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Melody's Secret #1 Manstros

by wendylau98


Hello, YWS, Welcome to the first chapter of Melody's Secret. I am the co-author of this novel back 2-3 years ago, and we just drop it halfway So, we decided to put this up without editing and will put up edited version starting chapter 3.

~Wendy

The audiences all rose to their feet and applauded as I played my master piece that I name it "Fiery Heart". The powerful melody screamed out from the Grand Piano as my slim fingers races on the keys. I let all the vibrating sounds resonate through me until the last C key. I let it go, it burst out of me. The passion, the love, the transcendent. 

I slowly open my eyes, once again return back to the reality. I stood and faced the audiences crowded in The Vienna State Opera. I slowly walk to the front and let the crimson red dress I'm wearing flows behind me. I waved with my silky gloved handed and look up to the truly magnificent fresco known as Praise and Recognition. It is one of the greatest most precious moment in my life.

It begins with a faint distant sound, that familiar tone. Then it slowly became louder and louder, it's Beethoven's Symphony No.5. I turned back to see the piano to see who is playing that song, but I see no one there and I turn again to face the audiences. I was overcome with shock when the once crowded theater became deserted and dark in a split of a second, there is not a single soul was in sight. The hall was silent except the thunderous melody of Beethoven played as if it comes from every direction. Suddenly, I was pulled back by an invisible force, I had no control of it to let me go, darkness engulfed me and everything went black.

I snapped my eyes open and I saw a cream colour ceiling. It's my ceiling, my room. The same music piece was still playing beside my bed. I stretch out my arm and grab my Galaxy Note 4 and slide off my alarm. I laid down back on my bed again, placing an arm over my eyes, recalling what had happened just a few minute ago. The corner of my mouth lift up. What a dream, I was a famous Classical Pianist performing in one of the most famous opera house in the world.

I keep on playing the tune of 'Fiery Heart' in my mind, a song I'm writing but far from finish. In my dream, it was a complete set. I should take note of what 'I' played in my dream and try to finish my music as soon as possible.

"Mel, time to wake up before your late for school!!" My brother shouted from downstairs asking me to wake up. I was fully awake by that time, staring at my beige curtain watching the sun ray shone into my room. Being the good girl that I am, I slowly stretch like a lazy cat and roll out of bed and made my bed so it looks neat and tidy. I wouldn't want a room that looks like a tornado and a tsunami victim.

Then I stand in front of my mahogany vanity table, and stared into the mirror and what look back at me is a sixteen year old girl in her purple PJ's with a bird-nest-like hair. The only thing that look remarkable about me is my green eyes and raven black hair.

With a wide yawn, I walk to my bathroom, took a hot shower to let myself stay awake and clean myself up. With a look outside the window, I decided to wear simple because it look like it won't be raining any time soon. I took out my skinny black demi jean and my white t-shirt with a black bold G-note on it, paired with a floral cardigen which I love to wear because my mum bought it in Rome.

I went downstairs and my nose suddenly filled with the smell of toast and bacon. My favourite kind of breakfest!

I sat at the counter while pouring myself a cup of hot coco and dig into my breakfast.Beside me is a very stylish black hair, green eyes with cloths that I.WOULD.NEVER wear even if I am a boy because it can attract people's attention easily. Eighteen years old boy, who happens to share the same parent - my brother.

"Good morning my lovely bird! Did you have a good night sleep?" Magnus peeked up gleefully when I join him to wait for the breakfast.

"Yea, I even dream I was playing at The Vienna State Opera." I replied screamingly because I was still in that moment.

"Really? Was I there too? I really want to go there someday!" My brother who is two years older than me who attend the same art school as me asked.

"Errrr, I don't know... I only remember myself being there..." I replied back slowly, anticipating the broken-heart look from my brother.

As expected, my brother once happy face fell. "Whatt?? You care more about music than me? I'm so sad..." He playfully acted like he was heart-broken and lost.

