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My Creative Writing story (1 Viewer)

RoryC

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Hi everyone, I just wrote this because everyone was talking about pre-preparing stories. Im not that good at writing, or with english in general, so I was wondering if people would mind having a look at it for me? Its only around 700 words. Any feed back would be great :)


It was 5:30 and already the sun had dipped behind the hill to the west, leaving the cold of winter and shadows in its wake. The boy trudged through the long grass and across the old train tracks that separated the boys home from the back road that ran into the towns industrial heart. His feet upon the back road the boy drew the hoods from the two jackets he wore over his head in a vein attempt to shield his face from the wind. Training started at six and he disliked being late, the boy thought to himself as he readjusted the duffle bag on his shoulders which held his gear; a mouth guard, a bottle of water, hand wraps and his boxing gloves.

The back road was long and narrow, barely wide enough for two cars to pass, and when they did the boy had to stop and shelter on the side of the road lest he be hit. The boy journeyed along the road, occupied by thoughts and memories of training, there was little else to entertain him, to one side of the road stretched fields of ugly yellow grass, dotted with the odd native gum tree, choked and decrepit looking in the thrall of winter. On the other side of the road, to the boys left, running parallel to the back road ran the old train tracks the boy had crossed to reach the back road. No, it was not a very visually appealing journey the boy thought to himself as he returned to his thoughts.

He thought of training, of kind old Frank the trainer, Francisco the Freak they use to call him, the first aboriginal boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics in Tokyo 1964. But those days are behind old Frank now.

The boy was temporarily shielded from the wind as he passed under the bridge which led out to the airport and the towns beyond. It was 5:45 and soon he would enter the industrial fringes of town and be all the more closer to the plumbing shed which served as the boxing gym, complete with heavy bags, a speed ball and a small ring from where Frank yelled advice and berated those who slacked off.

Dim lights up ahead and a car shoots past him, clinging to the centre of the road, buffeting the boy with cold air. The back road dips and the boy crosses a bridge, houses and tall pines starting to replace the empty fields on the side of the road. The icy wind has lessened now, although it is still felt, the boy turns his mind from it. He thinks of the whirr of skipping ropes and the slapping beat they makes as they smack against the ground, slipping under the skipper’s feet. He thinks of the stories Frank tells them whilst they skip, how he once fought a ghost, how he use to walk around the block on his knuckles to toughen his fists.

It is 5:55 and the boy has nearly reached the end of his journey. The houses and pines have been replaced by whare houses and auto-electricians, the winter sun has all but set and now the street lights dimly spark to life, creating shadows around the boy. The icy wind whistles eerily through the buildings as the back road gives way at an intersection to tumbling and twisting streets. It is these streets the boy navigates as cars twist past, intent on their own journey. Dogs howl and bark at the boy as he walks past the used car lots, surrounded by their fences topped with barbed wire that keeps people out and the dogs in.

The boy walks down an alley, hidden between a mechanics and a tile shop. The alley has no street lights, just the odd security light which flicks to life as he walks past. There is a light though, at the end of the alley, shining out of the open roller door of a plumbers. The thump of heavy bags being hit, the whir of skipping ropes and the voice of an old aboriginal boxing trainer reaches the boys ears. It is 6:00.
 

*Baby-K*

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Your story is good from a discriptive point of view. However these are some points which occured to me while I was reading it:
  • He doesn't overcome any obstacles- as I said in another post, my teacher recommended that when you write a story this is what should happen :
  1. Character moves from Point A to Point B (which you covered)
  2. Character is faced with an obstacle (ie. there is an accident on the road so the road is closed and he has to take a detour to get to the gym where he trains, therefore he is late)
  3. By overcoming an obstacle, the undertaker of the journey gains an understanding of something (ie. broadens his knowledge of the world, appreciation for friends/family etc)
  • Generally, a character undergoes a change caused by the journey- I didn't notice that in your story. So- he must learn something.
Hope that helps
 

Foreshadowed

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I spot a few typos, but overall it's quite polished.

You have utilised good descriptive language and the imagery is quite clear.

I advise against telling markers that it's a journey though; it downplays the effectiveness of this creative piece. The purpose of creative writing is "show not tell" and you've already shown the markers that the persona is undertaking a journey through your descriptions.

Typos:

"that ran into the towns industrial heart."

town's

"he wore over his head in a vein attempt"

vain/futile

"The boy journeyed along the road," trudged?

"No, it was not a very visually appealing journey the boy thought to himself as he returned to his thoughts."

Tautology. Perhaps you can say: "No, it was not a very visually appealing (trek?), he realised as he returned to his thoughts."

"surrounded by their fences topped with barbed wire that keeps people out and the dogs in."

Tense: kept

edit: Yeah I agree with baby-k lol, you lack plot development. Perhaps extend the story or prune the descriptions to allow room for action?
 

