Author Topic: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2  (Read 1998 times)

Necroben

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3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« on: March 02, 2009, 09:08:55 PM »
Something a little different this time 'round.

Thanks for reading!
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Frog

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2009, 02:42:33 AM »
Something a little different this time 'round.
:'(... Okay, Fine.

Thoughts while Reading:
Interesting idea... is this your clone story? :)

At least she knows that she SHOULD know who she is... that's a plus, right? ;).

Good luck with the present tense. It's a tough one to keep straight...

The end of this first section is confusing. I think you could explain what it is she sees without loosing any of the dramatics you seem to want.

"Looking around Silvia has the thought that it might be some kind of cell, though she doesn’t remember ever having been in prison."
I knew the name Silvia was familiar. Now I remember. It was your writing prompt. I wonder if she'll get a foam hand in this version too... ;D 

"Silvia was not surprised that it worked.  Why put a sink there if it was not to be used?"
Neither was I, but these lines seem to be implying I should have been....

Is she part bat then? Cool...

I would break up a few of these sentences. Like this one:
"Changing positions without rolling over, staying still or large movements would have given her away, Silvia feigned sleep. "

What was the dead man's mistake exactly?

"Silvia had already reasoned that the amenities she now had were there because they could be taken away.  For good behavior, she would get rewarded, bad and they would take some or everything away."
How did she know that? I think you might be overdoing the internal thought a little bit....

The attack at the end is so abstract that it was a little confusing.

Overall impression:
Okay, this one was a bit harder to follow because of all the internal thought and some of the scenes were abstract, but I like the idea and it was a fun read anyway and you do get in close with your character, which I will always appreciate. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
I've already conquered the world. This is exactly the way I want it.

Necroben

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2009, 03:07:23 AM »
Yes this is my clone story.  I'm close to the finish with Aspirations, though I have hit a block, and I have this one and another story I'm kicking around.  I'm going to submit a little of each to get a feel for the both of them.  Then I'll decide on which one to start.

No, please.  No foam fingers, anything but that.

Is she part bat then?

Are you talking about when she can hear what's going on?  But no she's not part bat.  I tried that trick though, and it worked for me.  Talked to an Army Ranger for that one.

I'll have to work on that abstract thing.  I seem to get a little weird in my writing sometimes.  But if Steven King can get away with it...
« Last Edit: March 03, 2009, 03:09:00 AM by Necroben »
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Frog

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2009, 06:29:43 AM »
No, please.  No foam fingers, anything but that.
Aw...

Are you talking about when she can hear what's going on?  But no she's not part bat.  I tried that trick though, and it worked for me.  Talked to an Army Ranger for that one.
Yeah, the open mouth hearing was just sounding a bit like echo location to me. Don't ask me why. My mind works in mysterious ways...

I'll have to work on that abstract thing.  I seem to get a little weird in my writing sometimes.  But if Steven King can get away with it...
So you're going to be the next Stephen King? Sweet! And I shall be able to say 'I knew him when' or 'he'd be nothing without all my helpful advice' or anything else that crotchety old ladies talk about when their siting on their porch collecting cats.  :D
I've already conquered the world. This is exactly the way I want it.

Necroben

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2009, 12:01:47 AM »
I'll have to work on that abstract thing.  I seem to get a little weird in my writing sometimes.  But if Steven King can get away with it...
So you're going to be the next Stephen King? Sweet! And I shall be able to say 'I knew him when' or 'he'd be nothing without all my helpful advice' or anything else that crotchety old ladies talk about when their siting on their porch collecting cats.  :D

No, I'm not going to be the next Steven King.  I can't use up 30 something pages to describe someone walking into a room.  I just weird, sometimes, kinda sortta, whatever. ;D

Crotchety old men, who talk about the weather!
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Hamster

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2009, 12:51:22 AM »
Very Nifty submission! :o

And I don't bandy the word nifty about willy nilly! That was a very enjoyable read, I actually liked it better than Aspirations. I also didn't mind the 'wierd', 'abstractedness' at all, I like your different style.

