Firefly -> RE: Fabulae - Sweet Delusions and Fatal Dreams - Comments (6/28/2008 0:24:35)
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A passer-by would have hardly noticed them, and even if he had, he wouldn’t probably have understood that they were on a mission. Flows better if you switch the order of those two words. quote:
Although they frolicked in the air like fish in the sea, they still determinedly glided through the ether to a certain direction, hurrying to deliver a report. "though" flows better than "although." the latter seems like something weird for English. Now, I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't like your metaphors and similies in general. They seem really... funny... Like how I didn't like your "tatoos" metaphor in the opening line, I didn't like this one either. I can't think of how to fix it, so it's probably just our styles clashing. But I'm making a note of this, just for your benefit. I'd put the "determinedly" elsewhere. "Though they frolicked in the air like fish in the sea, they still glided through the ether to a certain direction determinedly, hurrying to deliver a report." quote:
Their screams were too high for an average man to hear, but on a hill slope few miles away from the disgraced guardian tower, stood a creature far from the mundane averages of the world, listening. "screams" is a very generic, unpowerful word. In this case, to signify the high pitch, it is better to use "shriek" here. Better connotation. Well, would any human being be able to hear bat shrieks? Dunno 'bout Lore, but on Earth, no. I'd change that to "human." Plus, the figure you describe is probably not a human, right? So it fits. If you wanna keep "average man" for whatever reason, I suggest you say "the" rather than "an." It's just much more powerful. "slope a few..." I think "Guardian Tower" should be capitalized, since it is a proper noun. quote:
Cloaked in a cape that seemed to absorb all light around him "all the light..." may be better. quote:
But the moment they told him the name of the female mage, a gorgeous grin slit his face into two. Now, I dunno the background of your story, so I may be wrong. However, that word /really/ threw me off. I didn't get the impression that the man was good-looking from the previous passage. And I didn't get the message that he looked good while smiling. Even if he did, I suggest you rephrase into a more subtle sentence. Like start a new sentence and describe how the grin lit up his features and softened his gaze or something, ect. Also, you're going for a more evil grin, I think. So the above seems even stranger. And on top of all that, grins that split a face are usually too large to look nice... I think you meant "split" quote:
Handing the berries together with the girl over to his servants Seems very wordy. Too wordy = bad. I would know, since I'm #1 in wordiness. What's stopping you from saying "and"? quote:
he shifted his form to an old grey-feathered owl and flew with transcendental speed towards the tower. Comma after "old" quote:
After he had lost his mother, he had been ever so eager to throw his energy into anything that was good for an adrenaline boost. You're /really/ overusing "had." Even at times when you wanna use it, try to keep the usages to a minimum before you burn the eyes outta your audience. quote:
In the dim, silver light that still lingered on in the underground halls Now I'm just being a pain in the butt, but (pun unintended) I prefer "silvery" to "silver" quote:
he perceived himself like the guardian tower itself Eh, "as" fits better in this comparison. quote:
the outside made of sturdy-looking stones, that in reality, were ready to crumble away around the emptiness inside. Comma misplaced. Took me a while to figure out what you were saying. Should be after "that" not after "stones" quote:
Did he hunt to catch something, or to flee from himself, his own history and the heavily weighing destiny of being the last one of his kind? You don't need a comma before "and" in every context. But you should be /consistent/ I noticed that you used it before, so you should continue doing it now. "heavily-weighing" needs a hyphen since it's a single modifier. quote:
Yes, this was the kind of pain he was used to deal with. "dealing" quote:
a skill he had had to learn by himself, the hard way. You need to kill the comma. Or you need some stylistic repetition, but that won't work here. quote:
Although it wasn’t her own fault that she had turned the way she had, and she surely didn’t deserve to be punished anymore that she’d already had been, Zhoom still regretted releasing her. I had to read this twice to get the full implications. You should rephrase the first part and change those commas into dashes. Dashes are better for setting things apart and emphasizing than commas are, thus making them ideal for this sentence. Hmm, try: "Although it wasn’t her own fault that she had turned into such a creature--and she surely didn’t deserve to be punished anymore that she’d already had been--Zhoom still regretted releasing her." quote:
his ridiculous will to honour his questionable contracts, whether they were with the living, dead, or undead, had caused him to dishonour a friendship. I'd change these bolded commas to dashes as well. Because you have a list in between, a dash can emphasize properly, better than a comma could here. Plus, I noticed that you don't use varying punctuation enough. You don't have to /always/ use commas. Colons, dashes, and semi-colons are readily available at all times. (Though don't overuse those either...) quote:
