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Date Posted: 22:25:02 07/31/01 Tue
Author: Esme
Subject: AU Untitled 1
In reply to: Esme 's message, "Okay..." on 22:21:07 07/31/01 Tue

Michael smiled as he tucked Adam in his bed. They went through the nightly ritual of bath, teeth, prayers, and bed. Michael told his son a story and smiled when he saw him sleeping. He kissed him, turned out the light, and closed the door slightly, with a murmured �I love you.�

He sighed as he sat on the couch at a lose of what to do next. He looked around his newly furnished apartment and closed his eyes is happiness. He would start his first year of college in three weeks and he was going to UCLA. He had moved from his mother�s house to an apartment, a fifteen minute drive away, two weeks ago. His thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. He moved to the end of the couch and reached for it before it woke Adam.

�Hello,� he answered sitting leaning back on the couch.

�Michael?� He heard his girlfriend�s voice on the other end.

�Kita? Where are you?� He asked curiously. She had been on vacation for the summer and he smiled happily at hearing her voice.

�I�m at home. I just got back from the airport. I decided I missed everyone and wanted to come home early. So here I am.� She explained.

�I wish you would have told me. I wanted to be there when you came back. How is your mother?� He asked lying on the couch.

�She�s okay. She says hello. I�m sorry baby, I wish you could have been there. I miss you.� She said softly.

�I miss you, too. So what did you do in Australia?� He asked closing his eyes as he listened to her voice. He smiled when she got excited about some of the things she saw.

�I�m happy you had fun. You sound tired.� He stated softly.

�I am. I think I hear the bed calling my name.� She remarked chuckling.

�Okay, well, I�ll let you go to bed. I�ll see you later.� He said sitting up.

�Okay, I love you, Michael.� She said softly.

�I love you, too, Kita. Sweet dreams.� He said as he hung up the phone.

He went to the kitchen, drank some milk and went to perform his nightly ablutions before going to bed. As he lay in bed, he thought of Nikita and how he couldn�t wait to see her. She had been in Australia for a month and he had missed her like crazy. He yawned and said his nightly prayers before sleep claimed him.

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[> AU Untitled 2 -- Esme, 22:26:23 07/31/01 Tue

Michael held Adam�s hand as he knocked on Nikita�s door. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He shook his head and smiled at himself. Only Nikita could make him feel this way. He looked up as the door opened.

�Hi, Mr. Wolfe.� Michael said shaking his hand.

�Hello, Michael. Nikita�s in the living room. Hello Adam.� Paul said kneeling in front of him, gesturing for Michael to say hello to his daughter.

Michael nodded his thanks and went to see his girlfriend. He stopped short at the sight of her. She was tanned, her hair was long, and her eyes were bright as she looked at him.

�Hi.� She said with a shy smile.

�Hello.� He said going to her.

He enveloped her in his arms without another word, burying his face in her hair. He breathed deeply as her arms wrapped around him. He pulled back to look in her eyes before his mouth lowered to hers.

Nikita sighed as his lips pressed against her softly. She held him closer as she deepened the kiss her tongue caressing his mouth. He moaned in the back of his throat and she smiled breaking the kiss.

�What are you doing here?� She asked leaning into his neck as her father came in.

�I couldn�t wait to see you, so I decided to drop in. Disappointed?� He asked tightening his arms around her.

�Never.� She whispered kissing him quickly on the lips as she went over to Adam.

Nikita smiled as the little boy ran into her arms. She hugged him and looked at Michael, smiling. Adam was talking excitedly about how much he missed her and what did she do in Australia.

�I�ll show you pictures, okay.� Nikita said, kissing Adam�s nose.

�Kay, Kita.� Adam said hugging her once more before letting go.

Nikita walked past Michael and grasped his hand on the way to her room. Michael smiled at Paul before he got up to follow her. He smiled as he saw her bent over her suitcase. He stood close to her, grasping her hips and pulling her back against him. His smile widened as he heard her giggle when she felt him through her shorts.

�My father and your son are downstairs, Michael. We don�t have time to play.� She remarked, laughter in her voice.

�I know. I just wanted to touch you without anyone looking. So, any cute guys in Australia?� He asked sitting on her bed watching her rummage through her suitcase.

�Oh yeah, lots of them.� She remarked.

�They heard all about you though. My mom thought I was crazy not to take advantage. But when I talked about you she saw how deeply, madly, and desperately in love with you I am.� She said sitting on his lap, waving the pictures under his nose.

�Mhmm.� Michael murmured as he kissed her neck. His tongue leaving a wet trail along her pulsing vein.