"As if you'll remember me if you are on stage yourself!" I retort back playfully.

"Yea, you're right." Then we both laugh out loud while finishing our breakfast.


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Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:52 pm
Panikos wrote a review...



Hi, wendylau98! I'm Pan and I'll be reviewing your work today.

First Impressions

I like the idea behind this piece. The premise intrigued me; I haven't read much literature about aspiring musicians and it's something that has real potential to be interesting. The writing itself does need a lot of work. I know English isn't your first language so I do commend you for writing in it as well as you do, but the piece is going to need a lot of tidying up before it's a comfortable read. I'll take you through some of the issues now.

Nitpicks

The audiences all rose to their feet and applauded as I played my master piece that I name it "Fiery Heart"


1) Just 'audience' without the 's' would work here, because it isn't common that you see 'audiences' as a plural.

2) 'Masterpiece' is one word.

3) 'That I name it "Fiery Heart" is slightly awkward expression. You could phrase the whole sentence simply as: The audience rose to their feet and applauded as I played my masterpiece, "Fiery Heart".

The powerful melody screamed out from the Grand Piano


A scream is an unpleasant sound, so not the best thing to compare a beautiful melody to. Also, 'grand piano' doesn't need capital letters.

The passion, the love, the transcendent.


'Transcendent' is actually an adjective so it doesn't work here. 'Transcendence' is the noun form and would be more appropriate.

I slowly open my eyes, once again return back to the reality. I stood and faced the audiences


Watch your tenses. You do a lot of flip-flopping between present and past tense throughout the whole piece - here, you move from the present tense 'open' to the past tense 'stood'. You need to pick one to write in and stick with it.

I waved with my silky gloved handed


Expression is off here. Perhaps substitute it for something like 'I waved my gloved hand'. Though, to be honest, I don't think you need to mention that she's wearing gloves at all. It isn't important.

I stretch out my arm and grab my Galaxy Note 4


It isn't important that we know the model of her phone. Just say 'I grab my phone'. Only include specific details if they're actually relevant.

a song I'm writing but far from finish


1) 'Song' is the wrong word here, because a song has words - it's sung. She's presumably writing an instrumental. I'd call it a 'piece'.

2) Watch your expression. Something like 'a song I'm writing but haven't yet finished' would sound more natural.

"Mel, time to wake up before your late for school!!" My brother shouted from downstairs asking me to wake up.


1) 'Your' should be 'you're', as it's a contraction of 'you are'.

2) I wouldn't use double exclamation marks. It looks a bit unprofessional. Just one exclamation mark will do.

3) You don't need to say that he's asking her to wake up. It's obvious from his dialogue.

I wouldn't want a room that looks like a tornado and a tsunami victim.


I'm not sure about this. I don't feel like a room can really look like a victim, because a victim is usually a person. Maybe if you said 'I wouldn't want my room to look like it had been hit by a tsunami' it would work better.

Then I stand in front of my mahogany vanity table, and stared into the mirror and what look back at me is a sixteen year old girl in her purple PJ's with a bird-nest-like hair. The only thing that look remarkable about me is my green eyes and raven black hair.


Avoid this cliché like the plague! So many writers have their characters stare at their reflections during the first few pages of a novel, and it only ever feels like a way to get some hamfisted description in. It is not that important to describe your main character, trust me. In one of my favourite books, the only things you really know about the main character is that he's Caucasian and has grey eyes.

I decided to wear simple because it look like it won't be raining any time soon.


Did you mean 'wear simple clothes'? I feel like you're missing a word in there. Also, why would you dress simply because it didn't look like it was going to rain? I could understand picking out something warm if it looked like the weather was going to be dismal, or skimpy if you thought it was going to be hot, but other than that I'm not sure how the weather would affect your clothing choice.

My favourite kind of breakfest!


The correct spelling is 'breakfast'.

