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Age of Innocence, The (1993)
IMDB rating: 7.10
Plot: Society scion Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his well-ordered life is upset when he meets May’s unconventional cousin, the Countess Olenska. At first, Newland becomes a defender of the Countess, whose separation from her abusive husband makes her a social outcast in the restrictive high society of late-19th Century New York, but he finds in her a companion spirit and they fall in love.
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Directors: Scorsese Martin
Actors: Day-Lewis Daniel,McCowen Alec,Grant Richard E.,Leonard Robert Sean,Pryce Jonathan,Gough Michael,Wilson Stuart,Drama,Romance,
Writers, I need advice on finishing my first novel?
I have been trying to work on it for years, but I just can’t finish, and I’ve been working on it for years, putting it away for months at a time. Is there anything that I should do/know to manage to finish?
Here is a short story that is completely irrelevant to what will hopefully one day become a novel:
Kaya lay in the light colored grass, the wind lightly tickling as a breeze flew past. Flowers in a contrast of colors were scattered in the field. She was alone. The sky was peaceful, an elegant and pale shade of blue, clouds spread out within the sky.
Kaya’s thoughts ran everywhere, all seeming to demand that they be her one and only thought.
Kaya didn’t enjoy using her power, for it was one that while was not too strong or powerful, it was one that influenced much. The weather. That was in her control. That was a main power she had.
Her eyes flickered close, her mind concentrating. A light drizzle of rain was caused, all from a thought. And when she opened her eyes, she made the rain stop. Since she was alone, she took the time to test out her abilities. She made it snow, and then hail. Then, the sun was visible once again. Gray clouds disappeared, out of place when accompanied by the white.
Because she was different, she did not want to be betrayed. Which meant that no one could know of her secret. She trusted no one.
She made the air dry, making the grass warm and welcome. The temperature went up a small amount, just for her benefit. Then, she rested her head once again, and her eyes flickered back to the sky.
She laid on the grass still, and remained their for a hour.
She heard a person in the forest, leaves bristling against each other. Kaya looked back into the forest, lighter colors mixed with dark greens and browns. There were a pair of eyes, blue. They stood out. Then, they were gone.
They had seen her secret.
Kaya ran into the forest, following a small figure run throughout the forest. Darkness stalked the two of them, making it harder to see.
The witness was gone, and Kaya’s secret was out.
***
The windy and rainy night, yet it was all but forgotten from Chantum’s mind. He spotted his victim, a young girl with blond hair, innocence in her crystal blue eyes. And with a single look, she was dead, her frail body limp on the dampened stone. Chantum didn’t kill for necessity, but for the proof that he could.
Chantum walked out from a secure hiding space, a dark alley. His attire was a black suit, which naturally was spot-free. He ran a single hand through his long black hair, trailing down behind him.
He stared at a group of teenagers grouped together on the street, and one by one they fell to their death.
He had power, and he knew it was what made people tremble when he sought their death. Chantum knew the power laid in a black star, dark for the purpose of protecting his power. He had plotted the location himself, and him alone knew of it’s location.
But Chantum knew his latest plot couldn’t be done on his own, for it involved spirits, and a spirit he was not.
His weapon was to kill victims through a look of the eye, and the purpose was so he could snatch their spirits. But his prized victim was a woman named Kaya, no older than the age of twenty.
Kaya was powerful, but in a different way than himself. She could control the weather.
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Daybreak struck, and Chantum sought out the one that could control the weather. He wished to steal her spirit, which her talent was enclosed in. He would use her power to start an ice age, thus ending the world. Chantum would protect all the world, and transport all of the living to a different world which Chantum would create, and become the dictator of.
Chantum strode out into the meadow, where he secretly watched her perform her talents. The meadow was small, circled in thick bunches of trees and plants. It was peaceful, and she seemed to be relaxed. It helped to see the skills that would be stolen.
She sprinkled rain from the sky with a look of her eye, covering all of the meadow in refreshing liquid, all but from the spot she stood.
"Your talent, is it a burden, a curse?" Chantum spoke with a voice of peace and serenity.
Kaya jumped, and the dry spot from with she stood disappeared, and she got caught in the tears of the sky. "H-how did you find me?"
"I’ve had my eye on your for quite some time, my dear." I turned to study her pale face, but she didn’t allow her face to be in sight. My firm hand stroked her cheek once, yet he never looked at her face.
"I could teach you how to control your powers. I am like you, although I do not control the sky." I strode away from her, my back facing her petite figure.
"Who are you?"
"Chantum Stan," he replied, his composure swift and calm. She gasped.
"Alas, we are together again." She slowly turned.
He face was of recognition. Her mother was his lost love.
Like you, I too have been working on my novel for years. I’ve just now started to make extreme progress.
My technique to getting closer to the finish line is pretty simple. I bring a notebook wherever I go, and if I feel inspired one moment, I’ll write that down. I have gotten so much done by this process, that I highly recommend it.
And if that doesn’t work, try doing yoga and deep breathing, or even listening to inspirational music. Noctura is a great unsigned band on myspace that has very nice lyrics. It gets me inspired all the time.
I love your writing, by the way. Keep at it!
