Answering Questions -
One of the joys when you read a story at a writer's group is the inevitable questions that follow. These are good, people are trying to find broken logic and inconsistencies. It makes for a stronger story. As an example, I offer up my latest short story, currently unnamed.
The story is about an unlikely pair started up a detective agency. They specialize (at least at first) in the kinds of things that happen in academia. In this particular case, a woman thinks her professor husband has a mistress. He denies it. The detectives are hired to find out the truth. They do, and before the dust settles, several people are dead. They decide to find out who did the killings. They do, and have a final confrontation.
So, the questions:
1) originally 6 people were killed. Why? - I, uh, you see, the bad guy...okay, I deleted two of the murders and references to those two victims. There was no plausible plot reason for the bad guy to off them.
2) the main character has a special talent. Can you make this evident earlier? I can plant more clues, but I don't want to come right out and say it. That's part of the mystery.
do you think your ending is pretty lame? You have the confrontation, the good guys win easily, and then depart the scene bidkering good-naturedly. It is pretty lame. I need to set up the confrontation, and make the main character more at risk.
3) what do you mean by 'once living'? Those are things that have lived, or are derived from living things. Metal hasn't. Contact lenses - no. True, oil comes from an organic chemical, but I'm going to decide that there was too much processing to that oil to make plastic for it to qualify. I did add a bit where the main character has a barrette in her hair, and loses some of that hair.
4)did the police really do a ballistics test in two hours? That only happens on the CSI shows. True. That's easily fixed. I'll put in references to shell casings that are awfully similar, leading the police to conclude it is very likely the same gun was used.
5) why in the world did the bad guy commit the murders? He tried to shakedown the professor, that didn't work, they had a fight, the prof got killed. He then shoots the girl to get rid of witnesses, and while driving away sees the Prof's wife and lawyer, and out of anger shoots them. I'll make that clearer in the story.
6) why didn't she use her special ability in the office at the start of the confrontation? She wasn't sure it would work, and she knew it took a second or two to happen. She'd have that time elsehwere (such as in the parking lot).
Mind you, that doesn't take into account any of the detailed things the group wanted to correct. I should be able to get a second draft out today. We'll see how it goes.