Beside me is a very stylish black hair, green eyes with cloths that I.WOULD.NEVER wear even if I am a boy because it can attract people's attention easily. Eighteen years old boy, who happens to share the same parent - my brother.


Hoo, this sentence is a bit of a train wreck! I'm guessing you mean something like this:

Beside me is a stylish, black-haired, green-eyed boy, wearing clothes I'd never wear even if I was a boy. My brother.

That's what I guessed you were trying to say. However, I don't understand why she's describing her brother when she presumably sees him every day. When I walk down to breakfast and see my sister, I don't acknowledge her brown hair and brown eyes - I'm so used to her that her appearance barely registers with me.

"Yeah, I even dream I was playing at The Vienna State Opera." I replied screamingly because I was still in that moment.


1) 'Dream' should be 'dreamed' or 'dreamt' (depends if you're writing in American or British English).

2) Screamingly? I'm not sure that's the word you're looking for. It means 'extremely', so you're effectively saying 'I replied extremely', which doesn't make sense. Do you mean she's half-screaming or something? Why on earth would she be?

"Really? Was I there too? I really want to go there someday!" My brother who is two years older than me who attend the same art school as me asked.


Don't force too much information into dialogue clauses. It feels incredibly unnatural. Just stick to 'my brother asked' and explain that he goes to the same art school later in the story, when it's a relevant point to bring up. There's no point saying it now, when they aren't talking about art or school.

"Whatt??


Like with the exclamation marks, avoid double question marks. It looks amateurish. Also, I don't like the double 't's, because I don't think they capture the right sound. If you had something like "Whaaat?" instead, that would better emulate the drawn-out vowel I think you're going for. Just a suggestion, of course.

Overall Thoughts

1) Obviously grammar is the most immediate problem here. Picking a tense and sticking to it is the first thing you need to sort - at the moment, you're probably writing predominantly in present tense, but the beginning of the piece is in past. You need to go over it and make it uniform.

You also struggle with punctuating dialogue. I'm strapped for time so I won't go into it myself, but I'd suggest you check out this handy article for a short crash course into what punctuation to use when writing dialogue. It won't cover everything, so I'd advise looking around for more guides if you think you need them.

2) Remember to keep your description natural. When you're writing in the first person, you need to remain aware about what your character would and wouldn't naturally pay attention to. If you're behind the eyes of a character, it's incredibly unlikely that they would consciously observe the details of their own appearance or their brother's appearance, because they'd be incredibly familiar with both of those things. It would be like me waking up in the morning and actively thinking 'I have brown hair!' even though it's something I've always known.

If you want to describe things that are familiar to the narrator, you need to be more subtle. One technique is to give the narrator a reason to notice it. Imagine if Melody came downstairs and realised that her brother had dyed his hair since she last saw him. That would give her a reason to focus on his hair and describe it, and possibly talk about what it looked like before.

Another technique is to incorporate the description into the action of the story, often in tiny bits. For instance, let's imagine a character said 'I fiddled with a lock of my hair, pulling it taut and then letting it wind itself up again.' That's description tucked inside an action. In talking about fiddling with their hair, we learn that said hair is naturally curly. It's a small detail, but subtle description often is done via tiny details. It's the only way you can effectively describe a first person narrator.

The main thing to remember with character description is that it isn't actually essential. If it doesn't feel natural, it shouldn't be there. If there's no good reason to put it in, don't put it in.

3) The actual content of your dialogue comes across as slightly wooden. When you write conversations, make sure you read them aloud as well. Act them out like a script, putting in intonation and tone of voice and all that jazz. It helps you get a sense of whether a conversation has a believable naturalness or not, even if you look a bit nuts talking to yourself.

Once you've tightened up the realism of the dialogue, I think I'll really get to love Melody and her brother's relationship. They seem to have a nice banter, and he in particular seems like he'll be a laugh.

