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Young Writers Society


Mirror prologue



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Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:22 pm
xXTheBlackSheepXx says...



“What's with you and these crazy ideas?”
“Haha, you're like some sort of fairy tale!”
“Calm down! Stop twirling around every which way.”

Kailee, my sister, I wonder... What would you say to me today this first line was a little confusing. Maybe if you said it like ‘Kailee, sister… What will you say to me today?’ ? You would probably pat my head roughly and say “Everything isn't over! Get a grip and calm down.” It may seem rude, but that was just the way you showed your affection. You were always relaxed and joking around, poking fun at my strange ideas. Where are you now? Before, I would have immediately started thinking to myself how it was okay, because you were still you, just somewhere else, in a far off world, maybe.

I'm not quite sure if that's the truth anymore.

“Stop with your incessant twirling already.”
“You'll loose brain [space] cells if you keep thinking about those things.”
“Don't keep thinking such pointless thoughts.”

You used to say these words in agently, though. And even when you told me over and over to keep my head and stay grounded, I would never listen and just continue on, thinking and twirling and dreaming in my own world far, far away from here. I should have listened. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't be in this position right now.

----

“Oh come on, Kailee! Open your mind! I'm not talking about aliens or anything, I'm just saying! What if we aren't alone in the sense of dimensions!” The colors of summer twisted together in a blur, no comma as my feet turned faster and faster on the soft green grass.

“I can't take you seriously when you're twirling around like that.”

“You never take me seriously ever, so why would my twirling around make a difference?”

“Because now instead of sounding like a lune, you look like one too.”

“Awe, that was mean," I teased. I really like this dialogue so far!

“I'm just a mean person, you know that.”

“Maybe if you thought a little. You know, about the world around you, or even of 'impossible' things. It's... fun.”

“Shyla, you're always talking about other worlds and places that just couldn't exist.”

“And how would you know? Huh? What if there was another world somewhere, out of our reach, where there's another you and another me? One where you can do special things or one that's more advanced.”

“Oh great, now you're going on about doppelgangers?”

“Ha-ha," I laughed sarcastically. "The world's maybe ‘the universe’ would fit better here. a big place, you know. And we can't understand it all. Where do you think fictional stories come from? And fairy tales? Someone has to get the ideas from somewhere.”

“That's what an imagination is for, and right now, yours is running wild so you better go catch it and bring it back to reality.”

“Reality, the human mind, earth... Earth should be capitalized, I think. If you were talking about the planet and not the ground, that is. It's all just one big mystery. One big story waiting to be told.”

As I twirled here, in this meadow of plush green grass, under a peaceful sky, dreaming and thinking about unknown things, the world seemed so much bigger and alive than most people think. Opening your mind and letting ideas and daydreams roam freely is quite the adventure in itself. No one knows just how big everything around us is, or just how magical. The light breeze whispering tales of happy times and the far off mountains outlined in the distance, shouting out the truths that were yet to be found.


I really like what you have here! This is very short, but I think it gives us a good taste of the characters and what this story is going to be about. I already told you I was going to review all of this for you, but even if I didn’t, I would still go on to chapter two just because I enjoyed reading this so much ^_^

The feel I had while reading this was like I was in some sort of dream, or even a movie. The flashbacks felt very smooth, and just like they were part of the story. A lot of the time I feel like flashbacks are rushed, like the author is trying to squeeze in some kind of information before they fast forward back to the scene at hand, but that is definitely not the case here. Your pace was brilliant, and everything felt smooth and natural.

The dialogue was my favorite part. I could almost hear these two girls chatting to each other. I feel like Shyla is around thirteen or fourteen years old, and Kailee is perhaps a little older. You don’t tell us any of this out loud, but the dialogue is so vivid that I’m able to formulate your characters in my own head.

So loved how you showed the characters in this first chapter, and I’m really glad that you didn’t go overboard on nonsense description and details, and just let the dialogue carry the story.

