《Essie's Critiques》The Stargazer | Annie_Hegde
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This is the story of two Jewish girls in Poland during the Second World War. A happy ending? Time will tell.
Always on the move, the two girls learn the meaning of love through their adventures. A poignant tale of trust, danger, life, and hope, The Stargazer shows the meaning of hope through words woven together.
The title is easily the largest text on the cover, and the font used is easy to read and fits with the cover theme. The quality of the photo was good, and can easily attract a lot of attention from potential readers. Well done here!
When I typed your title into the search bar on Wattpad, quite a few books with the same title popped up. The title didn't capture my attention as well as the cover did, and I have yet to find how it's significant to your story. However, I'm sure there's an important meaning behind the title that'll be revealed later throughout the story. As long as you believe it accurately represents your story, you're good to go.
There weren't any grammatical errors, and while it was short and concise, it was missing something. I found it to be too vague. Is the story just going to focus on the hardships of being Jewish during the war, or is there a more specific triggering action here? Is there a specifically important scene that affects the entire story and have you thought about hinting at it in your blurb? What about including a short (but important) excerpt from your story?
I was a bit confused with the way you started out. I caught one grammatical error, and although you started off with the right concept, I feel that you didn't display the information the best you could. How can you rephrase these first sentences to sound better? What imagery can you include, or metaphors to further hook in readers?
I was impressed by the lack of grammar errors. However, I found that there were some repetitive, frequent comma mistakes. Commas are used to separate different clauses within a sentence. An independent clause is a phrase with a subject and a predicate (the action in the phrase). In the clause, "I ran away," the subject is "I," and the predicate is "ran away." If there are two clauses within a sentence, joined with a conjunction, the two clauses need to be separated. In the sentence, "I ran away and Billy chased after me," there are two clauses. The first is "I ran away," and the second is, "Billy chased after me." You know that this is an independent clause because it has a subject "Billy," and a predicate "chased after me." The two clauses are joined with the conjunction, "and." Therefore, a comma should be placed. The correction would be: "I ran away, and Billy chased after me." There are also dependent clauses, which also have a subject and predicate. The different here is that the dependent clause is dependent, meaning that it's connected to the main clause. For example, the sentence, "I decided not to," it's a dependent clause because it doesn't hold any significance on its own. It should be connected to another clause that further explains the what and why. For dependent clauses, they can also be separated with a comma from the main clause, but it varies on the different sentence structures you use. Commas are also used to separate introductory words or phrases from the main clause. In the sentence, "Today I went home," the main clause is "I went home," as it has a subject and predicate. The word "Today" is not part of the clause, so it should be separated with a comma. The correction would be, "Today, I went home." Keep these rules in mind for future writing.
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I found several instances where you misspelled words (such as names) or used incorrect filler words within a sentence. I've pointed them out in your chapter review for you, but make sure to thoroughly edit and proof-read your writing before uploading a chapter on Wattpad.
Your plot is definitely unique compared to most story plots on Wattpad. You're addressing things that most writers shy away from. I can definitely see your story going in the right direction, but I'll caution you that there are stories with this type of storyline out there. Make sure to make yours stand out as much as possible, and don't be afraid to highlight each scene.
You wrote each scene with almost a glimpse into each character, and I didn't get a great visual of your protagonist. I suggest slowing down when you write to describe her inner turmoils and personality. Let her habits slip through and her reactions to certain situations. Keep in mind that you want your readers to become attached to your characters first before doing anything, or they won't be moved by your story.
You have a lovely, established writing style that I was able to sense during this critique. It was, however, "hazy," if that's the right word for it. It's as though you struggled to connect with your writing, and you were distant from everything, as though you didn't know enough about your characters or setting to write about it. Familiarize yourself with these things before writing about them. Take the time to use sensory detail and describe certain things. Describe how Leilla feels being an orphan and don't skip over these important moments.
You wrote many scenes jumping all over the place, and your scenes were so short it was hard to keep up with them all. I highly suggest slowing down, and instead of summarizing each situation (such as the night the neighborhood burned down), describe it as though it were happening at that moment. Describe the color of the flames, and the devastation of losing a loved one. That way, your audience can keep up, and you can invoke emotion within readers.
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"But not for these two, their life will be different." (p.1). Since you're speaking of two girls, plural, you should also convert "life" to be plural. Correction: "But not for these two, their lives will be different."
In paragraph 3, you misspelled Leilla as "Leila."
"The baker's daughter was a sweet girl of ten..." (p.3). Shouldn't this be at ten, not of ten? Suggestion/Correction: "The baker's daughter was a sweet girl at ten..."
"Although her eyes were as dark as Leora's, her eyes told a different tale..." (p.5). This sentence is awkward, as you've mentioned "her eyes," twice. Instead, replace it with the subject pronoun "they." Suggestion: "Although her eyes were as dark as Leora's, they told a different tale..."
"Today they were leaving from Bielsko-Biała, after spending time with the baker's family." (p.6). The comma used here is misplaced. The main clause here is that they left after spending time with the family. The subject in this clause is "they," and the predicate (action) is that they left after spending time with the baker's family. Therefore, the word "Today," is not part of the main clause, as it's an introductory word. It should be separated from the main clause with a comma. Correction: "Today, they were leaving from Bielsko-Biała after spending time with the baker's family."
"The baker's wife was the one Leilla called 'Soft Dough'..." (p.6). You're missing a comma here. Correction: "The baker's wife was the one Leilla called, 'Soft Dough'..."
"Today they were leaving from Bielsko-Biała, after spending time with the baker's family." (p.6). You repeated this sentence twice in paragraph 6. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but if it was, I suggest removing it, as it's sending the same message across.
In paragraph 6, I suggest writing out numbers. Instead of writing, "4," write, "four." That way, it will look more professional and less lazy for your audience.
"...her big round eyes..." (p.7). Since you're listing words here, there should be a comma. Correction: "...her big, round eyes..."
I enjoyed the metaphors/similes and diction you used in your writing! I wasn't too sure about the way you formatted your writing, and you seemed to be skipping around different scenarios in this chapter. I suggest writing them all in order and in more detail, as to not confuse your reader.
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