Re: Science Fiction Critiques

Title: Wayward Length, Draft and Language: I’m currently working on the second draft. The whole thing is scattered in pieces around my laptop so I’m not sure exactly how long it is – probably about 40k – 50k. Brief Summary: Hazard Bloom, an agent of the Federal Bureau of Time and Space, must get to the bottom of a grassroots anti-government moment started by an old friend and decide where he stands. Meanwhile, an alternate version of his future self tries to thwart his efforts and make sure that Bloom becomes that future version. Sub Genre & Keywords: Soft sci-fi, time travel, struggles against self, moral issues. Known Issues: Probably has gaping plotholes and continuity issues, weak characterization of MC at points. Critique Requested: Everything from oddly worded sentences to pacing/plot and characterization. Mainly, does the plot make sense and are the characters believable? Critique Tolerance: Constructive criticism – don’t crush my soul, but tell me what I need to know to make my story/writing better! Experience & Goals – This isn’t the first novel I’ve tried to write but it’s the first one that’s come anywhere close to finished. I’m trying to get it ready for the Scholastic Art and Writing competition, so my current goal is to get about 20k mostly polished and flowing smoothly in two or three months. After that, I’ll probably work more slowly towards getting the whole thing in a well-paced/sensible state. Method of Communication: Nanomail and then email. Anything else? There are some dark moments – suicidal thoughts, character with self-destructive tendencies. I’m trying to rewrite/edit chapter by chapter, so there isn’t a ton of ready-to-read material right now. The first couple chapters will probably be very rough/need to change a lot for world-building and technology. Thanks!