Elizabeth
had selected two short stories that had recently been submitted to a writing
magazine which had then published the Editor’s comments.
The group were invited
to make their own observations on the early parts of the story before hearing
those of the professional.
The first story, which appeared to be set in wild Canada in the late
eighteenth century, had committed
almost every writing sin imaginable apart
from spelling mistakes.
Punctuation had been neglected, excess characters introduced
and the maximum permitted number of words for the submission, far exceeded.
Scenes were so loosely described that only by subsequent
reading, were we able to establish what the author meant. Our members came away
with different impressions of what had actually taken place and what had been
the relationships of the various characters.
On the other hand there appeared to be the basis of a good
story, albeit one which eventually could have become a family saga rather than
a 800 word short story.
The second story was one of world war one in the trenches
and the relationship of three ‘pals’.
Although appearing initially to have been well written and
gritty, so much of the story told of nothing new in respect of life in the
trenches and the author was over generous with horrific adjectives.
One paragraph was so long and covered so many different parts
of the story that potential impact was lost. The reader felt that he or she had
been given no time to absorb the impact of what had happened before being
pushed into the next part of the story.
The theme of two comrades going into battle with a pet dog,
would need a new twist to avoid being too predictable.
Elizabeth
finally read the editors published comments on the two stories. She appeared to
have been much kinder than the members of our group and had often concentrated
on totally different aspects of the stories.
Next week:- The Annual Dinner, including readings and
adjudication of the Children’s Fiction Competition.
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