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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 1:46 pm 
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Ch.5: Hope and Music


Done. Yes, I know it's kind of long, lol.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 2:47 pm 
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Ch.5: Hope and Music



I don't have a great deal to say about this. Not a whole lot happens, but I assume Coria's accidentally getting drunk, which I further assume is the pay-off to the story of the ancient wolf who got powers from alcohol, and she starts figuring out how to use magic. One thing I think needs to be addressed is the size of Haltia. On one hand, the Wolf Kingdom is either incredibly small, or its capital is for some reason on the literal border of the kingdom. On the other hand, Coria walks through what appears to be a very large area filled with numerous bio-regions. It leaves an unclear picture in the readers' minds.

Coria's walking is another issue. Now, I know that Coria isn't human, but she's been described in very humanoid ways with typical human weaknesses. Human move an average of just over three miles an hour over even ground, depending on size, and Coria is not particularly tall. So while she was running for the first quarter mile, you describe her as stopping then. We also know that she would have left around noon, because she and Holer were getting lunch. So, by my calculations, the most she could believably be away in a single afternoon of walking is 18 miles, and even that is probably high without any food or water and travelling around settlements and lakes. All I'm getting at here is that I have a very unclear picture of how big Haltia is.

Also, it only took Holer a couple of minutes to realize Coria was gone, and a few more to learn the story. I'd say that Coria, at BEST, had a half hour lead on the guards looking for her, and they knew where to look. I find it a little difficult to believe that full-grown Wolf guards wouldn't have overtaken her, especially considering she only ran one quarter of a mile. An athletic person could probably run a quarter of a mile in about a minute, maybe a little more. Walking could cover that in about five minutes. Wolfs, I imagine, would travel even faster. So that's an issue you may want to consider.

Other than that, I do think you're showing some improvement. Your sentences flow better and are generally easier to access, and your descriptions, for the most part, aren't too bad (although I did struggle visualizing the bottle opener you described.) I also found it odd how little Coria reflected on what happened. It was just one or two lines in a journey of numerous hours.

Thanks for posting!


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:58 pm 
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I don't have a great deal to say about this. Not a whole lot happens, but I assume Coria's accidentally getting drunk, which I further assume is the pay-off to the story of the ancient wolf who got powers from alcohol, and she starts figuring out how to use magic. One thing I think needs to be addressed is the size of Haltia. On one hand, the Wolf Kingdom is either incredibly small, or its capital is for some reason on the literal border of the kingdom. On the other hand, Coria walks through what appears to be a very large area filled with numerous bio-regions. It leaves an unclear picture in the readers' minds.


She actually didn't get drunk at all, the thing she drank is actually based off soda, lol. As for the size of Haltia, looks like I forgot a major detail about the wolf kingdom in that even though there is a section where the royalty live, there really is no true capital. Think Ravnica somewhat and it should be a bit clearer. Also, environments were never my strong point, just saying.

Quote:
Coria's walking is another issue. Now, I know that Coria isn't human, but she's been described in very humanoid ways with typical human weaknesses. Human move an average of just over three miles an hour over even ground, depending on size, and Coria is not particularly tall. So while she was running for the first quarter mile, you describe her as stopping then. We also know that she would have left around noon, because she and Holer were getting lunch. So, by my calculations, the most she could believably be away in a single afternoon of walking is 18 miles, and even that is probably high without any food or water and travelling around settlements and lakes. All I'm getting at here is that I have a very unclear picture of how big Haltia is.


As kind of said in the story, she still felt a lot of grief as she walked, which led to her feeling not much else, even hunger and thirst.

Quote:
Also, it only took Holer a couple of minutes to realize Coria was gone, and a few more to learn the story. I'd say that Coria, at BEST, had a half hour lead on the guards looking for her, and they knew where to look. I find it a little difficult to believe that full-grown Wolf guards wouldn't have overtaken her, especially considering she only ran one quarter of a mile. An athletic person could probably run a quarter of a mile in about a minute, maybe a little more. Walking could cover that in about five minutes. Wolfs, I imagine, would travel even faster. So that's an issue you may want to consider.


Oh there's a reason for why they haven't got to her yet. It'll be explained in the next chapter.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:38 pm 
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After about forever and ever:

Ch. 6: A fateful encounter


Trying a new writing style btw.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 11:02 pm 
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I struggle to comprehend how well you paint this.

This is a stunning piece!

If I had one concern, it would be that occasionally you use "and" instead of a comma",".

Can you recognize where this happens in this story?

Most important thing being- These moments in the phrase will heighten in drama if you can decide when to replace"and" with a comma.

I am assuming that Coria hasn't got her spark yet? Since she's confused about the act of planes walking?


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Fri May 01, 2015 5:43 am 
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I struggle to comprehend how well you paint this.

This is a stunning piece!

If I had one concern, it would be that occasionally you use "and" instead of a comma",".

Can you recognize where this happens in this story?

Most important thing being- These moments in the phrase will heighten in drama if you can decide when to replace"and" with a comma.

I am assuming that Coria hasn't got her spark yet? Since she's confused about the act of planes walking?


