Status: In Progress
Summary:
High school senior Lukas Elserin is starting his last year of school. Intelligent, strong, but lazy, Lukas is conflicted about what he wants to do when he graduates. His inherent talent for combat could allow him to join Satala's royal military. However, the events from his past and current events all begin to point his life in different directions. Lukas is unknowingly thrown back into the world in which he has fled from...
[Rated T: Blood; Language; Suggestive Themes; Violence]
Created: September 22, 2013 | Updated: September 23, 2013
Genre : Fantasy
Language : English
Reviews: 0 | Rating:
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See my chapter comment for grammar type edits. In terms of the story and what you have, it's a start but I think you could make it even better. I got the sense that I was reading a novelized version of a magna or anime, which is wonderful since those worlds are often complex and have a great mix of realism and fantasy, drama and humor. What you need to do to make this better is to really play up those contrasts. Readers can relate to high school and the cliques while your concept of Rei-Ki is definitely fantasy. You have the serious but likable main character (Lukus) with nice cast of supporting characters who add humor (Benjamin). Yet you haven't done enough with them. The story felt flat in parts because you didn't take the time to give better character descriptions so we could connect with the characters or take the time to describe the world and how it works. There were plenty of points where you could have given us a bit of background on the world, like when they're going to school having Lukus make some sort of observation or just use the time they are walking to talk about your society (IE it was hi senior year which meant there was a lot of pressure to pick a career. Many students joined...etc etc.). Again, if readers have some superficial knowledge about what's possible in your world, when you have your main character break the mold with some sort of power or knowledge it becomes a lot more exciting. Also with that, the more detail the better. I'm not saying to describe every little movement of your character, but when first introducing someone or someplace new take a few sentences (or a paragraph is more significant) to give us some details about that person or your characters' observations about them/it. This will provide a more vivid picture of what's happening and help your readers really feel engrossed in the story. Think of all the stories you've read that you just can't put down. Chances are you can't stop reading because you feel a connection to the character, their plight, and when you're reading it you become so absorbed in the world and what's happening you don't realize you spent hours reading. That's what you want to create. It's a fine line between bogging the story down with descriptors and making it too sparse. So you have to find your balance for this story, but at the moment I think you are running on a spartan level of detail. I'm going to leave this review at that since it's getting lengthy, but if you consider what I've said here and in the chapter comments I think that this story has some real potential to be very addicting for readers.September 24, 2013 | D.M. Gergen
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Chapter: 1 Reply
Here is my chapter specific editing feedback. I would cut back on the multiple exclamation points and reserve that for when something really is being emphasized (if you use them at all). Also your dialogue is incorrect. When using a speaking verb after the speaking part use a comma not a period. IE - "You never get up early." Zayn replied - should look like - "You never get up early," Zayn replied. Then when you are using 'he, she, they, etc' they would be lowercased instead of capitalized. I would also cut back on the use of ellipses. Save it for when you really have significant pauses in speaking so that it stands out more to the reader. Things like exclamations, ellipses, etc are great grammar tools to emphasize what's happening but it loses that when its overdone. I feel you could have ended this chapter right before they got to the gym as well, the break felt like a natural chapter end, giving your first chapter enough information for the readers while having them want to read on to see what this Rei-Ki stuff is. Again, after the fight could be another chapter ending.September 24, 2013 | D.M. Gergen