4) Don't underestimate the capacity of the reader to understand what's going on. You over-clarify a lot. When you tell us that Melody has a shower, you don't need to tell us that she's doing it to get clean. Everybody knows that you shower to get clean. When her brother shouts at her to get up, you don't need to repeat that he's shouting at her to wake up, because we can tell that from the dialogue alone. Don't underestimate the reader's attention span. We can work out a lot for ourselves.

I'll call the review there! I think you've got a lot to work on before the piece reaches its full potential, but I hope you persevere with it. Editing and hard work does wonders for writing, and the piece could really shine with the right alterations. I hope this review helped!

Keep writing! :D
~Pan




wendylau98 says...


DarkPandemonium

I truly appreciate your master piece of advice. I have learn so much in 5 minutes of your review than I would have normally in 5 hours of book-writing guides references book.

Truth be told, this is one of my earliest work I done far back 2-3 years ago, and stop halfway.

I put it up without reading or editing any of the parts. I am the co-author(minor) of this novel, and the main author is my cousin whom, unfortunately, haven't register an account in YWS. So, I will forward to all that she said.

Thank you so much for every advice and every correction you done!

~Wendy



Panikos says...


I'm glad it was helpful! :D



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Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:35 pm
zaminami wrote a review...



Hello, wendylau98! Welcome to YWS! I'm Kara here for a (hopefully) quick review!

Give me your soul.

With that aside...

#FF0000 ">Red - Grammar and flow issues.

#00BF00 ">Green - Suggestions.

#FF8000 ">Orange - Confusing things.

Black - Random Kara comments and fangirling.

Strikethrough - Remove

Spoiler! :
The audiences all rose to their feet and applauded as I played my master piece that I name#FF0000 ">d it "Fiery Heart#FF0000 ">." The powerful melody screamed #00BF00 ">{I wouldn't use the word "screamed." I would us the word resonated} out from the Grand Piano as my slim fingers race#FF0000 ">d on #00BF00 ">{I would use the word across instead of "on"} the keys. I let all #FF0000 ">of the vibrating sounds resonate through me until the last C key. I let it go, #FF0000 ">and it burst out of me. The passion, the love, the transcendent. #FF0000 "> I don't think that's what transcendent means. #FF8000 ">{What do the last few sentences mean?}

I slowly open#FF0000 ">ed my eyes, once again return#FF0000 ">ing back to the reality. I stood and faced the audiences crowded in The Vienna State Opera. I slowly walk#FF0000 ">ed to the front and let the crimson red dress I'm #FF0000 ">was wearing flows behind me. I waved with my silky#FF0000 ">- gloved handed and look#FF0000 ">ed up to the truly magnificent fresco known as #FF0000 ">praise and #FF0000 ">recognition. It #FF0000 ">was one of the greatest#FF0000 ">, most precious moment#FF0000 ">s in my life.

It #FF0000 ">began with a faint distant sound, that familiar tone. Then it slowly became louder and louder#FF0000 ">; it's Beethoven's Symphony No.5. I turned back to see the piano to see who #FF0000 ">was playing #FF0000 ">the song, but I #FF0000 ">saw no one there and I turn#FF0000 ">ed again to face the audiences. I was overcome with shock when the once crowded theater became deserted and dark in a split of a second#FF0000 ">: there #FF0000 ">was not a single soul was in sight. The hall was silent except the thunderous melody of Beethoven played as if it comes from every direction. Suddenly, I was pulled back by an invisible force#FF0000 ">. I had no control of it to let me go, darkness engulfed me and everything went black. #00BF00 ">{I would make everything stretch and stuff, which makes it show that she went out of the dream. That's what happens in my dreams, anyways when I have dreams}

#00BF00 ">{I would also insert a "-" here to show a time skip}

I snapped my eyes open and I saw a cream#FF0000 ">-colour#FF0000 ">ed ceiling. It's my ceiling, my room. The same music piece was still playing beside my bed. I stretch#FF0000 ">ed out my arm and grab my Galaxy Note 4 and slide off my alarm. I laid down back on my bed again, placing an arm over my eyes, recalling what had #FF0000 ">just happened just a few minute#FF0000 ">s ago. The corner of my mouth lift#FF0000 ">ed up. What a dream#FF0000 ">. I was a famous #FF0000 ">classical #FF0000 ">pianist performing in one of the most famous opera house#FF0000 ">s in the world.