I see. Hmm...I'll have to think about that.
As for the spark part:
Major story spoiler

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2015 12:14 am 
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Re: Chapter 6. My biggest issue here is that the whole thing reads kind of dry, with nearly everything being presented in recap form, which tends to bury the emotion. I think if you showed us the actual conversation between Coria and Veil, the information you reveal to us would have much more emotional weight to it.

There are also several language issues that are not my personal taste, modern stuff like "Whoa, really?" That kind of thing.

Finally, I'm concerned about the planeswalker ratio here. Haltia seems to be a relatively small plane, and yet we already know of three planeswalkers there, which is approaching the high limit for even the busy canon planes, with the exception of Dominaria, which as the planar nexus makes sense to have a lot. I also have trouble wrapping my head around the odds that there seem to be only two creatures like Coria and Veil on the entire plane, and they both happen to be (or will be) planeswalkers.

Not a bad addition overall, but I feel you could have done more to build the tension and the emotion of the moment.

As always, thanks for posting.


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2015 5:51 am 
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Re: Chapter 6. My biggest issue here is that the whole thing reads kind of dry, with nearly everything being presented in recap form, which tends to bury the emotion. I think if you showed us the actual conversation between Coria and Veil, the information you reveal to us would have much more emotional weight to it.

There are also several language issues that are not my personal taste, modern stuff like "Whoa, really?" That kind of thing.

Finally, I'm concerned about the planeswalker ratio here. Haltia seems to be a relatively small plane, and yet we already know of three planeswalkers there, which is approaching the high limit for even the busy canon planes, with the exception of Dominaria, which as the planar nexus makes sense to have a lot. I also have trouble wrapping my head around the odds that there seem to be only two creatures like Coria and Veil on the entire plane, and they both happen to be (or will be) planeswalkers.

Not a bad addition overall, but I feel you could have done more to build the tension and the emotion of the moment.

As always, thanks for posting.


Well, that flopped then. Also, if I ever get to it, I'll start going to other areas of Haltia in the next chapter or so, to give a better scope of the size of Haltia.

Oh, and:
Spoiler

You'll see about there being only two eventually, don't worry.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2015 2:44 pm 
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Well, that flopped then. Also, if I ever get to it, I'll start going to other areas of Haltia in the next chapter or so, to give a better scope of the size of Haltia.

Well, I wouldn't say it "flopped." I liked the information that was presented in this chapter, just not the way it was presented. It all goes back to that famous "Show, don't tell" mantra in creative writing. I just think that this is an instance where it would be a lot more powerful to hear this stuff told to us by the characters rather than by the narrator. Keep in mind, this is the first time we're meeting Veil, so getting a sense of her voice is pretty important.


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sat May 02, 2015 10:09 pm 
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Quote:
I liked the information that was presented in this chapter, just not the way it was presented


That's kind of why I said it was a flop. It's like no matter how I say it, it's never right. That's not to say I don't agree with you on some points but just saying.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sun May 03, 2015 12:27 am 
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What I like about your writing style, is that it is uncontrived to the point of freedom.

What I mean is, that you are providing direct glimpses in a natural way without floweryness.

I like the naivete of Coria.

Its refreshing to see a more innocent character.


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2015 8:13 pm 
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Chapter 6: A FATEFUL encounter v2


Fixed up chapter 6. Hopefully it's more to your liking now.

Now for chapter 7
Ch.7: Treasures Lost
Ch.7: Treasures Lost



EDIT: As the OP has maxed out on the character limit, ch.7 onwards will be located here now.

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Last edited by killercore007 on Wed May 27, 2015 5:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2015 3:44 pm 
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@Chapter 6: The revision, I think, is a step in the right direction, although it's still a lot of narrative recap that could have been shown in more characterizing dialog.

@chapter 7: Keep in mind that one of the basic rules of dialog is that you should never have more than one speaker in any one paragraph, so you should break it up whenever a new person talks. This sentence by the human commander makes no sense: ""Seeing your position here, I'd say you better be if you want to live, I could have you killed right now." " One, I think you are missing a word or two after "better be," and two, you have a comma splice between "live" and "I".

I also have a problem with "We are so going to be maimed by Triel." Again, in fantasy language, people don't talk like that, and honestly, I'd like to think most real adults wouldn't either. I would drop the "so".

Good to see the plot starting to advance though. Thanks for posting.


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 Post subject: Re: [Story]Haltia Redux
PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 5:04 am 
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@Chapter 6: The revision, I think, is a step in the right direction, although it's still a lot of narrative recap that could have been shown in more characterizing dialog.

@chapter 7: Keep in mind that one of the basic rules of dialog is that you should never have more than one speaker in any one paragraph, so you should break it up whenever a new person talks. This sentence by the human commander makes no sense: ""Seeing your position here, I'd say you better be if you want to live, I could have you killed right now." " One, I think you are missing a word or two after "better be," and two, you have a comma splice between "live" and "I".

I also have a problem with "We are so going to be maimed by Triel." Again, in fantasy language, people don't talk like that, and honestly, I'd like to think most real adults wouldn't either. I would drop the "so".

Good to see the plot starting to advance though. Thanks for posting.


Fixed up ch.7. Hopefully I did it right.

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