Amoretoria Prologue

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Asmer20

Lady of the Earth
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I was looking at the posts in this category and I thought it would help me if I started with a prologue. Please feel free to comment.

"Sir, can you take a look at this?"

"What is it?"

"The girl, she's fast asleep, but I can't probe her dreams. I've tried every turn, but something happens when I try to penetrate the thought process."

"How stubborn does she seem to be?"

"Very. I tried weaving a future scene into her mind, but every time there seems to be a strong sheild, almost as if her mind was made of iron."

"How old is she?"

"Seven, this is the second time I've tried. It seems it's more powerful now then it was at age three. I can assume that it will be harder to reach her mind when she's ten. Then we'd have to train her on her thirteenth birthday."

"Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious. When the age comes, your job is to show her the way, don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?"

"Yes, Father Superior, I promise." But how can it really be Cebera? She's so different from many others and I don't know if her determinationis going to pay off for the Goddess she can be, he thought as he watched her dreams unfold on a wall screen.
 
Hi Asmer, keep the inhaler nearby......

Neat start, all dialogue, all well-handled, with not a 'said' 'asked' 'replied' in sight, but it was simple to follow.

One nitpick and one comment:
Nitpick:
"Seven, this is the second time I've tried.
Should be a full stop after seven, I think.

Comment: "
Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious. When the age comes, your job is to show her the way, don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?"

Now I'm kinda assuming that the unusualness of the situation is very unusual, and that the emergence of this girl is going to have major significance to the story: it appears they've been waiting for 'the lady', but the Father Superior is very laid-back about it, isn't he? Maybe I'm completely wrong and they've got 10 girls in the room and they know that one of them will be the chosen one. But if they've been waiting for years, or decades, shouldn't there be some excitement, or possibly even the other way, disbelief? - maybe they've been through this so many times, loads of false hopes etc?

If it is a prologue, then it certainly hooks quite well with its unusual aspects of dreams and 'mind-control' (for want of a better word...), but I would possibly lose a bit of interest at the end of it, as the significance isn't really brought over to me, even with James' thoughts
But how can it really be Cebera? She's so different from many others and I don't know if her determinationis going to pay off for the Goddess she can be

Wasn't sure if that should be 'no different' rather than 'so different', because if she is 'so different' then surely it would mark her out as a candidate to be Cebera? And the last part of the sentence needs a small tweak, I feel. Read it aloud and see what it sounds like..... I think it's the 'going to pay off for' that doesn't sit well with me, but it's probably just me. P'raps something like: 'I don't know if her powerful determination will be enough, if she is to become Cebera.

Asmer, hope this helps a little. I'm sure you've got the characters fixed in your mind, and it will become clear, but I just wanted more explanation with the hook. Good job, though. I am intrigued enough by the opening to want to read on.
 
Hi,
I am gonna try and walk through the discovery and see how we can make it stronger. Important Note: These are my opinions only.




I was looking at the posts in this category and I thought it would help me if I started with a prologue. Please feel free to comment.

"Sir, can you take a look at this?"

"What is it?"

"The girl, she's fast asleep, but I can't probe her dreams. I've tried every turn, but something happens when I try to penetrate the thought process."
("What do you mean something happens?" The listener doesnt doesn't know if the subject is stubborn or if the prober is failing in his tasks for some other reason! therefore, asking what is wrong seems the most likely wayout. The Prober will then have cause to tell the enquirer that the subject is stubborn.)

"How stubborn does she seem to be?"

"Very. I tried weaving a future scene into her mind, but every time there seems to be a strong sheild, almost as if her mind was made of iron."
(A shield doesnt necessarily make the subject stubborn. It could be an inherent defense mechanism or it could be that there is a spell already blocking the mind probe)

"How old is she?"
"Seven, this is the second time I've tried. It seems it's more powerful now then it was at age three. I can assume that it will be harder to reach her mind when she's ten. Then we'd have to train her on her thirteenth birthday."
( Two things, the probe's been attempted twice, however, on reading the previous dialogue it appears that the probe's been done several times.
Maybe you need to modify the flow a little. If reaching her mind is going to be harder at 10, by the same logic it's got to be a lot harder at 13. If there's any specific reason (like coming of age et all) then dont you think he should mention it in passing so the reader can understand it better?)

"Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious. When the age comes, your job is to show her the way, don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?"
( Too quick. All that the enquirer asks is if she is stubborn, how old she is and if she is powerful and even that is not a question, it is mere acceptance of a statement made. Isnt that pretty quick to come to the conclusion that she is the lady? especially if he is a father superior)


"Yes, Father Superior, I promise." But how can it really be Cebera? She's so different from many others and I don't know if her determinationis going to pay off for the Goddess she can be, he thought as he watched her dreams unfold on a wall screen.

