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Author Topic: Young Adult Fantasy novel/13 lines
Kuro-Sol
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I just finished this one, but I'm not sure it is finished yet. I'd appreciate volunteer readers for the whole thing, but it is pretty long though . . .

There was no inkling at all of what was going to happen to him. For a wizard, Belaus had never been very good at divination and found it worked best in reverse.
Nothing ever happened the way he thought it was going to. Whatever anyone thought – or at least what he thought – that the future held, it did not. And whatever came his way and how situations worked out was always something that he could not imagine or predict. Always, something out of the blue – or out of the dark of night – surprised him.
Tonight he was going to close his bedroom door – forever – and work in peace. Slam it and bolt it tight against the corridor. Lock himself inside his room inside the house, seal the house inside the walls that pocketed the gardens inside the bustling city.

[This message has been edited by Second Assistant (edited August 17, 2006).]


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Elan
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Could you define "pretty long"? Are we talking novella? Novel? How many words?

My feelings as I read your opener is that there are a lot of words that don't get the reader very deep into your story, and what you do have is confusing to me and creating emotional distance.

For instance, saying Belaus finds divination works best in reverse... what is that supposed to mean? Divination is prediction of the future. Does this mean he's got some spectacular hindsight skills? Hindsight doesn't take a wizard.

I gather from the next few sentences that he's not particularly good at his craft; he's unskilled and/or ill-prepared.

Saying he's going to close his bedroom door forever tells me he expects to die. Instead of pulling the reader in with that hook, you disengage the reader by going on about the doors, the house, a passing storm, rain, and other seemingly inconsequential things. You may be trying to set a mood or a tone with all of it, but the price you are paying is to distance your reader emotionally.

As a reader, I don't care about the rain or the house. I want to understand what you mean when you say he is going to close his door forever. I suspect that what is about to happen inside the bedroom is more important than the mundane things going on outside.


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Kuro-Sol
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Yeah, I see your point. I did overthink this opening too much. There is a point to the stuff about the storm and the house but I need to find another way to get it across.

When I say long, I mean 122 000 words.


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Woodie
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I really had a hard time getting into this one. I think you might want to try starting with the third paragraph, because there's more intrigue there. As it is now, I'm not hooked.
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wbriggs
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One thing that's missing is Belaus's motivation. I don't know *why* he's going to work in peace, by sealing himself in forever. It's a drastic step! What drives him to it?

122K words is very very long for YA. Maybe you could break the story in two. Or shorten it.


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pixydust
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Yah, motivation. And you spent a whole lot of lines telling us he was really bad at predicting the future--which you could have just stated.
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cll
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I found the comment about divination working best in reverse to be humorous/sacarastic and would keep it in but you do spend too much time on the fact that he doesn't know the future. Most of us don't, so move ahead. The same with him working in his room. Say it once and move on. Why is he doing that? I liked the inclusion of the storm and the line about it keeping resilient thieves indoors. That peaked my interest. What would the character be doing that others might want to steal? My suggestion would be to go back through and see how many words you can cut and still convey the same meaning. That might hook the reader a bit better. Remember most Youth these days have the attention span of gnats.
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Kuro-Sol
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Maybe this is a little tighter:

There was no inkling at all of what was going to happen to Belaus, because nothing ever happened the way he thought it would. As a wizard, divination was not his strength. Tonight, frustration had him thinking he was going to close his bedroom door – forever. And the storm beating agaisnt the shutters had him inspired as to how that just might be possible.
His room was high in the back, down the longest corridors with the most twists and turns, up all of the staircases and as far from his mother’s chambers as was possible. The walls in here were covered with books and more were piled into three of the corners. Chests were shoved anywhere they could fit, their lids weighted down with more tomes, and jars filled with things that made the house staff wince. “Unrecognizable but faintly disturbing contents,” his mother called them.

[This message has been edited by Second Assistant (edited August 17, 2006).]


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wbriggs
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So: your story, your perogative, but what if you were to try telling us why Belaus is doing this, what he's up to? It might not hurt to try it out.
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cll
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I know more about Belaus' room then I do him. Make me care about him and then I'll appreciate the room- of which I liked the description. Keep at it!
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kings_falcon
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I think you've lost your YA audience. Less detail about the surroundings and more action would hook them (and me).


quote:

There was no inkling at all of what was going to happen to Belaus, because nothing ever happened the way he thought it would.

Who is your POV? Are you trying for Omni? Third person might work better for your audience. If it's Belaus's POV then this is a POV violation. On a personal NIT - I tend to shudder when people start this way. If it's unexpected don't tell me that - set me up with a predicable line of action and THEN suprise me right along with the MC.

quote:

As a wizard, divination was not his strength. Tonight, frustration had him thinking he was going to close his bedroom door – forever.

Why do I care that divination isn't his strength? I care that he's so frustrated that he is ready to spit nails. Tell me why he's frustrated and not what he can't do, unless he's trying a divination spell. If he is, tie the frustration into the lack of skill.


quote:
And the storm beating against the shutters had him inspired as to how that just might be possible.

While I like the imagry, you are withholding. WHAT might just be possible. You aren't creating a mystery you are just failing to give me something to care about.

Why are you describing the room in such detail? Get to the action.

quote:
And in front of the fireplace, another storm in miniature spun on the floor.

That caught my attention because I thought it related to the real storm but it was too late. I'd given up that we'd actually get back to the plot.

Try to stream line this even more. Based on what you have in the first paragraph I NEED to know why he's frustrated and what is happening. The room description can wait.


[This message has been edited by kings_falcon (edited August 15, 2006).]


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Kuro-Sol
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Okay, take 3.

Frustration had Belaus slamming and locking his bedroom door, and he was going to keep it that way. Another year in training was more than he could stomach and mother would never pay the fees for it anyway. He could make the spells work, had done many, many times, just not when they wanted him too. Alone and without distractions he could cast any magic he wanted, so tonight he would make sure he was alone with the peace to work – forever. And the storm beating against the shutters had him inspired as to how that just might be possible.
He created another storm in miniature and set it spinning on the floor. Light itself twisted in a funnel as high as the ceiling, flashing colour from across the spectrum. No one would ever call him a failure again. He was a master here and had it constrained, a thousand doorways in one cyclone of energy!

[This message has been edited by Second Assistant (edited August 17, 2006).]


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cll
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Yes! Take three is a winner! Now you have my attention! Much better.
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kings_falcon
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This last version is definately better. Now I know what is going on in Beleus's life and what is happening in the scene. There is some minor clean up work to be done but otherwise it's a really good start. I am engaged by the character and interested in what is happening to him.
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Survivor
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Yes, this opening is both more informative and much more interesting. You've got solid internal character activity, motivation, narrative flow, it's actually working now.

Keep us appraised of any progress you're making on the rest.


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MommaMuse
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YES! Third time is the charm! I'm ready for more!
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Kuro-Sol
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Hi, thanks to everyone who posted their thoughts. I found them all very helpful and have started another proofread with new ideas in mind because of them. When I am finished, I'll post again and invite readers who are interested in reading the whole thing.
Thanks again to everyone!

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