I #FF0000 ">kept on playing the tune of #FF0000 ">"Fiery Heart#FF0000 ">" in my mind, a song #FF0000 ">that I was writing but far from finish#FF0000 ">ed with. In my dream, it was a complete set. #00BF00 ">{I would italicize the next sentence until "I thought" to make it into a thought}I should take note#FF0000 ">s of what 'I' played in my dream and try to finish my music as soon as possible#FF0000 ">, I thought.

"Mel, time to wake up before #FF0000 ">you're late for school!!" #FF0000 ">my brother shouted from downstairs asking me to wake up. I was fully awake by that time, staring at my beige curtain watching the sun#FF0000 ">'s ray#FF0000 ">s shine into my room. Being the good girl that I #FF0000 ">was, I slowly stretch#FF0000 ">ed like a lazy cat and roll#FF0000 ">ed out of bed and made my bed so it looks neat and tidy. I #FF0000 ">didn't want a room that looks like a tornado and a tsunami victim.

Then I #FF0000 ">stood in front of my mahogany vanity table, and stared into the mirror#FF0000 ">. and #FF0000 ">What look#FF0000 ">ed back at me #FF0000 ">was a sixteen#FF0000 ">-year#FF0000 ">-old girl in her purple PJ's with a bird-nest-like hair. The only thing that look#FF0000 ">ed remarkable about me #FF0000 ">was my green eyes and raven black hair.

With a wide yawn, I walk#FF0000 ">ed to my bathroom, took a hot shower to let myself stay awake#FF0000 ">, and clean#FF0000 ">ed myself up. With a look outside the window, I decided to wear simple because it look#FF0000 ">ed like it won't be raining any time soon. #00BF00 ">{If I'm being honest and blunt, that last sentence was very amateur. That could be easily fixed, but I would actually just delete it} I took out my skinny black demi jean #00BF00 ">{What's a demi jean?} and my white t-shirt with a black bold G-note on it, paired with a floral cardigen #FF0000 ">{for future reference, "cardigen" is spelled "cardigan"} which I love to wear because my mum bought it in Rome.#FF0000 ">.

I went downstairs and my nose suddenly filled #FF0000 ">up with the smell of toast and bacon. My favourite kind of breakfest! #00BF00 ">Show, don't tell. Put something there, like the MC's actions, to show that she likes the breakfast instead of putting that it was her favorite.

I sat at the counter while pouring myself a cup of hot coco and #FF0000 ">dug into my breakfast. Beside me #FF0000 ">wasa very stylish black hair#FF0000 ">ed, green eye#FF0000 ">ed boy with cloth#FF0000 ">ing that #FF0000 ">I would never wear even if I #FF0000 ">was a boy because it can attract people's attention easily. Eighteen years old boy, who happens to share the same parent - #FF0000 ">My brother.

"Good morning my lovely bird! Did you have a good night#FF0000 ">'s sleep?" Magnus peeked up gleefully when I join#FF0000 ">ed him to wait for the breakfast.

"Yea#FF0000 ">h, I even dream#FF0000 ">ed that I was playing at The Vienna State Opera." I replied screamingly because I was#FF0000 ">, still in #FF0000 ">the moment.

"Really? Was I there too? I really want to go there someday!" My brother who is two years older than me who attend the same art school as me asked. #FF8000 ">

"Errrr, I don't know... I only remember myself being there..." I replied back slowly, anticipating the broken-heart[color=#FF0000 ]ed
look from my brother.

