"Naralia and the Quin" by Megan Dale

[Megan Dale]

My short story was finally posted--thanks Dag! It's my first attempt at Sci Fi writing, I was laying bed one Sunday morning and this story started drifting through my mind, so I jumped up and sat at my computer for three hours straight, and this was the result.--Is there anyone else who ever gets the feeling that the inspiration for their stories is coming from some invisible person? Just curious how many writers think that their writing is simply a product of their own imaginations. By the way I'm 25, an amateur writer. I'd love to hear from you and I'm not sensitive if you wanna critique my work. --Megan

[KATS]

hrmmm, not sensitive to critiques, eh? I’m just teasing a bit. I’ve done some critiques that have been taken very badly. I really don’t intend to sound mean, just giving some sincere and honest input. At any rate, on to the roast.

This is the product of 3 hrs of work. Not bad! But it does need revisions. There were several places where the story could be smoothed out a bit. It seemed a bit forced, like you were trying to push information onto the reader.

You said you are an amateur writer. You also said this is your first sci-fi story. What is your main genre? How long have you been writing?

There are a couple of tricks that you may already know if you’ve been writing for a while. I think they would help with this story. The first is to set the story aside for a while then re-read it. This gives you a fresher perspective and helps you see the story more as a reader instead of as the writer. The other trick is to read the dialogue aloud. I think if you do these 2 things you will probably see what I am talking about.

But I gotta say, for a first draft, I’m some what impressed.

As far as where the inspiration for my stories come from . . .

I don’t know. Imagination may be part of it. Unstable emotional idiosyncracies may be part of it too. I know that I’m probably not the sanest person in the world. I accept it and truth be told, I like it that way. But then that’s just me and my inspiration. I suppose everyone is different.

[Megan Dale]

Hi Kats, Thanks for the feedback! I've written a couple other short stories, along the lines of action/adventure for young teens. I've also written a longer manuscript (probably too long, heh) in the genre of historical drama ... I have a couple friends who've offered to read it over and edit it and who knows, it may see the light of day sometime in a year or so. I'm optimistic because I'm not out to make money off it, just to get it published.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree with your suggestions, although I doubt I'll invest more time into Naralia, as at the moment I'm intent on investing my energy into reworking my longer manuscript, as I think that has more of a future than my SF writing.

I'm also beginning another book, this time a futuristic novel--not exactly science fiction if it's rooted in reality, is it? Then again ... Huh, you can see I'm new at assigning categories to my writing.

Cheerio!