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Author Topic: Some things I would like to improve.  (Read 1905 times)
falar
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« on: January 08, 2008, 12:26:25 PM »

Some people have told me that my grammar needs work and is horrible. I have tried to improve, but I just can't seem to get it. I guess it doesn't help when they say my grammar needs work but won't specify where in my sentence or paragragh (or story) that I messed up. Could any one help me with this?

(I also type real fast so when I try to Capitalize I may have CApitalize instead, just a note.)

I would also like help with the way I put my ideas down. I get great ideas, ideas that I just can't keep in my head and have to put down, so I wrtie/type. Sadly, I have never finished the seventy-two storys that I have started, I have great concepts and have written ideas, the characters are not just shells, and yet, I can't work it all together, I seem to be missing something here or I am just doing something wrong. I have tried many things that just don't work. I ask, Please Help.
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Her
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« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2008, 02:52:57 PM »

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falar
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« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2008, 03:19:27 PM »

Could you point me to a free downloadable word program that will download on Dial-up?

And thank you for the help, I'l try and see if I can get things to work better.

I'm still open for any more suggestions.
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SuddenS
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« Reply #3 on: January 09, 2008, 12:03:13 AM »

OpenOffice is nice and free... Smiley Also, it would be helpful to see a few examples of your writing - its hard to point out mistakes in creative writing if you don't see any of it.
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Alhaja
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« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2008, 12:34:46 AM »

Open Office is probably a good bet, though I don't know how downloadable it would be with dial-up.

You could also try google docs, which is web-based. You'll need an account for that, but it's free.

As to your writing, from your posts here I would agree that your grammar could use some polishing, but I would agree with SuddenS that it would probably make sense to look specifically at a creative piece.

I would recommend that you make sure you spell-check your posts (Firefox has a built in spell-check and last time I checked, there was a plug-in for the Advanced Text editor that could be downloaded for Internet Explorer) and that you take the time to go back and look over what you have written for errors before you post it. Paying attention to what you write is really important.
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falar
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« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2008, 01:07:06 AM »

Okay, something random, right from the top of my head.


Trock whistled happily as he strode on the side of a long strech(SP?) of road. It was a long dry, cracked and dirty road in the middle of no where, heading west for miles. Trock wore a grey loose fitting grey under shirt under a light, thick brown travellers jacket. His faded jeans were wrinkle free and loose fitting as well. His dark blue shoes were travel worn but have never failed him yet. Trock's tan skin had a roughness that could tell any one that he had been through bad weather before. He held his head high, his back straight, his left bright green right eye open, searching the horizon, his right much darker blue, heavily lidded eye at odd with his left. his slightly larger than ears raises to the sky, listening for the sounds of life. Trock had been walking for two whole days since his last stop, at an old truck stop. The place had been abandoned, not even the old rats were still around. He sighed heavily, life was so lonely. The fingers of Trocks right hand twitched.
"Right. Your still with me."
His throat seemed to go dry as he spoke. He hadn't spoken to any one in so long, now his brother was trying to speak to him again. Ironic. Considering that Trocks twin brother had been the one who had condemned him to a life of lonelyness and and weary-some travels. Trock manuvoured his right hand in front of him as he looked down at it.
"You left me alone so long ago, cuasing me too much pain. Now you try to come back into my life? You are the cause of even more pain! Leave me alone and stay away!"
Trock's voice had intensified and grown louder.
"Just go leave me alone!"
His right hand flexed into a fist. Tears were begining to drop from Trock's eyes.
"Stop it!"
Trock grabbed his right hand with his left and leaned forward slightly before pushing forward with his left foot, then taking another with his rihgt. He ran as fast as he could, his shoulders begining to sag as he ran. Trock tripped on a rather large stone and fell, landing on his face. Trock lay there, holding his right hand intently, his grip tightening.
"You come back!?"
His vision exploded into blackness as a sudden jolt of pain lanced from his right hand, through his arm, shoulder, and neck, then finaly into his brain. His body twitched before going limp. Trock lay there, motionless, His brothers right hand pulling itself forward, dragging the rest of the body along with it.
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Alhaja
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« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2008, 02:04:52 AM »

Interesting little story you've got there. ^_^

It's not too bad as far as grammar goes -- I've certainly seen much worse.

The first thing I'd recommend is that you go back over the post and look for missing words, typos and other things you missed when you wrote it. It looks to me like there are things you should be able to catch.

Here's another spell-check resource: http://www.spellcheck.net

While you're going over it again, look for things that may be extraneous or sound awkward. Sometimes it can help to read your writing aloud. If you have trouble with commas, make sure you pause wherever you've put a comma -- it should sound right. [/url]
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SuddenS
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« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2008, 06:26:11 AM »

Apologies in advance for the length of this... Aside from grammar I am also addressing other issues, so just ignore them if you don't want that Smiley

"Trock whistled happily as he strode on the side of a long strech(SP?) of road."

strech -> stretch, also on which side of the road? Smiley "Trock whistled happily as he strode down a long stretch of a road.

