MisterTheEdge wrote:I can say one thing though. I'm not really a fan of list stories. Those are stories that start off giving character description before the story and then quickly go by what's happening. They aren't constructed in a story format. I feel that people doing stories like that aren't used to writing in prose so just don't. They should try screenwriting though.
I'd have to go along with this. Character lists are sort of dry. For example:
Characters:
Jimmy, 12, dark hair, green eyes, wearing faded blue jeans and a red hoodie
Johnny, 12 blond hair, brown eyes, wearing brown corduroy pants and a yellow T-shirt
And similar descriptions for Jerry, Joey, Jeff, and a kid nicknamed "Jinx."
Integrate these into the story, and you come off a lot better:
"12 year old Jimmy struggled with the knots that held his hands behind his back. The dark-haired boy thought, in hindsight, that he should have worn his red sweat pants that matched his hoodie, because they were a little thicker, and would have kept his ankles from being tied as tight as they were. Instead, he had opted for his favorite pair of faded blue jeans, and was paying the price. He was grateful that this was just a contest between him and his best friend, Johnny, and not the real thing.
He looked across the room at Johnny, a blond boy just six weeks older, and thought that this should be piece of cake. He reasoned that because Johnny was wearing a pair of brown corduroy pants, which were thinner than his (Jimmy's) jeans, and a yellow T-shirt, which meant that Johnny was tied against his bare skin, instead of over a sweat shirt, like he was, that therefore, Johnny would have a more difficult time getting loose. Both boys, who had been gagged with red bandanas, silently agreed on one thing: Their friend, Billy, nicknamed "Jinx," knew his knots well." Well, I missed the eye color, but was it really integral to the story? Still, you get the idea. Age, hair color, and apparel are woven in to the story, and the descriptions are "more interesting" than a dry list.
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