Hope I helped.
Bella Beautiful | Jan 14, 2010
not bad
Mia | Jan 14, 2010
I think it’s wonderful. You really have talent, and I’d like to read more. Some parts were a little bit wordy, and there were a few spelling/grammatical mistakes, but that’s what editing is for. Keep doing what you’re doing, with talent like that, you could go places.
Gabe | Jan 14, 2010
pretty nice ^_^
Cookiesluver | Jan 14, 2010
Just perusing it I could see that the language and what not was professional enough.
I too have been struggling to write a novel. Now, I don’t know about you, but the main factors that keep me from working on my novel are time and motivation (ie. When I have the motivation I don’t have the time and when I have the time I don’t have the motivation).
My advise: just write.
Keep writing, and if you hit writer’s block or something like that try a little technique I made up called "situational improvisation" (which may or may not already exist). Basically how it works is that you just map out the major events that you want in the book, then to get from event to the next just improvise, don’t even really plan on the what happens in the filler. To me, I feel like this gives the story a much more organic aspect because it forces you to constantly change the situation at hand while still holding on to the objective result. It lends more room to screw around with what the characters are faced with. Hell, I’ve even come up with entire subplots based off how my imagination wanders as I write a conversation.
That’s a rather bad explanation but you should get the jest of what the strategy entails.
Even if this doesn’t really suit the story, outlining where you want the plot to go on pencil and paper is a good way to stay on track and if you dig organizatino it even makes it easy to schedule how you’re gonna write the book, make deadlines for when you want to reach a certain event in the book.
CJ | Jan 14, 2010
wait! so… her mom… is his ex-girlfriend type thing? Well… how much of an age difference are they?
Michaela N | Jan 14, 2010
Add a whole bunch more detail. Spell proof. Here’s an idea: add more characters. Their eye colors could change color or something? Or a certain substance that fuels their powers? give some details for all and possibly add humans? I really hope this helps.
Poetly | Jan 14, 2010
You’re a good writer. I like books about mythological stuff like that. I write too. I’m actually working on a story right now. The only things I noticed in your writing was that sometimes you use the same word a lot within a few sentences, like "Kaya ran into the forest, following a small figure run throughout the forest." You might want to use different wording like "woods" or "trees" or something to sound a little less repetitive and make the sentence flow easier. Just something I noticed as I was reading. Also be careful about keeping your point of view consistent, like in the sentence "My firm hand stroked her cheek once, yet he never looked at her face." You go from first person using "my" to third person using "he" in the same sentence. Maybe that was just a one-time mistake because you were on a role though lol. I’m not a pro at this myself and I catch myself doing the same things all the time but it’s easier to spot mistakes when reading a work from an outside perspective I guess.
As far as finishing a novel..I don’t know how to be much help seeing as I seem to have the same problem. Writers block. Or just lack of free time. I think you kind of just have to make yourself sit down and write a little each day. I have yet to even come close to finishing my novel, but good luck to you! You definitely have great potential from what I can see =)
flippinoutinfl | Jan 14, 2010
Did you make a detailed plan of your novel first? If you did, maybe it’s time to go back to it. If you didn’t it’s not to late. One you know how it’s going to end it should be easier to get there.
Maybe you just need to change focus. If I find a piece of writing isn’t going anywhere I switch lead characters. sometimes one of your other characters has developed in a different way.
You also need to find inspiration, read books with similar story ideas, documentaries, movies, music. Even just observing people. If you can’t find something to trigger the desire to finish this novel, maybe it’s not meant to be and you should try something else. Maybe in ten years or longer the rest of the story will come to you. Don’t force it or you won’t be satisfied with the results.
In regards to your short story:
you need to work on your descriptions. Instead of saying light coloured grass you need to describe it in more concrete way. Light coloured could mean green, brown, blue, pink. What colour is the grass?
Also when you say she’s changing the weather show the reader rather than telling them.
Your story itself is an interesting idea, but you need to work on how you offer it to your reader.
roadtripper | Jan 14, 2010
I also love to write as a hobby but hope one day something might get published.
Take a creative writing class at the local community college class, they are really helpful and give nice perspective in the writing scene. The opinion of a teacher and others are really insightful. But dont forget, NEGETIVE critisism is way better than good comments. Dont get emotional and take things personal but really listen and try to improve. i dont mean abandon your style or plots, but its always good to listen and to not be ignorant and think that you are already perfect.
Its also important to know your audiance and try to focus on them and not try to please everyone because that is impossible.
Also, are you writing to tell a good story or to prove a point? I got a friend who has such a grasp of the english langauge that everything he writes is great. Even the creative writing club at school is overwhelmbed by him. But because of that, most people just say its good so they accept it at face value without understanding the point. Its basically to smart for people. People (not person) are dumb and if you want to prove something like a moral or value, you might need to simplify it.
With the characters, make sure you let them grow… if you try and force them to be a certain way, it feels unnatural and the story feels forced with no life. Let the characters do their own thing and be their own persons. if not, a part of you will always be reflected in them in all your stories and you wont be able to adapt. they will always feel the same…
lastly, have fun
TheCrazier | Jan 14, 2010
