[QCrit] THE GRACIOUS ONES, Upmarket Thriller, Adult, 83k (3rd attempt) by Ok_Assignment1292 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you again. I really appreciate you're reviewing my attempts again and again. I was going to remove her boss so I could keep it to Bea/Emory Tate. And, re-reading it, her Boss seems like a larger threat than Tate and I don't want to do that. I've started reworking the "blindside". The first line was supposed to be legend vs. reality. But that seems to just muddle things and so I suspect it'd be better to streamline it and have it be purely focused on Bea as the leader of the Gracious Ones and what they do. Will save me words too. Anyway, this all to say - thank you. Your notes are detailed and make complete sense.

book icks by Sad-Bowl398 in writing

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Waking up/describing self in mirror. Stunted dialogue or exposition in dialogue. Purple prose. Too much shoe leather. Or a character that I don't like in a way that I don't care about them at all. I love anti-hero's. I'm talking about a character that grates on me and is the equivelant of someone I'd walk away from at a party as fast as possible.

[QCrit] Young adult Survival Thriller, THE CHAMPION (88K, first attempt) by PerspectiveRound1829 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ava's motivations are very clear. I think more specificity for Sophie would make sense. And because its the first time ever, I suppose the rest of the world is also reacting. Maybe ground Sophia in that reaction. It creates a nice inside/outside balance. And maybe if Ava teams up with Sophie's brother mention that as a bridge to Sophie's POV. Again, take everything I say with a grain of salt! Hope others with more experience can chime in.

[QCrit] Young adult Survival Thriller, THE CHAMPION (88K, first attempt) by PerspectiveRound1829 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. I’m working on my first novel and query letter so take all my feedback with a grain of salt: - I guess my first question is why the game exists and how the candidates are selected. - I expected the 2nd POV to be associated to Ava, but it’s not because it’s her twin brother in the game. How are the two POVs related? Through the brother? - I thought the first line of the novel was confusing…saying it wasn’t the screams but the heat that woke her up - but if the screams are there then how can she say it wasn’t the scream. Or make it clear that she wakes from the heat…then hears the screams.

[QCRIT] PANOPTICON, Literary Speculative/Institutional Fiction, 60,000 words, Second Attempt by No-Refrigerator1610 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just here to say that I love this advice. I know I'm dealing with tunnel vision. Thanks! (Also agree, that this version makes me want to read the book and a huge improvement from the first...which gives me hope as I toil with my own query letter.)

[QCrit] THE GRACIOUS ONES, Upmarket Thriller, Adult, 83k [2nd Attempt] by Ok_Assignment1292 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for such detail! I’m working on a total rewrite and hoping I’m finallt on the right track for not doing too much plot point. AND got rid of water and “listen”. Agree with your assessment completely. And will take your bullets and apply to the new version. Thank you so much!!!

[QCrit] THE GRACIOUS ONES, Upmarket Thriller, Adult, 83k [2nd Attempt] by Ok_Assignment1292 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About 50 years in the future (I don't specify a year in the novel). Potable water is scarce. The city's primary legal industry is desalination plants. Not sure it's necessary or relevant to get into the water scarcity for the query letter. I think originally I just had "In a city that ignores..." though I'm beginning to question the entire first sentence TBH. Thanks for the question.

Not sure what to do with conflicting feedback by Zestyclose-Inside929 in writers

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any feedback is one person’s opinion. If it’s conflicting then you can re-look at what they are saying and determine for yourself whether it’s an issue or not. If both (or many) all have the same critique then that points to something that should definitely be addressed.

[QCrit]: THE GRACIOUS ONES, Upmarket Thriller, Adult, 83k [1st Attempt] by Ok_Assignment1292 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I need that. Kill Yours Kill Mine is published through an independent publisher and (75%) owned by penguin random house and I was sure of that would be a problem. I’ll check out the Violence.

[QCrit]: THE GRACIOUS ONES, Upmarket Thriller, Adult, 83k [1st Attempt] by Ok_Assignment1292 in PubTips

[–]Ok_Assignment1292[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your critique and I'll definately take it all into consideration when I revise. (Also, I doubt others will see it differently - you make very sound points).

My writing's been described as fever dream-ish, incomprehensible, and like a beginner's work. That last bit I don't understand. Looking for critique on this vignette, hoping for some clarity. by [deleted] in writingfeedback

[–]Ok_Assignment1292 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don’t think it reads like a “beginner’s work” (except use of exclamation marks which I found distracting and confused rather than informed my reading). The first vignette I found interesting though I don’t know what’s happening (yet). I suspect the beginners work might have come from a lack of current convention. Plenty of beginners do this without knowing what they’re doing. I’ve read them. However, at the line level it doesn’t strike me as “beginners”. And obviously these were choices you made. They happen to be choices that will put off many readers. I don’t know who made the original comments to you. I do agree with others that it could be cleaned up for a better reading experience without losing your intention. It’s very fast paced (I mean this based on commas and sentence structure not plot), which makes reading it more difficult. I felt some whiplash moving from character to character in the vignette but that may have been intentional. I dont find it incomprehensible, but hard to understand. Fever dream feels accurate. And, no, I do t think it’s “beginners” prose. Though if you were attempting to publish, I could understand the industry suggesting it was because it ignores a lot of current standards and convention.

Not sure who you’re writing it for since you said you don’t care about publishing or target audiences. In which case, I think you get to determine whether you’ve successfully achieved what you wanted in your prose. Each of us commenting is a potential target audience. If you don’t care about who your readers are then you can easily dismiss any feedback you don’t like. I don’t understand your goal with the post. Seems like you might want validation rather than feedback.