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Sinister Swede
03-29-2011, 12:13 PM
This is how you SHOULDN'T write a short story. I won't erase it, since I'd like to access it for development purposes.


Poofy pillows with creative and pretty texture were to emphasize some imaginary comfort in here. Lund Medical Centre was dull, though. Drab and featureless, plain white. With his squints and endeavours to create a sane image of what's behind the blur he saw, Hanlon roughly managed to create an all white view. That, was one thing to please him, the lightness in the colour white. His diabetic features had never seemed to establish any negativity, and at this stage, the diagnosis of Hanlons foggy vision had not shown any relationship to diabetes.
The last light left the lobby when doctors and interns left the hospital, after another tough, boring day. Hanlons neighbour, the woman that had blabbered on about death, how she expects it to be, was possibly one of the last to fall asleep. A garrulous woman, that prevented Hanlon from sleeping, kept chatting no matter the time. Although, that was fortunate, considering Hanlons desires.
“Why do you keep the night-light on, dear?” She mumbled, with a dark pitch and a choppy voice. Her weariness was expressed, and it seemed as if her cancer finally seemed to become indisputable and and obvious. Then she closed her eyes and turned over, exposing her back to Hanlon. As if it was his turn to talk, and hers to listen.
“Feels safer... When it's not as, um... Pitch black.” It wasn't really that it felt safer. It wasn't at all. The real problem was the unacquainted hiding in the dark, what you can't really see. He knew he'd be completely blind without some light, and that was what troubled him about the dark, losing the ability of visual perception.
When Hanlon at last fell asleep the remaining staff pulled the night-light switch, and the lobby room went pitch black.

In the morning, the sunlight rays peeked through the blinds. The sound of a rasp against the wooden floor was distinctive. Someone had pulled out a chair next to Hanlons bed.
“You're suffering from the disease Diabetic Retinopathy. It is, of course, caused by the diabetes you're suffering from. The blood vessels or tubes in the back of your eye have broken and blood is flooding into and damaging the parts of your eyes that will help you see. Surgery or medicine are your options, surgery being the best, since the case is urgent.”
Inconceivably he found himself at home. In a narrow apartment, there were lamps with colossal light bulbs and the apartment seemed encased with electricity. Then, poof...
Every bulb shrinks like shrivelled plants. The barrier of encasement brakes and blackness touches the doormat. He heeds the words 'will eventually initiate blindness'.
Hanlon panicked, blinked desperately in a hopeless attempt to discover the smallest spring of light. No, it wasn't working. He panicked. Kept blinking. Sweating, something rose a blockade shutting his throat in the dark. It kept every sound shut inside his lungs, kept his breath furthest away from the exit holes, and made him only express squeaks.

hillwalker
03-29-2011, 01:30 PM
For what it’s worth here are my suggestions –

1) Replace that opening sentence. It’s weak and rather bland – it actually reminds me of a blurb out of an Ikea catalogue (it doesn’t make much sense either since the past tense of the verb ‘to be’ is left hanging : did you mean ‘were used to emphasize…..’?)

2) ‘his squints and endeavours’ – not exactly sure what you meant here – it’s a very clumsy expression. I’m assuming you are trying to say he struggled to focus his eyes in order to make sense of the blur in front of him

3) ‘roughly managed to create an all white view’ – again awkward. I imagine you mean he managed to create a ‘roughly all-white view’ since you can’t roughly manage to create something (you either do or you don’t). But I'd have chosen something like - He was able to form a view composed of varying shades of white.

4) ‘his diabetic features had never seemed to establish any negativity’ – again you totally lost me here. Diabetes is not generally diagnosed from a person’s appearance so what exactly are these ‘diabetic features’? Did you mean 'his diabetic symptoms had so far posed little threat to his general well-being' ?

5) ‘She mumbled, with a dark pitch and a choppy voice.’ – the pitch of one’s voice is generally only capable of being low or high (rather than dark) - and ‘choppy’ although quite an original choice of adjective seems a bit out of place.

6) “You're suffering from the disease Diabetic Retinopathy. It is, of course, caused by the diabetes you're suffering from.” – careless repetition (needs editing).

7) ‘The barrier of encasement brakes [B]and blackness touches the doormat.’ – very awkward phraseology again.

8) Hanlon panicked, blinked desperately in a hopeless attempt to discover the smallest spring of light. No, it wasn't working. He panicked. – he seems to have panicked twice – and what is a ‘spring’ of light?

