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The Code - Prologue: And He Pulled the Trigger...



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Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:40 am
Aristotle says...



It was a sunny day in late spring. The park that would one day be called Discovery National Park was empty. I looked at Chris, and then at Chrissie. They both gave me encouraging glances, as if to reassure me (and themselves) that this wasn't totally crazy. Jacob knows it is. Even though he's my brother, he doesn't believe in our Project, and was only there because I bribed him.
"I'm not responsible for this, Gen, you know that." Jacob said. I couldn't reply, so I nodded. I was just too nervous. Chris checked his computer.
"The conditions are right. Ready, Chrissie?"
"Booting up Code Lazarus. And... online!" Chrissie's reply was energetic, almost to the point of making me want to strangle her. She was just my best friend. She didn't know what I had planned. Because what I had planned was crazy. I gestured to Jacob. And he pulled the trigger.
Live and don't learn, thats us - Calvin

Alas, poor Yorick - wait, why the heck am I holding this skull? - Me

I can count to potato - The guy who lives next door
  





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Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:43 am
Baywolf says...



Hello Aristotle! (Never thought I'd see or hear myself say that!)

Because this is a prologue, and a very short one at that, I don't have too much to say plotwise or even stylewise. However, I can address a few things.
The last sentence was a cliff-hanger which are great for making readers want to read more. And I can truthfully say that it left me wondering what happened after he pulled the trigger. The entire passage is too short and vague for me to draw much more from that, but overall I say good job. :) I have a few suggestions just to make it have even more impact to your readers. Those will be in green.

It was a sunny day in late spring. The park that would one day be called Discovery National Park was empty.
I looked at Chris and then at Chrissie. They both gave me encouraging glances, as if to reassure me (and themselves) that this wasn't totally crazy.
Jacob knew it was. Even though he's my brother, he didn't believe in our Project, and was only there because I bribed him.
"I'm not responsible for this, Gen, you know that," Jacob said.
I couldn't reply, so I nodded. I was just too nervous.
Chris checked his computer.
"The conditions are right. Ready, Chrissie?"
"Booting up Code Lazarus. And... online!" Chrissie's reply was energetic, almost to the point of making me want to strangle her. She was just my best friend. She didn't know what I had planned.
Because what I had in mind was crazy.
I gestured to Jacob, and he pulled the trigger.

As you can see, I spaced out the sentences a bit more, to give them "breathing room". It felt a little cramped which hindered the reading. Usually when I start new paragraphs (which is what happens when you switch to another person in either dialogue or description--mostly dialogue though) I add an extra space to further solidify the separation between the two. It makes things less cramped. But since this is only a prologue, the way you have it is fine. There were a few verb tense problems and fixed those. The repetition of the word 'planned' in two consecutive sentences irked me, so I changed it to 'in mind' instead. It gives you a bit more variety. Also, when you are doing dialogue you need to use a comma to separate the spoken words from the description of the speaker. You can't use a period, quote mark, and then 'said'. It has to be like this [ word," said person. ]. Do you get it? :)
Well, I suppose that's it. You have a very interesting story premise here, and I hope you post more because I'm very curious as to what that trigger is attached to--be it gun or otherwise.

Happy Writing!
Bailey
After all, it is the pen that gives power to the mythical sword.

"For an Assistant Pig-Keeper, I think you're quite remarkable." Eilonwy

"You also shall be Psyche."

"My only regret
all the Butterflies
that I have killed with my car" Martin Lanaux
  





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Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:51 am
PenNPaper says...



Hiya Aristotle, PenNPaper here :D

I would like to say that I liked your story, your style of writing. However, I really wanted to read more. Even for a prologue, this is probably still to short. There are still many questions left unanswered.

For example:
The park that would one day be called Discovery National Park was empty

Was the narrator from the future, how did he know that the park would be called Discovery National Park in the future?
Even though he's my brother, he doesn't believe in our Project, and was only there because I bribed him

What is this Project? Why didn't the narrator's brother believe it?
Booting up Code Lazarus.

Code Lazarus, what is this? Is Lazarus a name? Who created this code?

If you could answer this questions, your story would probably be longer and also more interesting.

Bye! :D
Writing is all about imagination~
  





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Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:18 am
RoachRedford! says...



I like the idea's you present in this, but it's just too vague to give a critique on. Please PM me if you write more because it is certainly intriguing. I know a prologue isn't meant to give too much away, but I agree that this is maybe too short even for a prologue.
I want to find out what Code Lazarus does though!
:D
It's not the fall that kills you.

GENERATION 31: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.
  





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Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:26 pm
Aristotle says...



Look it up in The Bible. *Hint Hint*
Live and don't learn, thats us - Calvin

Alas, poor Yorick - wait, why the heck am I holding this skull? - Me

I can count to potato - The guy who lives next door
  





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Sat Oct 16, 2010 12:39 am
Aristotle says...



PenNPaper wrote:Hiya Aristotle, PenNPaper here :D

I would like to say that I liked your story, your style of writing. However, I really wanted to read more. Even for a prologue, this is probably still to short. There are still many questions left unanswered.

For example:
The park that would one day be called Discovery National Park was empty

Was the narrator from the future, how did he know that the park would be called Discovery National Park in the future?
Even though he's my brother, he doesn't believe in our Project, and was only there because I bribed him

What is this Project? Why didn't the narrator's brother believe it?
Booting up Code Lazarus.

Code Lazarus, what is this? Is Lazarus a name? Who created this code?

If you could answer this questions, your story would probably be longer and also more interesting.

Bye! :D


This is actually from the middle/end of the book. The narrator (Gen)is talking about this event after it happened.

Sorry for the Double pOst!
Live and don't learn, thats us - Calvin

Alas, poor Yorick - wait, why the heck am I holding this skull? - Me

I can count to potato - The guy who lives next door
  








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