"It was a long dry, cracked and dirty road in the middle of no where, heading west for miles."

comma after 'long', nowhere together

"Trock wore a grey loose fitting grey under shirt under a light, thick brown travellers jacket."

'grey' is mentioned twice in the description... And how can a jacket be light AND thick at the same time?

"His dark blue shoes were travel worn but have never failed him yet."

'had' never failed him yet; you are switching from past tense here

"Trock's tan skin had a roughness that could tell any one that he had been through bad weather before."

a roughness 'to it', 'anyone'; Also the bad weather part is a bit off, bad weather once or twice doesn't change your skin... You could go for the being outside a lot thing 'that he wasn't one to study in the library' or for the way of the fighter 'that he had been in more than just one battle... and survived.' Not sure what you were going for here.

"He held his head high, his back straight, his left bright green right eye open, searching the horizon, his right much darker blue, heavily lidded eye at odd with his left."

'his left bright green right eye'? doesn't make sense ; You start a lot with Trock, he, his and so on, try to reshape your sentences sometimes, for example: 'Holding his head high and back straight, Trock's bright green right eye was wide open to search the horizon while...' and so on. ; 'much darker blue' implies that the other eye is blue too ; in which way is one eye at odds with his left? Does it look into an entirely different direction or is it just not quite so 'open'?

"his slightly larger than ears raises to the sky, listening for the sounds of life."

Start with a capital letter ; larger than what ears? ; 'raises' -> time change from past to present... also physically slightly impossible that ears are rising except of course he has dog ears or the likes.

"Trock had been walking for two whole days since his last stop, at an old truck stop."

Stop used twice.

"The place had been abandoned, not even the old rats were still around."

Was he in that place before? If yes, it's fine;

"He sighed heavily, life was so lonely."

A comma doesn't seem to be enough here to create a pause. 'He sighed heavily ; life was so lonely.'

"Right. Your still with me."

'You're'

"His throat seemed to go dry as he spoke. He hadn't spoken to any one in so long, now his brother was trying to speak to him again."

'anyone', 'in so long' should be 'for so long' or 'for such a long time' ; 'now his' -> 'and yet here his'

"Ironic. Considering that Trocks twin brother had been the one who had condemned him to a life of lonelyness and and weary-some travels."

'Ironic, especially considering' otherwise the connection is a bit loose ; 'loneliness' ; two and's

"Trock manuvoured his right hand in front of him as he looked down at it."

Why does he have to look down at it if he moved it so that it's now in front of him? ; 'maneuvered', although the word seems a bit off, too ; 'Trock maneuvered his right hand so that it now was in front of him.'

"You left me alone so long ago, cuasing me too much pain. Now you try to come back into my life? You are the cause of even more pain! Leave me alone and stay away!"

'causing' ; Also 'You are the cause of even more pain' might sound better if he is referring to the future deeds of his brother. 'You will only cause even more pain!'

"Trock's voice had intensified and grown louder."

I would leave that out as it is obvious that he is yelling at the hand.

"Just go leave me alone!"

'Just go - leave me alone!'

"His right hand flexed into a fist. Tears were begining to drop from Trock's eyes."

Wrong time -> 'Tears started to drop from...'

"Trock grabbed his right hand with his left and leaned forward slightly before pushing forward with his left foot, then taking another with his rihgt."

'right' ; Also, taking another what with his right? You didn't mention step.

"He ran as fast as he could, his shoulders begining to sag as he ran. Trock tripped on a rather large stone and fell, landing on his face."

Better: 'Soon, he ran as fast...' Simply because the first few steps seem like such a struggle in your description that his movement has evolve first.

"You come back!?"

Not entirely sure what you wanted to do here, but I suppose it would be something like "What?! You are coming back?!?" or, if he actually hears words: "What do you mean, you are coming back?"

"His vision exploded into blackness as a sudden jolt of pain lanced from his right hand, through his arm, shoulder, and neck, then finaly into his brain."

Wrong commas and breaks in the flow of the sentence. 'from his right hand through his arm and shoulder, up to his neck and finally arrived in his brain.'

"Trock lay there, motionless, His brothers right hand pulling itself forward, dragging the rest of the body along with it."

'his' instead of 'His'. 'lay there, motionless while his brothers' right hand pulled itself forward... dragging the rest of the body along with it.'

In general, I notice some comma issues (like Alhaja pointed out, read the sentence aloud) and that you start a lot with the name of the character, his and her. Aside from that, I really have seen much worse when it comes to writing so don't get discouraged Smiley
Also, I am still German (and thus English is not my first language) so if I gave some advice here that is simply wrong don't hesitate to ignore or correct me Smiley

Hope I could help...[/b]
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falar
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« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2008, 03:35:00 AM »

Alright, thanks for the help.  =D>
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