As expected, my brother once#FF0000 ">=happy face fell. "#FF0000 ">What?? #FF0000 ">Never use more than one punctuation mark unless you are doing "..." that or having a texting conversation. You care more about music than me? I'm so sad..." He playfully acted like he was heart-broken and lost.

"As if you'll remember me if you are on stage yourself!" I retort#FF0000 ">ed back playfully.

"Yea#FF0000 ">h, you're right." Then #FF0000 ">We both laugh#FF0000 ">ed out loud while finishing our breakfast. #00BF00 ">{This wasn't the best ending in the world...}


You have a LOT of problems with tense... I think I marked all of them, but I dunno. This is a very interesting Idea, but I still have trouble understanding some of it. The music theme is interesting as well. Tag me when the next chapter comes out :D

Give me your soul --

Kara

This review courtesy of
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wendylau98 says...


DemonGoddess,

First and foremost. Your review is unique. However, it might due to a different format or something, I did not see the color changes, I see that the text was inserted with numerous FF000 00BF00 FF800 in between texts. Due to that, I was having a hard time reading.

This work is done 2-3 years ago with me as a co-author. Ametuer writing is indeed best to describe this work. Will work up what I learned these past few years to the new writing starting chapter 3.

Anyway, Thank you for the advices, corrections, and suggestion done passionately.

~Wendy



zaminami says...


Oh dang, that's strange... let's contact the mods about that. They should work...



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Sun Sep 24, 2017 4:14 pm
LukeStarkiller wrote a review...



Not a bad start! I think the theater scene was very well-done, and you set it up really well in the first paragraph.

You made some grammar mistakes that took me out of the story a little, though. I was still able to follow along, but it definitely made it a little less immersive than it could have been. The most common error I saw was that you tended to change tenses midway through a sentence. For example, "I slowly stretch like a lazy cat and roll out of bed and made my bed so it looks neat and tidy." You begin the sentence as if it is happening now (stretch, roll) and end it as if it is happening in the past (made). A quick rewrite for that would improve the story immensely.

As I said, I loved the first half, but in the second half, I felt that some parts were a little contrived. For example, you have your main character look in the mirror so that the reader can get a description of what she looks like. This can work but is overused, so I would save her hair and eye color details for a later point in the story.

In general, I think you have too much description of appearances in this chapter. You give a two-sentence description of the outfit Mei decides to wear, but it seems kind of flat, like a laundry list of clothes. I would take out everything but the pieces that have a specific emotional connotation for her. I understand that the bold G-note on her t-shirt reveals her musical inclinations, but the reader could probably have guessed that from the opening scene. The bit about the floral cardigan, on the other hand, should definitely stay because it has an emotional connotation (her mother bought it in Rome).

Overall, though, a solid introduction to the characters. I look forward to the next section!




wendylau98 says...


Luke Starkiller

Thank you very much for the advice!

Changing tense midway and not sticking to one particular tenses... This is the worst nightmare any writing could face! *Gasping*

Over description the main character. Got it!

Anyway, this is one of the oldest work back 2-3 years ago. I'm the co-author of this novel. The first part is written by me. :D.

Anyway!

Thanks again! Will forward your advice to the main author!

~Wendy



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Sun Sep 24, 2017 3:30 pm
darklady wrote a review...



I love the music theme and I love how passionate your narrator is. I think it needs a really good spellcheck but I love your characterization. Some parts are a bit clunky and need rewriting, like the description of the room and the detail-by-detail description of the narrator getting ready in the morning. I really liked it though, and I would want to read more if there was more to hook me. Your title intrigued me though, and I think this could be good. I want to read the next part. :)




wendylau98 says...


darklady

Music is one of the greatest passion the main author has. (I'm the co-author by the way).

Spelling mistakes, deadly. Will be caution the next time.

Anyways, posting Chapter 2 soon!

~Wendy




Nothing is impossible, for the word itself says, 'I'm possible!'
— Audrey Hepburn