[Critique Game] Post the First Three Sentences of your Novel (moved to The Sandbox)

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neandermagnon

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A man sat in a chair, glass forgotten in his hand, bottle within easy reach by his side. Eventually he moved, a slow painful movement, and raised the glass to his lips. The television flickered in the dark unnoticed.

It's probably not the best idea to post a first draft because the issues that will be picked up will be things that you'll likely notice yourself or completely change after a couple of rounds of editing, and the things you won't pick up without a second pair of eyes might not be there yet or might get lost in the noise.

There are a lot of little things that I could pick up in this but as it's a first draft I'm not sure how useful it would be to point it all out.

Overall, there's some poignancy in this but it's distant, like the reader's being held at arms length. Mostly that's probably because the man doesn't have a name and you've described in detail what he's doing but nothing about what he's feeling, beyond that moving is painful (which can be seen from the way he moves). Is he content to be watching TV alone in the dark? Is he lonely? Is he too drunk to notice? It reads more like the opening script/stage directions of a film. In films you have only two senses - sight and sound. In novels you have all the senses and you can get right inside characters' heads. This is why people still read novels even when they can go to the cinema and watch films in 3D. Failing to take advantage of this leads to novels that feel distant and remote.

If this scene is being viewed by another character who doesn't know the man's name, then introduce us to this character, how he or she's feeling, etc. If it's being viewed by an omniscent narrator then the narrator knows the man's name, how he's feeling, etc.
 

Bacchus

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So far this is an idea, a title and the grand total of 322 words. One day it will be more. Oh and don't eat sunflower seeds over your keyboard.


A man sat in a chair, glass forgotten in his hand, bottle within easy reach by his side. So the glass is forgotten but the bottle is within easy reach -- my kind of drinker (c: Eventually he moved, a slow painful movement, and raised the glass to his lips.Oop, he's remembered it in the very next sentence! The television flickered in the dark unnoticed.If it is unnoticed why would I be interested?

I like the mood you are creating here although it makes for rather a slow start and there are a couple of contradictions - the forgotten glass raised, the TV flickering even though nobody notices, and "a slow painful movement" just made me think that our man is eating too much red meat but I would read on to find out what the secret sorrow that I presume he's drinking away is!
 

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Just for fun--Another one I dug up (I completely forgot I wrote a chapter of a horror story 7 years ago while I was drunk with an ex...I know TMI)

The irritating sound of sharpening metal echoed through the small tool shed. Slowly the edge of Dave’s favorite toy became razor sharp. He never looked up, What ever? He's there now or he died there? hunched over the workbench with beads of sweat building up on his forehead.

The writing is solid enough but nothing really grabs me - it just reminds me of metal-work lessons at school which is unlikely to encourage me to read on!
 

Bacchus

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Thank you in advance for your comments.


Duchess Olesia heard the bow string's twang and dove out of the chair. Too slow! screamed her mind as pain lanced her arm. The queen's personal guard jumped into action, securing the royal family and shielding her with their bodies.

There's a lot already written on this one, even some excellent aerodynamic calculations, but I would just like to add that I don't like "dove". I believe it to be correct and I don't think that "dived" would be any better so slipped, shot, leapt, jumped... but not dove... for me anyway (c:
 

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The visitor didn't bow to the duke. Of all the things I had spied through the loose knot in the wall, this was by far the most curious. Everyone bowed--even the other dukes.

You got me; I would read on.
 

Bacchus

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I guess that depends if you actually enjoyed shop class ;)

LoL - I did as it happens; the metalwork was in a "voluntary" after school class and I won prizes in woodwork (c: My dear old mother still uses a footstool, a kitchen roll/foil dispenser, and chopping boards that I made nearly forty years ago and I made more money from my skateboards than I did from my paper-round. Hmmm... maybe I would read about it after all...
 

horrorchix89

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LoL - I did as it happens; the metalwork was in a "voluntary" after school class and I won prizes in woodwork (c: My dear old mother still uses a footstool, a kitchen roll/foil dispenser, and chopping boards that I made nearly forty years ago and I made more money from my skateboards than I did from my paper-round. Hmmm... maybe I would read about it after all...

If it makes you feel any better, this isn't about a haunted shop class lol
 

Bufty

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."
 

CWatts

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."

I want to know who these characters are, otherwise we have no context for this mad plan. (So my brain is filling in This. Is. Sparta!)

Back up and give us the characters and what kind of desperate situation calls for this plan, and what the plan is.
 

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."

...said Nicola Sturgeon to Mrs May...

(sorry folks, Brit joke)

I haven't learned much from the opening but it would be churlish to say that I wouldn't read on after nine words so I would. It does have a bit of intrigue which is good, I do want to know what the plan is at least vaguely about now!
 

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Thank you in advance for your comments.


Duchess Olesia heard the bow string's twang and dove out of the chair. Too slow! screamed her mind as pain lanced her arm. The queen's personal guard jumped into action, securing the royal family and shielding her with their bodies.This needs to be much more vivid and visceral to capture my attention. I'm starting at a disadvantage by not knowing anything about the characters or situation, so if something is going to grab me, it has to be the writing itself. And that didn't happen here.

Writers are often advised to start with action, but for me, at least, this can backfire. In the above, it's clearly supposed to be tense and exciting and make the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens next, but because I don't know the characters or the context, and I particularly don't know what's at stake (for all I know, the Duchess might be a horrible person and I should be rooting for her demise), I am disconnected and uninvolved. And as I noted above, the writing is not helping. It's not bad, by any means, but the POV could be much more immersive and the voice more engaging.
 
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BethS

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The visitor didn't bow to the duke. Of all the things I had spied through the loose knot in the wall, this was by far the most curious. Everyone bowed--even the other dukes.

