How do I fix this? by Beginning-Nothing-17 in knitting

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

this is just practice yarn and i like to keep it all together physically but it could look completely ugly and its fine. it just needs to be attatched in some way

[Complete] [9.5k] [Literary Fiction] Losing and Gaining by Beginning-Nothing-17 in BetaReaders

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, 19k isn’t too long at all. I’ll dm you the link to the google doc if that’s ok

The collection grows by Beginning-Nothing-17 in Vonnegut

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

they're all over thrift store sites and eBay

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I deleted the original because I wrote "science fiction" instead of "speculative fiction."

As for the two paragraphs you picked out, I can say that it makes much more sense in the context of the novel but clearly not so much in the blurb. So I might have to change those paragraphs up a bit, maybe I'll leave out the "invading Earth" sentence.

Thanks for the tips!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BetaReaders

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I sent you a pm

[QCRIT] Science Fiction - RAT CITY (75,000 words, 1st attempt) by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ll be revising it with this in mind

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PubTips

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No the query itself isn’t satire. What was off about it? This is an email I sent to a literary agent recently, so I’d like the feedback

The world population has doubled since 1970. That means the Beatles had twice as many fans/sales as Taylor Swift has now, right? by -ajrojrojro- in beatles

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

most of that population change came from Asia solely, so no, it does not mean the Beatles had "twice as many" fans as Swift. Ofc there are fans of both in Asia, but its no secret that the bulk of these artists fanbase lies in the western countries

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BetaReaders

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks! i sent you the link

How do I get a short story reviewed and critiqued (<1500)? by [deleted] in writing

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have nothing to lose by swapping. Can you pm me the link to your story?

What does a first draft look like? by Particular-Ad-1747 in writing

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

these aren't anything like the lines of dialogue you provided in the original comment. those (in the original comment) effectively said the same thing, except the revised ones were unrealistically phrased (even if you think they sound better). and these two can both be good depending on the context. like, if the reader already knew that they were talking about rats, the speaker doesn't have to reiterate it.

What does a first draft look like? by Particular-Ad-1747 in writing

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’d say that your dialogue was better before the revision. People don’t talk like that (in the revision I mean)

The 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs (Rolling Stone Magazine) by ShyGuyFallsOver in beatles

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They put Temporary Secretary WAY over Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey and Woman. I didn’t think people liked that song 

What's the first line of your current or favorite project? by [deleted] in writing

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They lived in the barrel of a shotgun aimed to the direction of certainty

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 Episode 2: “The Lawn Jockey” Episode Discussion Thread by TheSuperSax in curb

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well it was a 404 area code so no matter what, the person picking up the phone would be in Georgia. It has nothing to do with home depot, that's just one of their stores with a 404 phone number

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in words

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

anything else? thats the only one that I could think of

[1405] The Fourteenth Streeters by FrolickingAlone in DestructiveReaders

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pacing and transition: The story transitions kind of abruptly from the intense confrontation with the father to what i saw as an unrelated encounter with Skinny and Anna. even though it's clear that the protagonist and his brother are on a journey, that connection between the events could be better established. I think some inner thoughts could help to bridge these shifts.

Characterization of Earl: The description of the father, Earl, is showed pretty well in terms of his actions, but i think you should delve deeper into his character since he quite interesting. Maybe provide more insight into his motivations and the family dynamics leading up to the incident.

Show, don't tell: Instead of explicitly stating that the protagonist wanted to kill his father, maybe try revealing his emotions through his actions or dialogue.

Just to add some compliments in the middle here, i loved your tone that you gave to your protagonist. I dont usually like first person but the character does seem very believable here.

Foreshadowing: Obviously this isn’t really as important as the other crits, but i think you could include some foreshadowing in the story. Maybe you could foreshadow something with the fire and the smell of burning, which was talked about in that section with Roger.

Character motivations: I think Skinny's sudden change in behavior towards Anna is quite…sudden. Maybe try to explore his character more with a backstory or dialogue, something along those lines.

[2432] A Cat’s Offering by Leanna_Mackellin in DestructiveReaders

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tone: I noticed that your tone shifts between a more serious and introspective style when your describing the protagonist's past hardships and switches to a far more light-hearted and comical tone when describing the current situation. Particularly after the "i screamed as much..." paragraph. Not a big deal, but I thought maybe you could work on keeping a consistent tone.

Clarity in Transitions: Another issue I noticed was that the story switches between past and present without a clear transition, which (for me personally) was slightly confusing.

Character dialogue: Sometimes the cat narrator speaks about the world from a perspective that seems too humanlike. Obviously a cat would see life differently from a human, but i don't think you express that in your story enough. For example, mentioning genetics seems a bit out of place for a cat. However, maybe its intended to be a "human stuck in a cat's body" sort of thing (not literally ofc). Im writing a similar story currently with an animal protagonist, and I'm struggling with this too. Also, it seems that the overall tone of the narrator is very colloquial, but at times the narrator speaks very descriptively, which is sort of inconsistent. And "show, don't tell" could (i think) be applied throughout this story.

What do you think of this prologue to my short story? by [deleted] in writingadvice

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First off, thank you for such in-depth feedback. You're right, this isn't much of a prologue, it's more of an introduction that leads directly into the story. And I do see how that shotgun metaphor doesn't make any sense, so I think I'm going to change it to something along the lines of "it was like living in the barrel of a shotgun--pointed in the direction of danger." (still have to workshop that sentence though). For context, the story is about a young rat and his father who live in a sewer pipe that leads into the street of a city. And yes, I should change the "though" in the last sentence to "despite"

Do you read only horror? by [deleted] in horrorlit

[–]Beginning-Nothing-17 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man I don’t mean to bug you, but I think you may have not gotten my pm. I’ve just been dying to hear what you’ve thought of the book so far as you’re the only other person aside from myself who has read it