague description:
sort of smirked

Bizarre description:
his lips playing with fire (whaa???)

Incorrect grammar:
beast like (should be beast-like)
it’s support pillars ("It's" is only a contraction for "it is." Possessive form is "its." Always. Without exception.)

These problems (as I see them) should not be found in the rest of your manuscript beyond the first thirteen lines, either. Good luck, and again, welcome!

[This message has been edited by Magic Beans (edited November 02, 2004).]


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Christine
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I see that several other posts have been made but I won't read them before commenting so they don't sway my opinions...I may add a follow-up later. My comments are in ALL CAPS but I promise I'm not yelling.

"The fence rattled loosely and loudly as Damon and Aaron climbed over it.

“What are we doing here?” hissed Aaron through clenched teeth, his heart racing.

Damon sort of smirked WHAT IS A SORT OF SMIRK? WHAT IS HE DOING EXACTLY? and kept climbing, his eyes dancing with malice and his lips playing with fire I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN BY HIS LIPS PLAYING WITH FIRE. The chain link fence gave a little with every pull of hands or push of feet, creaking and whining under the weight of the two boys. Aaron looked back over his shoulder longingly, hoping for something to come by to stop their stupidity. I DON'T HAVE A FRAME FOR WHAT AARON IS THINKING HERE...EVEN SOMETHING GENERAL WOULD HELP. ARE THEY TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY OR GETTING READY TO VANDALIZE SOMETHING OR SNEAKING INTO THE YARD OF SOME CREEPY NEIGHBOR? AND WHY IS HE FOLLOWING DAMON IF HE FEELS THIS WAY? IS DAMON THE KID EVERYONE HAS TO OBEY OR THEY ARE "OUT"? Damon looked up and forward with blind determination, relishing what was to come.

Damon reached the top of the fence and stopped. Aaron was close behind. YOU COULD COMBING THESE TWO SENTENCES LIKE SO "...STOPPED, AARON CLOSE BEHIND."

“Look at that,” whispered Damon, with respect, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY WITH RESPECT? staring out blissfully into the night.

Aaron followed his gaze, finding the outline of a large house in a large field, YOU SAY LARGE TWICE...CAN YOU USE A DIFFERENCE DESCRIPTOR ONE OF THOSE TIMES? with the porch light on. The house itself seemed to lean forward, beast like, it’s support pillars bending ever so slightly under the strain. The porch light shone to the left of the front door, revealing gray cracked flooring and gray cracked walls, and a gray cracking, old rocking chair."

*********************************
Generally, the thing you do well is describee things. The biggest problem with this passage is that it does not to much to describe feelings or emotions or attitudes. You've given me a what, but not a why. The why is your hook into this story. (We talk about hooks a lot around here.) As is, I don't feel tempted to read further, but you've given just enough clues to make me believe that you could tempt me with some modifications.

Welcome to hatrack!


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Snowman
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AND WHY IS HE FOLLOWING DAMON IF HE FEELS THIS WAY? IS DAMON THE KID EVERYONE HAS TO OBEY OR THEY ARE "OUT"?

I imagine, although I could be wrong here, that Damon is the wild, adventerous one of the pair of friends. Aaron just doesn't want to let his mate down; doesn't want to look like a chicken, even though he knows deep down that he wouldn't be a chicken, he just doesn't want to do something that's wrong. A common enough feeling, I think, to be believable.

You might want to mention or hint at at what they're about to do just before you give us an insight to Aaron's feelings.


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Worlds
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Here, I made a few changes. Hopefully it's better now. Thanks for all your replies, they were great.

The fence rattled as Damon and Aaron climbed up it.

“What are we doing here?” asked Aaron through clenched teeth.

Damon sort of smirked and kept climbing, his eyes dancing with malice. The chain link fence gave a little with every pull of hands or push of feet, creaking and whining under the weight of the two boys. Aaron looked back over his shoulder at the road, wondering why Damon had brought them out so far. Damon looked up and forward, not slowing his climb.

Damon reached the top of the fence and stopped, Aaron close behind.

“Look at that,” whispered Damon, gazing out into the field that stretched out beyond the fence.

Aaron followed his gaze, finding the outline of a large house in the field, with the porch light on. The house itself seemed to lean forward, beast-like, its support pillars bending forward under the strain. The porch light shone to the left of the front door, revealing gray cracked flooring and matching walls. An old rocking chair sat lonely under the light. The windows of the house were a slightly darker shade of black than the rest of the shadow of the framework, and made Aaron hope he would never get close enough to see inside at all.


Thanks again

[This message has been edited by Worlds (edited November 02, 2004).]


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Jeraliey
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It's like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. Great improvements!

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rickfisher
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Interesting--but my big question is, Why do they have to climb a chain-link fence in order to see to the other side? Or, if they're climbing it for some other reason, why don't they see the other side before they've reached the top.
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Castaway
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I have come in on the end of the comments and find that most of my ideas have been said. I also like the feel of it and imagine these two mischievious boys are about to bite off more than they can chew.
The rewrite reads much better.

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Christine
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Ok, this is just me being honest, but I didn't htink the second version was much different or addressed the biggest problems in this excerpt. It did help with a couple of the wording issues I have, and now none of my issues are with wording, but I still don't have a sense of danger, a sense of excitement, or a sense of what's going on at all. I still feel distanced from both characters (part of the danger of an omniscient point of view, I wonder if it might read better in limited omniscient from Aaron's POV, but I hesitate to suggest that in light of reading only a few lines.) I'm still not hooked. This reads like two kids being mildly mischievious at the moment, though I suspect it's more than that, but the suspicion is not played out anywhere.

All right, I'm done being honest. Well, no, I'm never done with that, relaly. I just hope its helpful....I sometimes know when to keep my mouth shut when its not even helpful.


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