�Maybe I should go away more often.� She said breathlessly, followed by a low moan as Michael lightly bit her skin.

�Don�t you dare. I�d go crazy.� He whispered his breath hot against her neck.

They looked up at a throat clearing. Nikita blushed as she saw his father looking at them with a raised eyebrow. He held Adam in his arms and looked pointedly at the pictures in Nikita�s hand.

�Sorry.� Michael said as Nikita got off his lap and they all walked downstairs to look at Nikita�s pictures.

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[> [> A couple things I noticed....(r) -- Schnee, 17:55:25 08/01/01 Wed

The first is something that my high school English teacher critiqued about my writing. The problem was I wrote most of my sentences as subject-verb-predicate, subject-verb-predicate...etc. It tends to make for plain writing. Try mixing it up a bit, using different sentence structures. Also, substitute Michael for 'He' every few times so it is not so repeititive AND so we know you are referring to Michael and not Adam.

I'll use your first paragraph as an example: (this is just a quick rewrite to show you another way to describe that scene)

After completing their nightly ritual of bath, teeth and prayers, Michael helped Adam to slide under the spiderman covers of his bed. With a smile pursed on his lips, Michael carefully tucked the crisp sheets around the boy, thankful for the gift of such a thoughtful and inquisitive son. Before Michael could leave his side, Adam pleaded for a bedtime story. Michael couldn't say no. Picking out one of Adam's books from the bookshelf, Michael sat on the bed next to Adam. Setting one arm around Adam, Michael used his free hand to hold the child's book, while he began to read the same story he had read on many a night before.

Okay...that may not be the best writing example, but I'm trying to show that you can incorporate more description in your sentences, by adding clauses, adjectives, adverbs, etc. A good way to do this is by walking Michael through the scene step by step. By doing this you can really key into the setting of the story as well as clueing your reader in about the details of your AU world. (Which is the second thing I noticed...Not much detail about where these characters are.)

A good article on how to put enough description in your settings can be found here.

And through Michael's actions you can indicate to your reader what his attitude is toward his son.

I think that will get you started. I know Shanola will do a far better job than I...she's the resident surgeon. *g*

Good Luck. :) I hope you post more as you make progress with it. Good writing comes with practice, and from viewing the styles of other writers. Read, read, read. :) The more styles you read, the more tricks you'll learn. And then you will have the tools to create a style of your own.

Schnee

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[> [> [> LOL....I didn't follow my own advise....(r) -- Schnee, 18:00:57 08/01/01 Wed

I used all 'Michael' in that paragraph. I'd normally use he in a couple places, lol. :)

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[> [> [> [> Thanks and waiting for more...(r) -- Esme, 21:39:08 08/01/01 Wed

Thanks for the tips. It helps a lot. It makes a lot of sense, I'll be doing some rewriting. =) I knew what you meant though even if you didn't follow your own advice. =D I haven't taken English in a while so if you all can be patient with me I promise that everything will get better as I practice. =)

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[> [> More in reply (second attempt!LOL) -- Shanola, 18:47:19 08/04/01 Sat

Sorry I couldn't do this all at once, but here's the rest. I'll put a few final comments at the end.*g*

Again, I'll set things off in bold. SF is a marker for Sentence Fragments.

Michael held Adam�s hand as he knocked on Nikita�s door. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He shook his head and smiled at himself. Only Nikita could make him feel this way. He looked up as the door opened.

Building a little on what Schnee was talking about (and hey! No pressure AT ALL Schnee, eh?LOL), I'm going to insert a few lines into the above paragraph to show you how the flow could be improved a bit. Added words will be set off in italics.

Michael held Adam�s hand as he knocked on Nikita�s doorthen took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He shook his head and smiled at himself; only Nikita could make him feel this way. Shaking his head ruefully,He looked up as the door opened.

�Hi, Mr. Wolfe.� Michael said shaking his hand.SF

�Hello, Michael. Nikita�s in the living room. Hello Adam.� Paul said kneeling in front of him, gesturing for Michael to say hello to his daughter.SF

Michael nodded his thanks and went to see his girlfriend.This seems odd, here. You've already established that his girlfriends name is Nikita. I thing it would sound more personal if he used it here. He stopped short at the sight of her. She was tanned, her hair was long, and her eyes were bright as she looked at him.

Was her hair short when he last saw her? I mean, summer holiday's usually only last three months at the most. Unless her hair grows really fast, it wouldn't change much, I think. Unless it was really short, but then I doubt it would be long in that time frame. Instead, you may want to comment on the color. Hair can lighten dramatically in the sun in a few short months. Just a thought.*g*

�Hi.� She said with a shy smile.SF

�Hello.� He said going to her.SF

He enveloped her in his arms without another word, burying his face in her hair. He breathed deeply as her arms wrapped around him. He pulled back to look in her eyes before his mouth lowered to hers.

