First and foremost, thank you for sharing your work and being part of this amazing WDC community. This review is comprised of my personal insights and opinions - please take whatever is helpful and leave the rest.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: There is a great pace to this piece, you've managed to keep up the intensity all the way through and that is far from easier. I do think that there are some places where it reads a little redundant, places where you could let the action and word choice tell the story without repeating yourself. I've pulled out a few examples of what I mean. I think some simplicifation would really improve the overall flow of the piece for you. I liked the drama at the end, very effective.
PLOT & CHARACTERS: Unless you are bond by word count, it would be nice to give your characters a little more description, help the reader identify with them? For example, are Mark and Jessica young? I understand the need to keep some details mute for the ending however just a bit more about the couple, about what their feelings were, what they had envisioned their romantic weekend to be...would help draw the reader in even more I think. You could give the readers a little more without giving away our ending.
SUGGESTIONS/EDITS: As I mentioned, I think there are some places throughout the story where you go the extra distance to explain or over-explain things without really needing too. YOu have great instincts on word choice, so let the words do the story-telling for you...I know I may not be making a lot of sense so let me give you a few examples of what I mean:
"The flashlight in Mark's hand flickered ominously as he quickly whipped it back and forth in a vain attempt to scatter the darkness that was closing in around him." - The worded "whipped" by implies that he is moving the flashlight back and forth with some speed and force...I don't think you needed to add the word "quickly" here. I think using the word whipped gives the reader exactly the right impression.
"He wanted to at least catch a glimpse of his soon-to-be murderer, to slowly turn his head, hoping to catch a glimpse of it before it killed him but before he could do more than entertain such thoughts, two hands shoved harshly into his back, forcing him off balance and into the table." - Here you use the word "glimpse" redundantly you switch tenses as well...a simple re-work might be something like..."He wanted to at least catch a glimpse of his soon-to-be-murderer. He thought about turning his head to get a look at it before it killed him but before he could more than entertain the thought, he was shoved hard from behind. The blow forced him off balance and into the table." {/c)
His hand blindly worked its way around the sink looking for a knife while his eyes scanned the blackness of the surrounding rooms. With the light on here in the kitchen, he could see nothing but vague shadows in the other rooms. And as he waited quietly, nothing moved. He dared not turn off the light, even though it would enable him to see better into the other rooms...[c:red} Here again you repeat the phrase "other rooms" more than once in the same group of sentences. I think again if you reworded this you might find you elimate the redundancy and it flows a little smoother for you. His hand worked blindly around the sink as he looked for a knide. His eyes scanned the blackness of the surrounding rooms. With the light on in the kitchen, he could see nothing but vague shadows. He froze and waited, quiet. Nothing moved. He dare not turn off the light even though it would enable him to see into the spaces better..."
Jessica's face was turned towards Mark and her dead eyes sparkled dully, encrusted with salt left over from the tears she had shed as her murderer had repeatedly stabbed her. - Lastly, this part I found a little confusing...how would dead eyes sparkle dully? I think the use of the word sparkle evokes confusion for the reader...dead yese are certainly dull eyes. Just a suggestion that you might want to reconsider the word choice here...perhaps her dull, dead eyes stared blankly into his?
FINAL THOUGHTS: All in all, I think you have a suspenseful piece with great pacing and description. If you edit just a bit, keeping an eye out for redundancy and tense agreements, I think you'll find you end of with a piece that flows better and reads easily. Hope this review was helpful to you in some way.
Above all, Best of Luck and Write On!
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