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Young Writers Society


12+

Orlando's Journal Entries 10/9-10/16

by sheysse


Orlando Clayton's Journal

October Ninth: I have been telling Skyla she needs to stop writing journals and move on from the newspaper. She needs to find something else to do with her life. However, I can't help but write this down. We received a letter from Sarah Lynn, and, well, I'll just write it down.

Dear Skyla Holt and Orlando Clayton

You are likely confused as to why I'm writing to you two, and you two specifically. You are my last hopes. I am aware that you two plan to stay in town, even when the blizzard strikes and the rest of the town evacuates. You may not know this yet, but I do. I can imagine you have many questions. I cannot explain now, or else they'll find me writing this letter. They're approaching my cell now, doing their rounds. I must be quick. I always seem to run out of time while writing. Anyways, come to Frost Lark Prison and request to visit cell 38 on Wednesday. I will set up a conference time, and then I'll explain everything.

-Sarah Lynn

October Eleventh: I didn't expect to continue writing in this, but I guess I'll always be a journalist at heart. The blizzard swept through the center of town, and me and Skyla have stayed in the apartment. Most of the town has fled to the neighboring town, including the mayor. How ironic, seeing as he wanted to go to war with Cloud Ice just yesterday, and they willingly accepted our town. However, Skyla and I are stuck in town. If we go to far to the center of town, we get hit with the blizzard, and if we try to leave we get hit. Seems like we're trapped. Somehow, Sarah Lynn predicted we'd stay in town, and, somehow, she was right. But, we can still travel to the prison. Skyla has convinced me to go tomorrow, but honestly, I'm nervous. I can't believe that Sarah Lynn, who mysteriously disappeared after she lost the election, would mail us. Still, we shall go.

October Twelfth: We traveled to the prison, and surprisingly, there was Erick Harvey. He says that, being in charge of the prisoners when we worked for the news company, it made sense to work at the prison. We told him about the letter, and he said he'd take us to cell 128, but that he had to stay throughout the meeting. Law required it. He also said something, which, at the time, was confusing. He said he didn't know why we were told to go to cell 38. He seemed really curious, and very wary. Worried, we all walked down the halls. Prisoners stretched out their arms though the bars, trying to reach for us. Erick wielded a metal rod, and would hold it up to scare prisoners who grabbed our shoulders. Skyla seemed unnerved by the way the prisoners were treated, and I felt the same. I also think that Erick believed this, and he likely was guilty about it.

Eventually, we reached cell 38. Slowly, he opened the solid metal door, and we could see inside the room with no windows or bars. It was a blank metal room with just a table, a bed, and a toilet. Inside, a girl about age 12 sat at the table. She appeared to be of french descent, and she watched us satisfyingly. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind us. Erick tried his key in the door, but it was locked and he couldn't unlock it. He pounded on the door. Eventually he stopped and slumped next to the door. We were trapped.


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Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:36 pm
Carlito wrote a review...



Hello again and happy review day again! :D

Since I haven't read the whole thing I can't say much about the character and plot development, but I have a couple of bigger picture thoughts for you. Hopefully I won't repeat myself because I don't remember what all I talked about in the previous review for this story :)

So first of all, I still find this story intriguing and I think the way you're choosing to tell it is really creative and really unique. One thing that's harder about telling it this way is showing what's happening and really getting a feel for who these characters are as people like you would in a more standard telling of a story. However, it doesn't mean that you can't have those things in this story, and I think if you're able to do it, it'll make the story shine that much more.

I think I mentioned this in my last review, but maybe not (my reviews are running together for me right now :p) is that right now this feels like you're telling me this story through the eyes of the reporters or the journals. Even with the mediums you're telling the story, I think you could still show a lot more through their writing. Examples -

October Ninth: I have been telling Skyla she needs to stop writing journals and move on from the newspaper. She needs to find something else to do with her life. However, I can't help but write this down. We received a letter from Sarah Lynn, and, well, I'll just write it down.

Where is Orlando as he's writing this? Why is he telling Skyla to stop writing journals and move on? Why does she need to find something else to do with her life? You can give us more of his strain of thought through what he's writing. When did he receive this letter from Sarah Lynn? What are his thoughts and feelings about the letter? We get the letter and we see the letter, but why does the letter matter? I want Orlando to tell me why it matters and what the implications are of this letter. Why did he feel the need to write about it? What is he planning on doing now that he has this letter? I think journals are great ways to show a stream of thought, and I want to know exactly what's going on inside his head like we would if this were an internal monologue.

October Eleventh:

One thing I noticed in this little segment is that you use the word "town" a lot. That really stood out to me when I read it through the first time :)
I think here, he could describe why he chose to stay in the apartment? What have they been doing to pass the time? Maybe show the discussion he had with Skyla about deciding to visit Sarah Lynn. (I used to include conversations when I used to journal all the time). Just like in the previous example show me more of what he's actually doing and what his stream of thought is rather than Orlando simply explaining to us what happened. I want to see more of what's happening.

In the last entry, I thought you did a better job there of showing us what's going on. I think to ramp it up to the next level, think about the other senses and see if you can add those in to the description as well. You're already showing us what he sees which was great. What about what he hears, smells, feels, etc.? And don't forget about his stream of thought :) (If you can't tell, I live to hear what's going on in a character's mind.)

I think the last paragraph could be expanded and described in much more detail to really ramp up the emotional intensity. It's a pretty dramatic moment, but because it all happened in the span of one paragraph, I didn't feel much. I think you could slow that moment down and show us a lot more, really take the reader to the moment and let us experience it with the character. Even though Orlando is writing about it in hindsight as he journals, take us through the moment with him.

Overall though, still an intriguing story! I loved the little cliff hanger you included at the end :) I hope to see more of this in the green room soon, and in the meantime, let me know if you have any questions or if you would like feedback about something I didn't already mention! :D




sheysse says...


STOP REVIEWING OR YOUR TEAM WILL WIN Just kidding! Thanks for the review! :D Glad you enjoyed the story!



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Sun Oct 16, 2016 8:53 pm
Dracula wrote a review...



I literally have ten minutes until I've got to go to school but I wanted to give a quick review so here I am!

I have been telling Skyla she needs to stop writing journals and move on from the news paper.
Newspaper can be one word.

We received a letter from Sarah Lynn, and, well, I'll just write it down.
I think you should differentiate between the two character's voices. I know the writer is literally writing it all down in his diary, but it's still Sarah's voice so should be separated. Either use a colon at the end of the above sentence or put the letter in italics. Also, how could Sarah possibly plan a conference? She's a prisoner, not a hotel guest. :P

Prisoners stretched out their arms though the bars, trying to reach for us. Erick wielded a metal rod, and would hold it up to scare prisoners who grabbed our shoulders. Skyla seemed unnerved by the way the prisoners were treated, and I felt the same.
I am also very unnerved. This Frost Lark place is one crazy town!

He pounded on the door. Eventually he stopped and
And...? AND? Obviously something happened to prevent the character from writing. Obviously I am eager to find out what!

If it seems like I only pointed out nitpicks, don't be disheartened. I love this, as always. I've just really, really gotta go.




sheysse says...


Thanks for the review! I changed the things you commented on, and also the ending... Uh... Oh was actually a writing software glitch. Reload the page and the last, like five words were added.



Dracula says...


Haha okay!



Dracula says...


Hold on. Shouldn't it say WE were trapped? Instead of THEY were trapped? :D



sheysse says...


UGH IM DUMB




You can't blame the writer for what the characters say.
— Truman Capote