Absolutezero

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Baby- K is right. He does journey; you've made that point blatantly clear (cut back on the number of times you use the word). But nothing is really achieved, in the sense of a physical journey. I suggest you use the flashbacks better, to really drill home an imaginative journey. Perhaps focus more on the past exploits of his trainers life. At the end you could say something about how's he's helped the protagonist grow. That would make your story have all three types of journeys, which instantly boosts its appeal.
 

Absolutezero

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If what I'm reading into is right, then it's very good.

That is, throughout the story it seems like the protagonist is a homosexual male . It is not until the end where you find out she is female.

If this is not your intention, then it's still a good story.

If it is, try tweaking the wording in the message from Alan. That will help sustain the twist until the last line.
 

Roga

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Absolutezero said:
If what I'm reading into is right, then it's very good.

That is, throughout the story it seems like the protagonist is a homosexual male . It is not until the end where you find out she is female.

If this is not your intention, then it's still a good story.

If it is, try tweaking the wording in the message from Alan. That will help sustain the twist until the last line.
Yes, that was my goal along. I knew that people have stereotypes of this and think it's a gay person. I tried to make the ending a twist. Thanks for the feedback.
 

Absolutezero

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Try and make the perspective sound a bit more masculine. Such as by changing:

"all because of a boy I liked"

INTO

"All because I like a boy"


I just wish I hadn't seen the end before reading. Damn internet browser...
 

Captain Hero

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John Stalvern waited. The lights above him blinked and sparked out of the air. There were demons in the base. He didn't see them, but had expected them now for years. His warnings to Cernel Joson were not listenend to and now it was too late. Far too late for now, anyway.
John was a space marine for fourteen years. When he was young he watched the spaceships and he said to dad "I want to be on the ships daddy."
Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS"
There was a time when he believed him. Then as he got oldered he stopped. But now in the space station base of the UAC he knew there were demons.
"This is Joson" the radio crackered. "You must fight the demons!"
So John gotted his palsma rifle and blew up the wall.
"HE GOING TO KILL US" said the demons
"I will shoot at him" said the cyberdemon and he fired the rocket missiles. John plasmaed at him and tried to blew him up. But then the ceiling fell and they were trapped and not able to kill.
"No! I must kill the demons" he shouted
The radio said "No, John. You are the demons"
And then John was a zombie.
 

Absolutezero

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For one, it's a journey of discovery for the reader. It's also falls under the category of an inner journey, the friend dealing with his perspective, on her and her life.
 
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obimoshman1234

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ok so if its an inner journey wheres the result???? all i see is unresolve because they friends doesnt learn anything i mean he leaves to go on an inner journey and the girl is left with grief loss of friend hasnt found a way of dealing with her confusion

so plz outline the entire journey because i really dont see it. i mean i see startings of journeys but no ends
 

Absolutezero

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Not all journeys have an ending. Thus is the nature of the journey.
 

obimoshman1234

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well ok then define the inner journey experienced because i dont see anything that is learnt by either of them???? cant be inner journey without some form of change and i dont see any and dont say its the guy he hasnt he just left and the girl didnt change just constant grief and after first mention dont hear anything again about her confusion, i mean everywhere a possible change could occur nothing happens. FOR an inner journey to occur the person must change
 

cxlxoxk

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RoryC said:
Hi everyone, I just wrote this because everyone was talking about pre-preparing stories. Im not that good at writing, or with english in general, so I was wondering if people would mind having a look at it for me? Its only around 700 words. Any feed back would be great :)


It was 5:30 and already the sun had dipped behind the hill to the west, leaving the cold of winter and shadows in its wake. The boy trudged through the long grass and across the old train tracks that separated the boys home from the back road that ran into the towns industrial heart. His feet upon the back road the boy drew the hoods from the two jackets he wore over his head in a vein attempt to shield his face from the wind. Training started at six and he disliked being late, the boy thought to himself as he readjusted the duffle bag on his shoulders which held his gear; a mouth guard, a bottle of water, hand wraps and his boxing gloves.

The back road was long and narrow, barely wide enough for two cars to pass, and when they did the boy had to stop and shelter on the side of the road lest he be hit. The boy journeyed along the road, occupied by thoughts and memories of training, there was little else to entertain him, to one side of the road stretched fields of ugly yellow grass, dotted with the odd native gum tree, choked and decrepit looking in the thrall of winter. On the other side of the road, to the boys left, running parallel to the back road ran the old train tracks the boy had crossed to reach the back road. No, it was not a very visually appealing journey the boy thought to himself as he returned to his thoughts.

He thought of training, of kind old Frank the trainer, Francisco the Freak they use to call him, the first aboriginal boxer to represent Australia at the Olympics in Tokyo 1964. But those days are behind old Frank now.

