Hey there Bowie,
If I'm to treat these paragraphs as miniature chapters, then I must say, they are among the most boring, repetitive chapters I've come across. You really need to...I don't know. Make this interesting.
I was in a place with roses abound, fragrant and red with petals as delicate as like the ones that Mama had always told stories about.
Sweet Holy Batman! I think I can tell this is an old piece because that is a truly awful, awkward first sentence. First of all, I'm going to assume you mean 'around' not 'abound' -- if you mean 'abound' then you need to change 'with' to 'where'. Even then, the tenses are all screwed up.
'abound' is present tense. Thus, 'I was in a place with roses abound' is grammatically incorrect. And even if you meant:
'I was in a place with roses around'
It sill wouldn't work. Unless you added 'me' at the end -- and this is all just to make it grammatically correct. It would still be an awful sentence and I haven't gotten to the second bit yet.
fragrant and red with petals as delicate as like the ones that Mama had always told stories about
I'm a little dumbfounded to be honest. That's a tad horrifying. You need to scrap this entire sentence. But since I'm supposed to make this salvageable and suggest better ways, this is what you could do:
I was in a place with roses. They had fragrant red petals, just like the ones Mama always told stories about.
If I were you though, the best thing you could do for this story isn't just to redo this opening, it would be to write it in present tense. Make it active - as angels said - it'll give the piece an edge it sorely needs.
but felt a stinging pain as if I had grabbed a thousand needles
Psh. First off, you couldn't grab a thousand needles even if you wanted to, secondly, I'm absurdly positive that it would feel nothing like being pricked by a thorn. Which, by the by, really isn't all that bad. This is indicative of the major problem with your writing here -- it's overwrought and exaggerated to the point that any realism and consequently, impact, is lost.
Simplify. Less is more. Okay?
I made sure I didn’t touch the delicate petals, and walkedtowardshome.
I had to endure them, for Mama!
Ick, cut. Excessive repetition does nothing for this story. Stop mentioning the thorns. We get it. The child is hurting itself in some demented craze in order to make it's abused mother happy - whatever, lay off already. Stop exaggerating, repeating, etc - the imagery (which could be beautiful) is lost when you do this.
That was a mistake as the thorns not only pierced my arms, but alsothroughmy shirt andinto mychest.but I had to bring them to Mama…she would be happy!
Urgh, this is almost as bad as the first sentence.
I reached for the doorknob with my sticky hand, and twisted it open.
The first thing I heardwaswere Mama’s cries.
He snatchedmytheflowers from my hand
The thorns on the stems defaced her, they slashed at her skin and clothing!
Get rid of that exclamation mark. It does not add anything. It never will. Drama must come from the scene itself. It's akin to you showing me this scene then screaming at me on top of it, saying, LOOK THIS IS DRAMATIC.
You do know that no matter how poetic you imagine this scene to be, that roses don't make for effective clubs, right? Because they really don't. Bamboo sticks on the other hand -- they hurt.
They were supposed to make us happy,but only returned pain
I would end on this note, if I were you. Your strengths I think are that you know what you want to do with a piece - there's a certain poetic flair to what you imagine - but it doesn't come through and it doesn't shine because you try to shove it down our throats. It's too overwrought. It's not realistic - re: what angels-symphony said. You need to cut back, pare it down. With the active simplicity I encourage, this could be a nifty little piece.
Have the little girl stop at the door, with the roses. Have them drop to the floor as she watches the abuse. Nothing more is needed. Everything else is ridiculous. The insistence on repeating everything - ridiculous. The thorns - ridiculous. The actual actions your following - good. So, I saw your blog and it's based on your insistence and apparent need for strong reviews that I decided to not hold back here. I think you can take it. And I think you're good enough to take this old piece and make it a whole lot better.
Cheers
Points: 6517
Reviews: 798
Donate