Children/Young Adult/Young at Heart or perhaps furry fandom; anthropomorphic animals
Length: 1000
Looking for full crits, please!
Just a few lines to give you the flavour, but not 13 since it is a short piece:
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“But it’s not me!!” Kitter wailed. “It’s that old crow! And he stole one of the lady’s diamond earrings yesterday. She’ll blame me for that too, as soon as she misses it.”
Regal listened gravely as the delicate white Angora cat related her troubles.
“She's threatening to take me back to the pound if I don’t stop stealing.” Kitter couldn’t have looked more miserable if she had just been given a bath.
posted
Personally, I would stop immediately after the second exclamation mark; I just find that sort of punctuational variance to be irritating.
Posts: 697 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I think that double punctuation marks are NEVER necessary in print (some internet chat posts can be an exception, but we are talking about publication here). Find a way to create the scene to emphasize the mood, and you won't need the extra punctuation. I only rarely use exclamation marks at all as a rule, again, because I find other ways to express the sentiment. I do admit that on one occasion I have used them lightly throughout a piece as a deliberate character voice, in my story Weikal Woman, but even then I got some reader feedback that they didn't think the punctuation necessary.
Excessive exclamation points have a tendency to distract rather than emphasize an emotion.
the phrase "furry fandom" gives me the fear, though. you're definitely writing in a genre I'm not familiar with. maybe furries have more generous punctuation usage than non-furries.
posted
Whew! Been a little while, but I still wanted to thank all that read and crit'd, and those that gave comments here.
Beth, on "furry fandom": It's certainly not the market that I would choose first for any story, but researching markets for this tale at least revealed a potential home that I had not considered previously. Interestingly enough, some of the furry 'zines actually pay as much as some of the mainstream.
posted
oh, I'm sure they do. Niche markets tend to pay well, particularly when the niche is as, ah, enthusiastic as the furries. I'm quite certain they're less competitive than, say, F&SF, too.
[This message has been edited by Beth (edited June 03, 2005).]
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