Nearly missed this because it was buried at the bottom of the page. And that's a shame, because it's a good opening. Not sure what you mean by "loose knot" -- a knothole? But that's a small niggle. I'd definitely keep reading.
 
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TellMeAStory

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So far this is an idea, a title and the grand total of 322 words. One day it will be more. Oh and don't eat sunflower seeds over your keyboard.


A man sat in a chair, glass forgotten in his hand, bottle within easy reach by his side. Eventually he moved, a slow painful movement, and raised the glass to his lips. The television flickered in the dark unnoticed.

"Easy reach" does it for me; I wonder if you really need "by his side."

If you changed "Eventually" to something like "at last," you'd be linking sentence #2 to sentence #1, which would be nice.

If you changed "The television" in sentence #3 to something like "the salon's television" or "his television," or whatever, you'd be giving us vital information on where the nameless man is. And again, consider linking this sentence to the preceding, perhaps using something like "all the while..."

I'm ready to read on. Something interesting is bound to happen soon.
 

BethS

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So far this is an idea, a title and the grand total of 322 words. One day it will be more. Oh and don't eat sunflower seeds over your keyboard.


A man sat in a chair, glass forgotten in his hand, bottle within easy reach by his side. Eventually he moved, a slow painful movement, and raised the glass to his lips. The television flickered in the dark unnoticed.

I'm afraid there's nothing in the described situation that entices me to read further. It's static and uninformative. Now if we were in the man's POV, it might possibly be different.
 

BethS

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The irritating sound of sharpening metal <--I think you mean "of metal being sharpened." Also, since this is clearly not Dave's POV, that means an omniscient narrator has decided the sound is irritating, and I don't know why. Describe what it sounds like; don't just tell us it's irritating echoed<--not going to echo, sorry through the small tool shed. Slowly the edge of Dave’s favorite toy<--what sort of toy? Slow down and build the scene word by word. Don't use vague shortcuts became razor sharp<--unfresh, if not an outright cliche. He never looked up, hunched over the workbench with beads of sweat building up on his forehead.<--I think this should be the second sentence, leading into the information about the sharpened toy

The situation is potentially interesting to those who read this sort of thing, but the writing needs work.
 

Ambrosia

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."

Bufty, I like the pacing in these first three lines of dialog. It creates a breathless suspense. I know three things already: the person speaking is talking about a plan made by another person, he or she believes the plan is insane, and the level of danger the plan will create is likely to get the group of people killed.

I gain the knowledge of it being a group and not just the two people by the addition of "all" to the last sentence.

Wonderfully crafted, imo. Short, concise, and yes, I would keep reading. Just what the first three sentences should do. You have hooked me.
 

BethS

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."

Leave it to Bufty to write an opening with unattributed dialogue that actually works. :greenie

You got me. More, please!
 
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leifwright

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"Your plan. It's madness. You'll get us all killed."

I generally don't like openings that start with quotes, and maybe that's a throwback to my days editing reporters who ALWAYS opened stories with quotes, regardless of how many times you told them you'd burn down their house if you ever saw another story opening with a quote. But then you caught yourself outside their house with a can of sterno and a match shaking in your hand, and you thought, what if they're not even inside right now? what if they're off in a bar somewhere and all you're doing here is trashing an old guitar and a cheap vcr? so you toss the sterno to a homeless guy, who immediately starts drinking it, and you flick the match at another homeless guy, who thanks you and lights a cigarette butt with it, but he's too close to the first guy, who immediately catches on fire and starts thanking you profusely because he was always cold and never thought of lighting himself on fire from the inside as a method of warming up.

*Cough*

Where was I? Oh, yeah, quote opening. I don't think they work, and this one is no exception. This sounds like every quote from every Oceans movie (Oceans 11, Oceans 12, Oceans Billy, whatever). It tells me absolutely nothing; not who's saying it, not who they're saying it to, not what the plan is, not whether it actually is madness, not whether I should care at all. I mean, it might be interesting if they're in a mental institution and the plan actually IS madness, like clinically so. That I would read, but this story doesn't give me enough to go on, so I wouldn't read on.
 

Ambrosia

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I wish to thank everyone for their time and comments on the opening three lines of my novel. I have gained enough feedback to know there is a definite problem in that third line and possibly in the use of sound instead of sight and I will be fixing it.

Your comments also give me a lot to think about and pay attention to as I go into revisions, which will happen as soon as I finish the ending.

This has been an educational experience and I appreciate your willingness to spend your time helping me gain additional knowledge and improve my craft. Thank you.

There's a lot already written on this one, even some excellent aerodynamic calculations, but I would just like to add that I don't like "dove". I believe it to be correct and I don't think that "dived" would be any better so slipped, shot, leapt, jumped... but not dove... for me anyway (c:

In my other field of writing, poetry, I have learned to be very specific in word choice. I chose "dove" because it indicates intentional downward movement at a fast pace. The words you have offered as replacements either do not show intent, i.e. "slipped", or do not show downward movement, i.e. "shot", "leapt", and "jumped". The character is heading for the floor at rapid speed in an effort to save her life from someone firing bolts at her, which is why the word choice.

I am more than willing to consider a different word, if you have one of similar meaning to offer.

Thanks again, everyone. :)
 

Ambrosia

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So far this is an idea, a title and the grand total of 322 words. One day it will be more. Oh and don't eat sunflower seeds over your keyboard.


A man sat in a chair, glass forgotten in his hand, bottle within easy reach by his side. Eventually he moved, a slow painful movement, and raised the glass to his lips. The television flickered in the dark unnoticed.

It reads like an idea, not an opening three lines.
 
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