What else to say? You obviously know what you’re doing, and I love it! Keep writing, please :D
The bad news is we don't have any control.
The good news is we can't make any mistakes.
-Chuck Palahniuk
  





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Reviews: 355
Wed Jul 13, 2011 2:23 pm
LadySpark says...



Hi Mick! Here as requested. I'm going to try to get as much as I can done of this novel, because I leave for the beach, and probably won't be back for awhile. I may take the laptop with me, but just in case....


Kailee, my sister, I wonder... What would you say to me today?

This seems a little weird to me. Maybe because your talking about her and then to her Consider rephrasing this![/color

Get a grip and calm down.” It may seem rude, but that was just the way you showed your affection.


“What's with you and these crazy ideas?”

“Haha, you're like some sort of fairy tale!”

“Calm down! Stop twirling around every which way.”

[color=#FF0000]now that I look at it, these two seem to have nothing to do with each other. Did you mean it to be that way?


The colors of summer twisted together in a blur, as my feet turned faster and faster on the soft green grass.

this is a beautiful way of saying what is something boring to begin with. Kudos.

~~~
I loved it! Very well written, and I didn't notice any huge grammatical mistakes. And besides which I listed above, I don't see much wrong with it.

I was a little confused about how old she was, considering a teenager would never be twirling around (okay, I do, but I'm weird)

I think it was a great beginning. Keep up the good work!

Now on to chapter 1!!!
~Drama
hush, my sweet
these tornadoes are for you


-Richard Siken


Formerly SparkToFlame
  





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Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:07 am
rayhutch5 says...



Hi! So, I'm Rachael and I'll be reviewing your Prologue here! :)

First off, the typos:

Kailee, my sister, I wonder... What would you say to me today?
This sounds odd. It'd make more sense if you said, "Kailee, my sister...I wonder what you would say to me today?" Or something like that. Actually, it'd sound even better if you didn't mention that Kailee was the protagonist's sister. Mentioning it from the get-go makes it sound forced and like you're just trying to get the information out right away. Instead, try and find a better way to slip it in there, for example: "Before, I would have immediately started thinking to myself how it was okay, because you were still you, you were still my sister, just somewhere else, in a far off world, maybe." This way, it sounds less forced and in your face.
Everything isn't over! Get a grip and calm down.”
Again, this line seems forced; at least, to me it does. It would be better if you used something like, "It's not over!" or something of the sort. Just a suggestion, of course. :)
“You'll loose brain cells if you keep thinking about those things.”

“Oh, come on, Kailee!

The colors of summer twisted together in a blur, as my feet turned faster and faster on the soft green grass.
I like this line! I also like the placement of it. Nice job! :]
"The world's a big place, you know.
Personally, I think this would sound a lot better if you used "universe" in it's place. It just makes more sense to me since your character is talking about different worlds and dimensions.

Now, my overall review:

Alright, so far, I really like this. I like the idea you have here and I feel like you can do a lot with it. Which is what frustrates me so much. I can already tell that dialogue is your strong point, which explains why you use it so much here. For me, it's all about the details when I read a novel. I like just enough details to let me picture it, but not too much to where I can't imagine anything of my own. Here, you really don't have to worry about too many details, because you have hardly any.

This whole prologue is basically dialogue. Don't get me wrong, it's some great dialogue and feels like a real conversation, but who is it between? Who are the people talking? Where are they? What are they doing? The answers to these questions are what help the readers get into the story and is what makes it feel more real. In this scene, it's really difficult for me to feel any attachment to the characters because there are so little details about them. Also, it's really difficult for me to imagine this scene playing out other than a girl twirling in soft grass in the summer. Is she in a meadow? Or out on somebody's lawn? Is her sister sitting in the grass beside her? Or is she standing with her hands on her hips nearby? To readers, these are the little things that really matter.

So, overall, I think you have a great story here, it's just needs some meat on it's bones (which would be some descriptions and details). I hope I helped a little. :) You truly do have a great story and I can definitely see potential. Keep writing! I can't wait to read more!

Rachael :D
"Everything has beauty, just not everyone sees it." -Jen Meyers

  








If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.
— Mo Willems