( I think the prober's doubt is valid but the reasoning is unclear to me. I would suggest further elaboration. I think it is a good first sketch, you need to build on this and create a sense of anticipation in the reader.)


All the best,
Sai
 
Yeaa.. I agree with Boneman and Sai on the Father Superior's reaction.

One other thing, and I'm not sure if this is something you should consider changing or not, anyway. I like the dialogue but, for some reason, I was picturing James as a girl until the Father Superior said his name. This is probably just due to how my brain is (weirdly) wired, but I'm wondering if anybody thought the same? If it turns out that this is a valid concern, one 'James' somewhere early in there should be enough. As in, "James frowned at the readings on his monitor. 'Sir, can you take a look at this?'". This has the added advantage of putting us in James' head right away, as well as establish a small part of the scene.

If by now you're looking strangely at me, please ignore this comment, lol..

- Dreir -
 
A number of nit picks and one major concern from me, I'm afraid. Nit picks first.

"Sir...' By and large, people with Father Superiors don't call them 'sir' - if you want to hide the fact that he is a Father S, then you'll have to cut into the dialogue later.

"... can you take a look at this?" If the Father S is in the room, and the dreams are on the wall, why isn't he seeing it/them already?

"The girl, she's fast asleep..." Why does he need to say this? Father S will know she's asleep - that's the point of her being there, surely? And if you're talking about her dreaming, then I don't think you even have to spell it out to us, we can take it for granted she's sleeping. If you want this James to be trying to deflect blame, ('it's not my fault - I put her under OK') then with all this technology I think he'd use something rather more jargon-y than a woolly 'fast asleep'.

"I've tried every turn.." Is this a technical phrase in your dream technology? If not, then although we know what it means it's not a particularly good expression to put in his mouth.

"... but something happens when I try to penetrate the thought process." Again, this seems very wishy-washy to me. Why isn't he using technical language? And surely if she's dreaming, then 'thought process' is completely the wrong expression?

"How stubborn does she seem to be?" Not only should you not having him jumping to this conclusion, but stubborn - again unless it's going to be a technical phrase in your dream jargon - implies an act of will. Unless she is conscious or has set up a shield consciously beforehand, this is an inappropriate word.

"I tried weaving a future scene into her mind,..." Why future? Even if she is intended to be a seer of some kind, how can they use a future scene since - unless you intend them also to be seers - they don't know what the future is? (And if they are seers, they've not done a very good job with this one have they?!)

"... but every time there seems to be a strong sheild..." Typo for shield - and it's a very trite metaphor.

"... almost as if her mind was made of iron." What? I know you want to give an impression of strength, but quite apart from it being hackneyed (and untrue - iron isn't that strong is the overall scheme of metals) this really isn't the best of imagery in the circumstances. Think about it - a mind made of iron - how is it dreaming? If it is your intention to make James appear a bit stupid, or someone who thinks in cliches, fair enough - but it might be better to leave that until he's got a lot more dialogue, so it's clear it is him and not you putting the words into his mouth.

"Seven, this is the second time I've tried. It seems it's more powerful now then it was at age three." Is this meant to be unusual? Should it be easier to reach her if she is older? If not, this is obsolete. If it is unusual, you need to spell it out a little more, but not in a telling-the-Father-S-something-he-already-knows kind of way. I agree with Boneman, full stop after 'seven', and with BSCV that it reads oddly that this is only the second time he's tried after the tried every turn line.

"I can assume that it will be harder to reach her mind when she's ten. Then we'd have to train her on her thirteenth birthday." This is an example of telling the Father S something he already knows, because you want us to know it. You need to rework this.

"Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious." Agree with BSCV this is way too abrupt a leap.

"When the age comes, your job is to show her the way..." This is telling James what he already knows, surely?

"... don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?"
I know what you're trying to say but 'don't hint her at it' is not English, not by a long chalk. (Incidentally, I assumed that James was male from the start - don't know if that's me being sexist or not!)

'She's so different from many others...' What is this meant to mean? If she is The Lady, surely she ought to be different from everybody, not just 'many others'? And if 'so' is meant to be 'no' - why is he getting excited that he can't get through this shield?

'... and I don't know if her determinationis going to pay off for the Goddess she can be...'
I have absolutely no idea what this means. And how can he know what determination she has or will have? By the sounds of it he's only met her twice in her life.'Goddess she can be'? As opposed to the (somewhat inferior) Goddess she actually will be, perhaps?