in the heart of a vampire-breeding area where he had just released one vampire more, and she was there unarmed! Again, I'd say a dash is more appropriate here. You want to emphasize this last part. It's what you want your audience to notice. I had to read this twice to get the implications. quote:
but what really startled the ranger, was an odd-looking feather that lay on those imprints. *takes out a sword and murders the comma* quote:
they suddenly vanished as if the man had grown himself wings and flown away. Meh, you can keep it for emphasis, but I'd say that it's unnecessary and doesn't work out anyways. quote:
Instead, she had just taken the first route curving away from the vicinity of that cursed place. The "hads" are killing me. I see your reasoning here, but really, it's unnecessary. Better to just say "she just took" quote:
She couldn’t find the power in her to turn back, although she knew that would have been the right thing to do. Like "had", "upon", ect. "although" should be used sparingly. A regular "though" works better here, and 90% of the time generally. Again with the "hads"! And this time, it's very, very unnecessary. She's doing it right now! So "be" is much better. quote:
remembering again every little detail on his attack on her Double "on" is unpleasant. "of" is better for the first one. quote:
her thoughts burst with rage. These two words don't go together well. "burst in" or "exploded with" quote:
Hurrying upwards for a while to stop the malicious thought It was more than one sentence she was thinking, so this should be plural, methinks. quote:
Without a warning, the clouds curled away in the sky Seems to have killed the flow with that word. quote:
Let’s face it, again, I have fled… The first comma needs to be a period, dash, or semi-colon. Or else it's a run-on. quote:
in this exhausting fleeing from everything Bad choice of word. I think "flight" is what you meant. quote:
Skating closer to her father, she had wanted to show how fast she was learning, but her smile had frozen to her lips as she had noticed the deep sadness in his eyes. Too many "hads" Grammar needs to be bended to attain a better-flowing story, Fabula. Keep the first one, change the rest to regular past tense. quote:
All at once, her skates had turned heavier than boulders buried deep beneath the roots of a mountain and her movements had come to a complete halt as she had started to wonder See above. Listen. When an entire passage is in past past tense (past participle or something, can't remember the fancy name), you need a "had" at the beginning to indicate it. But once past the beginning, continue in regular past tense, or else readers would get annoyed. You've read books. That's the way pros do it too. I'll stop the "had" comments for now. Pick them out yourself. quote:
She had remained still, until the mittens that were too big for her, had gradually slipped from her hands and dropped on the ice. Kill all the commas in this sentence. quote:
On the hill slope overlooking the grim valley of the tower Overusing this word. "hillside" or something instead. quote:
Sunken deep into thoughts, amidst voices gone-by No hyphen. Two words since it doesn't act as a single modifier. quote:
she didn’t even notice when the dark figure crept behind her. "a" is better, since you didn't introduce such a figure to us yet. quote:
Almost as if the attacker had read her mind Perhaps I'm still holding a huge grudge against the word "had", but I think "could" is better here. quote:
whispering in a dreadfully familiar voice, Period instead of comma at the end. It acts as an ending to an independent sentence. It isn't /really/ a speech tag. quote:
as a cape black as a night without stars covered them from prying eyes. Wordy, wordy, wordy. "a starless night" is better. quote:
the vampire released his grasp from her white throat, now streaked with red marks from his fingers. /Please/ don't describe using an ungraceful and generic colour here. Use something more emotive (eg. ivory), or use something more... skin-related (eg. pale) quote:
she inhaled sharply, as he made his sweet way to her neck Kill the comma. Again. Stop overusing commas, geez. You're turning into a Justin clone. (don't take offence to this. I mean it jokingly) That word bothered me. Perhaps it's one of those things in your style I dislike. Perhaps it's because... How do I say this? Hmm, I feel like you always put things in a very overt and blatant manner. Might be better if it were more... subtle. A simple rephrasing would do. "as he made his way down her neck in delicate, deceptively-gentle strokes" or something to that effect. quote:
He certainly asked for no permission before his hands travelled south Seems too geographical and mechanical of a word. I think "downwards" is more graceful for this occasion. quote:
ripping through fabric, and knowing no mercy. Kill this comma. The fact that the last bit is too short to warrant pausing and how this sentence already has one comma supports this idea. Now, I like the way you cleverly integrate things together and leave good foreshadowing. Some of your descriptions, esp. of the night, were amazing. I still dislike your blatant way of stating certain things (it makes me feel prude by comparison), but that may be because I'm uncomfortable with your style. Oh, and when you portray inner turmoil, like the thoughts of Zhoom and Lux Alba, you should use more direct thought, less exposition. Feels like less like infodump that way. Overall, I love your talent and the innovation behind the story. Two more unrelated things: 1. I claim this page for being a crazy editor. 2. Fabula, you might wanna check up the 3000 word update in a certain story... =P *points to sig*
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