69/100 Angel110 - Extra-Curricular Activities

The Library Archives
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

Extra-Curricular Activities
written by Angel110
reviewed by -Tigress-

 

Title: 9/10
Your title fits with your story and plot very well, my only issue with it is that it is a very generic title. I searched the title here on AFF, actually, and came up with more than ten other stories named that. Do be careful when you are naming your stories that it's not a name that has been used a lot. A more unique title will draw your curious eyes to see what the title is all about. 

 

Plot: 22/35

                2/5: Originality
                There was one thing that really affected this portion, and that was that it is very predictable. As I read I could predict what would happen in nearly every scene. Throwing in a new twist every so often would make your story more original; otherwise, it is much like any other teacher-student story out there.

                7/10: Believability
                Let me first point out what I absolutely loved. The conversations between the characters feel so natural, like listening to two people actually talk. Your characters have a natural rapport that is really rare in stories, even published ones, so I really have to applaud this!!!
                That being said, now I have to get to the dirty details. I am a long time out of school but I found it pretty unbelievable the many different things that the homeroom teacher taught. I didn't subtract for this because I truly do not remember homeroom myself, but are those (the book reading, the drama, the writing competition) truly things that a homeroom teacher would be in charge of? I would find it a lot more believable if you had him teaching theater or creative writing, the latter being a better choice to me, and sticking with that.
               Secondly, I have to admit that the thought of a seventeen year old boy being so coddled by his mother is really strange to me. At seventeen, I cannot imagine ANY boy who would do so, but maybe that's just me. It does come off as a little Norman Bates-ish to me, though.
               Using a fanfiction for a writing competition is not allowed, at least not one in which money/scholarship is involved. Technically that would be breaking copyright rules. Simply change the fact that Minseok says it is about a band and say they are original characters, and viola! Problem solved. On that note, though, I found it incredibly brilliant for you to use a story that you had written as being the one they wrote. Bravo!
               One final note. The 'deciding if he was gay' thing really kind of bothered me. He would know at that time, and the fact that he was unsure makes it sound to me like he is bi-ual. To say that he suddenly discovered his attraction to men from one kiss is completely unrealistic and could possibly come off as a bit offensive if someone who is gay read your story... you make it sound like a choice when it is simple biology.

                10/10: Narration
                Ah, as always, your writer's voice is incredible. I love the way you set up your stories, it makes for such a wonderful read.

                3/10: Setting
                Once again I have to get onto you here. We need more description of the surroundings of their everyday lives!!! I will quote from my previous review... Description is so important in a story because you need to be able to connect with your readers not only through the characters but through your setting. Adding in details of the school itself, what he has inside of his locker, what does the library look like, where does he sit in Heechul's classroom, etc, will help bring your story to life.

 

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
Amalya
#1
Chapter 22: After finally finishing writing It Begins With Blood (still posting the last couple chapters), I decided to revisit the previous review. It still has just as much impact now as it did then, if not more so. There are certainly many things I could go back and change to make it more accessible to readers and more pertinent to the tags specifically listed. As I got to the end, it definitely felt even harder to juggle the people I'd introduced and to make sure they all had some sort of resolution. To the point that I'm not sure I succeeded even half as well as I intended. But I do know that with the sound critique given, the access to the polls taken, and the suggestions made in regards to how I can make it better, this is certainly a project I would like to put under the microscope again at a later point in time. Perhaps when it's not so fresh (now) and it's had a chance to settle. Writing 'The End' is always hard with any extensive piece of work and this one was no different. But I do feel I can make it better and give it a stronger direction and purpose in the future. To that end, I wanted to thank Amber_Sica again and especially you Librarian for keeping the reviews in an easily accessible archive for later perusal. It's incredibly helpful and I will be coming back to it in the future. Cheers!