'... he thought as he watched her dreams unfold on a wall screen.'
I don't use italics for thoughts in this way, but I think the convention is that if you do show the thoughts explicitly then you don't have 'he thought' afterwards as it's otiose (but I stand ready to be corrected by those who employ the technique). And 'dreams' plural? How many is she having?

OK, at this stage you're wondering if these are her nit picks what the hell is the b***h going to say that's a big problem? I am sorry if I sound harsh, but I think you've got the makings of a terrific story, and you have the makings of being a good writer, but you need to think more about language, how you use it to convey atmosphere and how it is used by people. Even in such a short excerpt, you ought to be striving to differentiate between the two men - the Father S ought to be calmer, older, smoother, probably more well educated (yes, I know these are cliches in themselves, but truisms do happen to be largely true). And as Boneman rightly says, there also ought to be an air of excitement/anticipation etc which is lacking in his words at the moment.

So, the major difficulty? The final paragraph. It completely unbalances the rest of the scene. I love scenes which are all dialogue, with nothing else, not even a 'he said' etc, but you can't do that and then tack on at the end something else like an afterthought. It would be bad enough if it were the description - the internal monologue just compounds the problem. I think you have to make a decision whether to keep that last para or not. For me, it adds nothing and positively detracts from the atmosphere. I would dump the para and expand the rest of the dialogue a little, to make it less abrupt and more revelatory - you could have James ask the Father S if he really thinks she can be The One after 500 years or whatever. If, however, you like the para, then I think you will need to add further non-dialogue into the rest of it to balance things up.

Again, I'm sorry if this sounds harsh. After all that, it will no doubt surprise you to hear that I loved the premise; I think you - and the story - have great promise; and you already have a bit of a hook to make people want to read on, which is more than a lot of people have who put work on this board. But you need to do quite a bit of work on it. Writing is a craft - it needs a lot of practice, and a lot of thought. In particular, it needs a feel for words - if that doesn't come naturally to you, then you have to learn to develop it.

Of course, these are just my thoughts - and no one else has picked up on most of them, so it's up to you how much attention you want to pay. In any event, good luck with the writing.

J
 
Leaning back in his swivel chair, he stared at the screen in amusement, "Sir, can you take a look at this?"

"What is it?"

"The girl, she's fast asleep, but I can't probe her dreams. I've tried every possible entry point, but something happens when I try to penetrate the thought process."

"How stubborn does she seem to be?"

"Very. I tried weaving a future scene into her mind, but every time there seems to be a strong setback, almost as if her mind was made of iron."

"How old is she?"

"Seven. This is the second time I've tried. It seems it's more powerful now then it was at age three. I can assume that it will be harder to reach her mind when she's ten. Then by the time she's thirteen she'll be in training. As you know, we always start training an Asmer on the day he or she becomes a teenager."

"Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious. When the age comes, your job is to show her the way, don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?" As best he could, the man leaning over the chair kept austere face intact. However inside he was boiling with long waited joy and wonder.

James looked at the older man with agreement. They both knew that Lesito had predicted the time the true Lady would come to serve the world. There had been past attempts of others to rise to Lord or Lady of the Earth, but all of them had failed somehow. "Yes, Father Superior, I promise." But how can it really be her? She wasn't born into a family who knows our kind and if her determination is that strong, I'm worried about the dangers she'll face at such a young age, he thought as he watched her dreams unfold on a wall screen.

Ok fellas, I have considered your ideas. Let me know if there's anymore I should do. Thank you for critiquing!
 
I'll look over the other aspects of your critique, after all, you're the Judge! :D For now, I'll focus on the last paragraph.

"Did you say powerful? I think we've found the Lady, but it mustn't be too obvious. When the age comes, your job is to show her the way, don't hint her at it, you understand me, James?" As best he could, the man leaning over the chair kept austere face intact. However inside he was boiling with long waited joy and wonder.

"are you sure? There were five others who tried. We both know that some were killed in the process, accused of witchcraft. Others failed the test."

"James, I have served this base for more than 500 years, I know when I see the One. Remember, you were the last one who tried to reach it."

"So you think she has more will to beat Vardaise than I did?" Jamie folded his arms and looked at the elderly man with disapointment.

"You know, we don't compete James. We all knnow you tried your best."

"But I really enjoyed being in a physical body. Now I'm a spirit! If I'm supposed to train her, I can't help acting like her father. I mean at her level of determination, you and I very well know that she'll be completing training sooner than most Asmers have."

"What's that famous old saying that we derive our Asmers from?"

Reluctantly, Jamie recieted the well known quote, "Naivete drives the most determined person to stand for love of whom many are young. But I just can't imagine her doing it!"

"Then what did Lesito once tell his brother?"

.............
 
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