Nikita sighed as his lips pressed against her softly. She held him closer as she deepened the kiss her tongue caressing his mouth.####"...held him closer as she deepened the kiss,###Comma### her tongue carressing his mouth.#### He moaned in the back of his throat and she smiled breaking the kiss. He moaned in the back of his throat and she smiled,###Comma### breaking the kiss.

�What are you doing here?� She asked leaning into his neck as her father came in.SF

�I couldn�t wait to see you, so I decided to drop in. Disappointed?� He asked tightening his arms around her.SF

�Never.� She whispered kissing him quickly on the lips as she went over to Adam.SF

Nikita smiled as the little boy ran into her arms. She hugged him and looked at Michael, smiling. Adam was talking excitedly about how much he missed her and what did she do in Australia. What did she do or what she did in Australia?

�I�ll show you pictures, okay.� Nikita said, kissing Adam�s nose.SF

�Kay, Kita.� Adam said hugging her once more before letting go.SF

Nikita walked past Michael and grasped his hand on the way to her room. Michael smiled at Paul before he got up to follow her. He smiled as he saw her bent over her suitcase.Lots of smiling going on in these two sentence. You may want to restructure these so the word 'smiled' isn't usued so closely together. He stood close to her, grasping her hips and pulling her back against him. His smile widened as he heard her giggle when she felt him through her shorts. Brave thing for Michael to do when Nikita's dad is downstairs. Very, very brave, considering he has a child already.

�My father and your son are downstairs, Michael. We don�t have time to play.� She remarked, laughter in her voice.SF

�I know. I just wanted to touch you without anyone looking. So, any cute guys in Australia?� He asked sitting on her bed watching her rummage through her suitcase.SF

�Oh yeah, lots of them.� She remarked.SF

�They heard all about you ,###Comma### though. My mom thought I was crazy not to take advantage.Advantage of what? But when I talked about you she saw how deeply, madly, and desperately in love with you I am.� She said sitting on his lapWhen did she get in his lap?, waving the pictures under his nose.SF

�Mhmm.� Michael murmured as he kissed her neck.SF His tongue leaving a wet trail along her pulsing vein.SF.

�Maybe I should go away more often.� She said breathlessly, followed by a low moan as Michael lightly bit her skin.SF

�Don�t you dare. I�d go crazy.� He whisperedComma his breath hot against her neck.SF

They looked up at a throat clearing.So...is a throat clearing anything like a forest clearing? Does it exist on the ceiling or above the door? Got to be someplace high, 'cause they looked up. Actually, what I THINK you mean to say is something along the lines of "They looked up at the sound of a throat clearing. 'Cause a throat clearing is more of a sound than a place, right? Nikita blushed as she saw his father ####his father or her father?? looking at them with a raised eyebrow. He held Adam in his arms and looked pointedly at the pictures in Nikita�s hand.

�Sorry.� Michael said as Nikita got off his lap and they all walked downstairs to look at Nikita�s pictures.SF

Okay, a few general comments on this.*g*

I admit, I haven't read the prequel to this story, so I'm not quite certain where Michael got Adam. Still, Michael is eighteen (or around there, right?) and he has a son. A son who can talk. Seems to me Michael got started awfully early on having kids. And if I were Nikita's father, I'm not sure I'd let my daughter near him. After all, he got one girl pregnant, right?

And I have a hard time believing an eighteen year old boy would move out of his Mom's house to care for his child while he went to college. Hard life, that. And most guy's at eighteen aren't ready/willing to raise a child by themselves. I say most, because I don't like to make general assumptions. It's very possible that some eighteen year old men take the full responsibility for their children, and Michael could be one of them. It's just that it's a hard, hard road to travel.

But...those are problems I could overlook if the story is well written. You've got an interesting concept here and I'd like to see you explore it more. How will Michael deal with Adam when he has to study for an exam and Adam wants Coco Puffs and he wants them NOW! ? That should be interesting to watch.

As for improving your writing, you've taken the first step by posting here. Schnee has pointed out several good starting places for you. I would also point out the need to watch your grammar a bit more closely. There are places that need commas and places that don't need periods. These are things you can fix, or a beta reader can catch for you.

I'm looking forward to seeing your rewrite on this. I think that Schnee's advice about sentence structure will make a nice impact on readability and flow.

Keep writing and posting! Sounds like you've got a nice foundation on which to play.*g*

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