Hi everyone,
I am new to the world of writing and having works written on such a site. I would love to have feedback regarding my writing and my stories.
I have written a chapter and i hope it is captivating enough for people to want more.
The world is dying, powerful mega-corporations have saddled the world with a cancer. However, a researcher discovers a race of people that has the ability to reverse the damage done to the planet at the cost of their freedom and lives. This is their tale. A tale about living in...
www.scribblehub.com
Hello there! I just finished your first chapter and here are my insights...
Take note, I don't comment on the pace, theme and the story itself. First is because, it's only a single chapter up. Second is that, if ever you got several chapters in, I don't want to comment on the technique of the author in storytelling, unless he/she specifically asked me for it. My reason is because, I don't want to 'kill' the creative side of the author, especially on storytelling.
Now then, I'll just comment on your work on the technical side.
Your English is good. I mean, I could understand what you wanted to show on the scenes of your chapter. However, what is glaring to me are the punctuation errors, like the ellipsis (…).
1) An ellipsis is used for statements or dialogues that are meant to trail off, or there's something else to follow. In any case, the ellipsis should only be three dots long.
Knock. Knock……….. Knock Knock (example from your work)
Knock. Knock... (correct)
Also, if you end in ellipsis and you meant to follow it, always start with another ellipsis, follow by a non-capitalized word.
Example:
Knock. Knock... …Knock. Knock.
2) Comma. Since your work is dialogue-rich, comma always follows the dialogue before the dialogue tags. Like,
“Piss off” Anastasia shot back (example, copied from your work)
"Piss off," Anastasia shot back. (correct)
Unless you're using question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!), normal dialogues are ended with comma (,) before the dialogue tag, which usually ends in a period (.)
3) Indentions. If you're using an indention, be consistent with it throughout the whole chapter and story. Some readers are picky with their reads, so it's better that you use
the same format to all your chapters and volumes (if you have multiple ones).
4) Capitalization. Some words need to be capitalized, like the words at the start of the sentence, and words that are proper nouns. For dialogues, the dialogue tags after it should be not capitalized.
“What are these?” The Colonel asked. (example, copied from your work)
"What are these?" the Colonel asked. (correct)
Also, some readers are picky (again) with their books. They would complain about capitalized words, like in your case, KAIZEN CORP. I know that you wanted to emphasize its name, however, having an 'all caps' word felt like you're shouting at your reader. So it's best that you use the normal 'capitalization' rule in proper nouns. As such, KAIZEN CORP. will become Kaizen Corp.
Another note: it's also my mistake when I was beginning as an author, but yes, there are readers who don't prefer the 'all caps' words even if they denote strong emotions, like shouting. It's best that you use dialogue tags to tell the readers that they are shouting, instead of showing that by typing in all caps.
5) The dialogues. If you're working on a dialogue-rich work, it'd be best to separate the lines of the dialogues spoken by two different people. The reason is so that the readers won't be confused. For example:
“…Yes” “And yet you still hide them from us?” (copied from your work)
"...yes."
"And yet, you still hide them from us?" (correct)
Suggestion: there are some sentences in your work that sounds awkward. It'd be best if you use apps like Grammarly or ProWritingAid to check on your work. It's free anyway (for basic proofreading), and a great 'side-effect' of using these apps is that you'll also learn English every time you get corrected.
Now then, I hope this feedback helps you. Writing is fun; however, you need to constantly polish your work because it'll be a reflection on you as an author.
Some points I'd like to suggest.
Since you're writing an online novel, it'd be best to make use of formatting. For example,
bold typeface meant that the author or the character is emphasizing the word, same effects with
underline.
Italicized meant that it's either a new word, sounds, or the thoughts of the character.
Also, avoid abbreviating words. An example for this is 'Col. Lambda'. You can refer to him as either 'Colonel Lambda', or 'the colonel'.
Oh, I forgot to add...
The story is interesting, by the way. Would love to give you a (free) cover, however, my hands are full as of the moment.