Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and I diagnose them on the blog. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.
If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.
Submissions currently in the queue: Five
This week’s questions:
First, I'm curious what you think about the pacing and the level of detail, for a story that's going to take us through a big zombie slaughter at the 80-or-so% mark, before ending with a character moment. Is it too much, too little...too slow and charactery?
Also, Donna's character arc in the piece is from someone who puts her music first because she prefers to run away rather than face hard choices, to someone who puts her family first but will still hold on to her music. Is it necessary to establish All That up front? Or is a beginning that hints at it (her dedication to her act) an okay way to go about it? (FWIW, through the entire 675 word first scene, it's not established; it doesn't come into play until scene 2, when her husband dumps her by satellite phone)
Market/Genre: Fantasy/horror short story
On to the diagnosis…
