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Author Topic: Let's Try Again
Idaho Word Man
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Meredith thought my last post was too much background, so here's the beginning of a different story. Let's see if this one is a better start. It's actually 15 lines, so I apologize for hogging too much space.

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Her face was in a jar on the shelf, next to several scrolls, a stuffed owl, and a skull that rested in a small rack. Bana had kept it there for nearly sixty years, since the day he had killed her. If the truth be known, sixty years of soaking in the wizard’s elixir had taken a grievous toll on Unnan’s face, and her once beautiful visage had gained a distinctly brownish cast as it darkened through the years. The lips were shriveled, and a small crescent of brownish sclera peeped out from behind the ancient, puckered eyelids.

Snow swirled and blew around the wild man wizard’s ankles as he pushed the elken hide door covering back and came into his hut. Snow had come early this year. He stood his alder staff next to the door. “Hello, old cabbage,” he said to his wife’s

[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited April 19, 2010).]


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Denem
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Hi Idaho,
First of all, 13 lines max is a cardinal rule here in the treehouse, but I'm sure Kathleen will be by to remind everyone on that score. Anyway on to the writing.

When I read it the first time, I go the impression that there was more than one character involved and that were some POV issues, but after rereading it a couple of times I realized that there was just Bana.
I loved the first line, but in my opinion following it with that much description kind of watered it down and took a bit of the punch out of it. I think it might work a little better (but I could be wrong) if you included one, but not three of the items the jar sits next to on the shelf.

The second paragraph confused me a little (easy to do). I, at first thought that a second person was being introduced, but after rereading I realized it was Bana that had gone outside and come back in. At that point, I had to wonder when he went outside in the first place.

In the third paragraph all you've told me is what he looks like and that he's about to eat dinner.

Outside of the first two lines, there really isn't anything happening that would keep me interesting in reading further. It seemed at first that the face in the jar was going to be a focal point early on, but you drifted away from it. My question would have to be: is there any action relating to the jar upcoming in the very near future?

My suggestion would be to cut back a bit on the description that can be worked in gradually and speed up the action a bit.
I'd be extremely interested to know why he felt it necessary to kill his wife and put her face in a jar and how does he feel about that even after sixty years.


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Rikki_Ross
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I would have but the last paragraph (not exactly the last paragraph just the way it is more descriptive) in the way that it more slowly draws the reader in yet still, with each paragraph provides an interesting start. I think it is very necessary, but that sort of slowness should be used at the beginning. The first few sentences are so strange that it almost lost me, but with a more understandable yet slow paragraph before it, it would be easy to follow the entire thing. of course to put the last paragraph first it would need a lot of revising. but that whole idea is just a suggestion, i'm not entirely sure it would be an improvement but i think you should give it a try.

Also along with me almost getting lost by the initial strangeness, by the time the last paragraph came around i had not remembered the name of your character. I don't know how much that had to do with my lack of reading skill or what but i had to go back and make sure that the last paragraph was talking about the same character as before. maybe you could say the name once in between the two places that you say it already, so that it sticks better. but hopefully someone with who also reads it will see and tell if the could remember the name or not. As i said, maybe i just wasn't paying close enough attention.


well, i posted this at the same time as denem, so i guess my concerns were correct.

also, i think that the fact that denem wants to now more doesn't mean you should work that into the first thirteen lines, if someone wants to know more they would read more. So thats i good thing.


also, on futher thought, i think it would work if the second paragraph was first, and the first was second... that would also probably help with making it easier to recognize that there is only one character. Also, in my opinion "old man wizard's" should be replaced with either "old wizard's" or Bana's" if old man wizard is meant to be a sort of nickname for the character then that should be reveled in dialogue first. if its not a nickname or something like that i wouldn't include it at all.

[This message has been edited by Rikki_Ross (edited April 18, 2010).]


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Idaho Word Man
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I just realized that I'm posting in the section for the beginnings of short fiction. Both this one and the previous one are the beginnings of short novels. My bad.

It doesn't say "old man wizard." It says "wild man wizard." Some members of my generation will recognize the allusion.

How do you determine how many lines something really is? Just paste it in a document with 1-inch margins and 12-point Times or something?


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Denem
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When you post your material in the 'Message' text window it is 13 lines from top to bottom with no scrolling. The same rule applies when posting for novels as well. There are some details on posting in the 'Please Read Here First' wing of the treehouse.
Cheers

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JSchuler
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I agree with Denem that the first thirteen starts out strong with the face in a jar, and then just drifts away. I actually feel jipped by the time I'm finished with the rest of the 13+2, as it seems nothing is going to happen with it. Worse, the stuff I'm told instead is really stuff I don't have reason to care about: the weather, the wizard's breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack, his appearance, his laundry.

It's not that I'm wanting to know more is the problem. That's a good thing. It's that I feel the rest of the intro is wasted, not building to anything.


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Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
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I've moved it.
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