9) and the whole piece ends with a completely incomprehensible line :

‘…..kept his breath furthest away from the exit holes, and made him only express squeaks.’

I’m guessing English is not your first language and unfortunately much of this story makes that fact abundantly clear. In trying to write something in a slightly less obvious way you have gone somewhat adrift.

I would suggest keeping things much simpler – do away with the fancy words and look for ways to convey the horror of imminent blindness using more familiar language.

H

Sinister Swede
03-29-2011, 02:38 PM
For what it’s worth here are my suggestions –

1) Replace that opening sentence. It’s weak and rather bland – it actually reminds me of a blurb out of an Ikea catalogue (it doesn’t make much sense either since the past tense of the verb ‘to be’ is left hanging : did you mean ‘were used to emphasize…..’?)

2) ‘his squints and endeavours’ – not exactly sure what you meant here – it’s a very clumsy expression. I’m assuming you are trying to say he struggled to focus his eyes in order to make sense of the blur in front of him

3) ‘roughly managed to create an all white view’ – again awkward. I imagine you mean he managed to create a ‘roughly all-white view’ since you can’t roughly manage to create something (you either do or you don’t). But I'd have chosen something like - He was able to form a view composed of varying shades of white.

4) ‘his diabetic features had never seemed to establish any negativity’ – again you totally lost me here. Diabetes is not generally diagnosed from a person’s appearance so what exactly are these ‘diabetic features’? Did you mean 'his diabetic symptoms had so far posed little threat to his general well-being' ?

5) ‘She mumbled, with a dark pitch and a choppy voice.’ – the pitch of one’s voice is generally only capable of being low or high (rather than dark) - and ‘choppy’ although quite an original choice of adjective seems a bit out of place.

6) “You're suffering from the disease Diabetic Retinopathy. It is, of course, caused by the diabetes you're suffering from.” – careless repetition (needs editing).

7) ‘The barrier of encasement brakes [B]and blackness touches the doormat.’ – very awkward phraseology again.

8) Hanlon panicked, blinked desperately in a hopeless attempt to discover the smallest spring of light. No, it wasn't working. He panicked. – he seems to have panicked twice – and what is a ‘spring’ of light?

9) and the whole piece ends with a completely incomprehensible line :

‘…..kept his breath furthest away from the exit holes, and made him only express squeaks.’

I’m guessing English is not your first language and unfortunately much of this story makes that fact abundantly clear. In trying to write something in a slightly less obvious way you have gone somewhat adrift.

I would suggest keeping things much simpler – do away with the fancy words and look for ways to convey the horror of imminent blindness using more familiar language.

H

Thanks alot.
This was actually something I put together very quickly, since it's an assignment I was not aware of until a few days ago, that's why it's so sloppy. Nonetheless, it was written in the middle of the night!
You're right, English is far away from my first language.
Thanks for the feedback.
Uhh it's so sloppy... It really irritates me...
Maybe I should try writing it in Swedish to begin with, then translate it to English? (It's an assignment that HAS to be written in English)

Any suggestions on how the story can begin?

hillwalker
03-29-2011, 03:06 PM
Any suggestions on how the story can begin?

His sight is deteriorating..... he begins to notice certain familiar shapes are losing their form. Trees and flowers melt into some amorphous green, doors and windows reveal the light beyond them but not their actual outlines, and the faces of people he knew are no longer recognisable. So he relies more on identifying voices. In which case perhaps it could begin with someone's voice....?

H

Delta40
03-29-2011, 03:58 PM
I would not nominate this for 'worst short story ever written 2011' prize. You're safe!

Sinister Swede
03-30-2011, 01:47 PM
I would not nominate this for 'worst short story ever written 2011' prize. You're safe!

Funny thing is that I agree... Just reading it myself gives me the creeps. So I couldn't say it isn't scary

Sinister Swede
03-30-2011, 03:29 PM
His sight is deteriorating..... he begins to notice certain familiar shapes are losing their form. Trees and flowers melt into some amorphous green, doors and windows reveal the light beyond them but not their actual outlines, and the faces of people he knew are no longer recognisable. So he relies more on identifying voices. In which case perhaps it could begin with someone's voice....?

H

Sounds very nice, indeed. I actually decided to rewrite the entire story, as soon as I got spare time. Meanwhile, I'll keep it as a guide on how to not write a good horror story. I learned a valueable lesson.