06-16-2008, 08:26 AM
GrooveMan.exe Wrote:Changing person between chapters is fine (The Amulet if Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, and its two sequels are a very good example of well executed person and tense switching)
Finally, I know someone else who reads those! I love those books. ^.^
On topic though, the writing style is just all over the place. Just to pick from the first few paragraphs;
Quote: Hello, my name is Xalex, I'm supossed to be your average 16 year old "highschool punk." But as every cliched fairy tale told to 5 year olds, I'm obviously not. I have this "super-natural" power to move things with my mind, and with age, I've become to master it. I wasn't very old when I discovered this power either. I was probably about 5 or 6, when I realized I could "levitate" the cookie jar down from the top shelf of the cupboard instead of whining to my mother. Ah mother... how long has it really been since the last time I saw you...
Where am I now that leaves me asking that question? Where have I been all this time? I'll tell you. It all started about 8 years ago. Or it was 8 years for me, for everyone else, it was probably about 5 seconds. Anyways, about 8 years ago, my baby sister was born... Not really that weird to you? Well it was for me. When I was about 2, my father had disapeared from home. He hadn't run away, and he wasn't murdered, somehow I knew this... somehow I knew he was still alive, watching over me. And I swear to ****ing god, if you call my mother a whore! I'll ****ing kill you!
Going back to my boring story, my sister was born, she had brown hair and green eyes like my father aparently had... but she had asian skin. She wasn't white like me or my mother, and she didn't have blue hair and blue eyes either, but eastern skin, and brown hair with green eyes... Knowing my mother, she named her Ayla, which was a character in some story I forget, that was an orphan.
First off, you needn't put "these" in all over the place, unless it really needs it. Are you quoting people? No. The "super natural" bit is totally unnessecary. Those aren't imagined super powers, they are real. If you're doing it for emphasis you need to use italics, or else it just completely puts it out of context, and it ends up making very little sense.
Secondly, the bit about the mother, there are normally commas before a name, and secondly, she needs a capital there, as you're actually calling her a name. Also, that whole snetence just did not make sense with the rest of the paragraph.
I found this a lot in your work, as you constantly seem to go off tangent and get distracted. This will bore readers, as they won't know what's happening, and they'll want a well constructed to stroy to follow.
Lastly, when you're describing someone, you most people wouldn't just start saying things about their appearance, because there is no reason to. If anything, do it in context with the story, so as to help progress it, rather than just completely stopping for a long winded explanation. Most descriptions in published books arn't just one paragraph at the beginning of the story, they're instead revealed slowly through the story, as things happen. Like a really lame example of "I looked into her green eyes." or something. It just makes it more intriguing that way.