The boy was temporarily shielded from the wind as he passed under the bridge which led out to the airport and the towns beyond. It was 5:45 and soon he would enter the industrial fringes of town and be all the more closer to the plumbing shed which served as the boxing gym, complete with heavy bags, a speed ball and a small ring from where Frank yelled advice and berated those who slacked off.

Dim lights up ahead and a car shoots past him, clinging to the centre of the road, buffeting the boy with cold air. The back road dips and the boy crosses a bridge, houses and tall pines starting to replace the empty fields on the side of the road. The icy wind has lessened now, although it is still felt, the boy turns his mind from it. He thinks of the whirr of skipping ropes and the slapping beat they makes as they smack against the ground, slipping under the skipper’s feet. He thinks of the stories Frank tells them whilst they skip, how he once fought a ghost, how he use to walk around the block on his knuckles to toughen his fists.

It is 5:55 and the boy has nearly reached the end of his journey. The houses and pines have been replaced by whare houses and auto-electricians, the winter sun has all but set and now the street lights dimly spark to life, creating shadows around the boy. The icy wind whistles eerily through the buildings as the back road gives way at an intersection to tumbling and twisting streets. It is these streets the boy navigates as cars twist past, intent on their own journey. Dogs howl and bark at the boy as he walks past the used car lots, surrounded by their fences topped with barbed wire that keeps people out and the dogs in.

The boy walks down an alley, hidden between a mechanics and a tile shop. The alley has no street lights, just the odd security light which flicks to life as he walks past. There is a light though, at the end of the alley, shining out of the open roller door of a plumbers. The thump of heavy bags being hit, the whir of skipping ropes and the voice of an old aboriginal boxing trainer reaches the boys ears. It is 6:00.
is that a normal length for a creative piece?

like is that how much ur gonna actually write in the exam?/is that how much people normally write?

if so o crap, i'm stupid, i normally burst my brain thinking of what to write for 3 pages, and do something crap in next section of the paper. did that for trials
 

obimoshman1234

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well firstly cxlxoxxk how many words u write per page sorta thing comes into it and generally looking from the post about lenght they about 800-1000 words. BUt dont worry it doesnt have to be its all about how well u convey narrative and ur journey so u could write less but it could be far better


also still waiting on my answer to where the hell the inner journey of the first u think its homo but then really its a girl story and dont u dare post up absolute cause u obviously have no idea
 

cxlxoxk

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thanks, and i normally try to do something about 1200-1500 words for the creative piece. so i'm doing more than i should, and i don't write all that fast, so i think its best for me to stick with like u said 800-1000.
 

obimoshman1234

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its ok

anyway still waiting on my answer to where the hell the inner journey of the first u think its homo but then really its a girl story and dont u dare post up absolute cause u obviously have no idea.

i really want to know what it is and well absolute just isnt helping
 

Absolutezero

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"also still waiting on my answer to where the hell the inner journey of the first u think its homo but then really its a girl story and dont u dare post up absolute cause u obviously have no idea"

But I'm still entitled to my opinion. I'm just offering my perspective on, what is essentially, an issue which irregardless of the answer, won't effect your HSC mark in the slightest.

I see it as an inner journey, because it goes from a happy friendship, to one which is left ruin. The character's emotional state has changed, from the time in kindergarten, to the point in time that the story is set. Hence, the use of:

"my attitude towards school had changed"

"My life had changed"

You state that: "[It] cant be inner journey without some form of change"

The above lines counteract your argument. There is a change. It's not a change for the better, or a realisation for the character, but it is a change.

The journey is not in the twist at all. The girl has the primary journey, not the guy, and her journey is told through the rest of the story. Is this making any sense to you obimoshman1234? If not, then you have a lot to study for before the exam.

Yours Truly, Absolutezero
 

obimoshman1234

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mabye if u said that was the journey earlier it would have saved time but now u have changed ur point anyway lol cause u said it was an inner journey, the friend dealing with his perspective, on her on her life. which makes no sense anyway but i understand it now
also i never said there wasnt a journey i was mearly trying to find out exactly what it was so no arguement and u look like a massive tool now gj
 

Absolutezero

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Listen, at least I bothered to explained it to you. Sure, this explanation differs from my old one, but so what, both are perfectly valid. The girl has a journey. The guy has a inner journey, coming to realise that he can no longer stand being with his friend because he previously had feelings for her. This shows growth in some aspects. However, full character growth would have occurred if he could overcome these feeling. Hence, we are left with a sense of partial growth.

You argued the point I earlier quoted "...form of change". I showed to you that there was indeed a change for the character. I never argued that you said there wasn't a journey. I merely offered my perspective. Therefore, no argument, just two people with perspectives.

"u look like a massive tool now"
Maybe with some correct spelling and punctuation, I'd take offence. :sleep:


Roga: Compliments to you on your story. vbmenu_register("postmenu_3799602", true);
 

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