I am liking this storyline,(even though I know nothing) and the characters. The Stranger is cliche, but whatever, he works out ok.

Oh happy day! despair incarnate and lots of doom and gloom!  :D I loved your imagery in that section when she is in the hallway, c'est tres fantastique. It reminded me of a short story I wrote about fear incarnate, except that your imagery was decidely better. (although like Frog says, it did come out of nowhere,but I forgave that because of its super duper niftiness.)

Great job with this, I'm more enthralled by this than Aspirations(though maybe cause I already know what happens in Aspirations, I'm bored), it's quite strong and fun and random, I can't wait for the next one!

Reaves

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2009, 01:28:44 AM »
Arggh!! I finished writing a massive critique for you, got some dinner, and then when I came back it was gone! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is??!! I'll get to you soon, hopefully.
Quote from: VegasDev
RJF: "AHA! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Cairhien, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a warder when he is only the distraction! Get him Rand! Buzzzzzzz!

Necroben

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2009, 02:48:56 AM »
It's cool, take your time. ;)
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Reaves

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2009, 11:56:59 PM »
Alright. Truncated thoughts. I'm going mostly by memory here, so bear with me.

Your intro reminded me a lot of the kind of stuff that Michael Crichton does; techno thrillers, etc. Just keep it mind that it does several things:
-basically tells us what the twist is going to be long before the main character will find out. This doesn't need to be a bad thing; just keep it in mind.
-acts as an info dump. Actually, I thought you did pretty good in this respect; the way it was like a question and answer session kept it more than just being a product description.
-and...I think I had something else but I forget. If it comes to me I'll let you know. :P

I liked the way you got into the Stranger's head. That one line about how he liked to clothe his victims; the more they thought they had, the more he could take away, really gave us his mindset and methodologies. Great job!!

The demon-monster came completely out of left field for me. You definitely need to foreshadow that a bit more. Here she is trying to escape from a cloning facility, and then -- BAM! Oozing tendrils of Despair grab hold of her ankle and a monster illuminated by the very fires of hell stands before her! (I forget your exact descriptions :D )

Also you gave us maybe a paragraph of a security guard's viewpoint -- what was that about? I don't think you should give us six lines of new viewpoint and then end the chapter. If he is going to be important next chapter introduce him then. I don't think what you have now really does much.

I also wanted to congratulate you for really stepping outside the circle of what you have shown us before. The female protagonist, the use of present tense, the setting, the rapid changes of viewpoint made it all very different. I would have liked it if you did it in third person but hey. Good job!
Quote from: VegasDev
RJF: "AHA! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Cairhien, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a warder when he is only the distraction! Get him Rand! Buzzzzzzz!

Necroben

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2009, 03:57:30 PM »
Quote
Also you gave us maybe a paragraph of a security guard's viewpoint -- what was that about? I don't think you should give us six lines of new viewpoint and then end the chapter. If he is going to be important next chapter introduce him then. I don't think what you have now really does much.

Oops, that wasn't supposed to be there.  Sorry about that.

Quote
I would have liked it if you did it in third person but hey.

I thought I had done it in third person.   Though I could have messed up in my delivery.  I'll have to check that out
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)

Reaves

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2009, 04:20:42 PM »

Quote
I would have liked it if you did it in third person but hey.

I thought I had done it in third person.   Though I could have messed up in my delivery.  I'll have to check that out

:( Like I told you I was going off of memory...I'm sorry. :(
In my defense there was a lot of seamless internal dialogue that might have made it feel a bit more first-persony.
Quote from: VegasDev
RJF: "AHA! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Cairhien, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a warder when he is only the distraction! Get him Rand! Buzzzzzzz!

Necroben

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Re: 3-2-09 Cradle of Life Chapters 1-2
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2009, 05:15:07 PM »
It's ok. ;D  That was the feel I was going for anyway. :D
I don't suffer from insanity...  I enjoy every minuet of it!

It's ok to be strange, as long as it's on paper. :)