From: mumble@nomail.invalid   
      
   On 05/28/2014 12:20 PM, William Vetter wrote:   
   > On Wednesday, May 28, 2014 6:56:06 AM UTC-4, mumble wrote:   
   >   
   >>   
   >> Your piece is "the cat's ass" isn't it, you've lost me in two sentences.   
   >>   
   >>    Start scrapping it from the beginning, paragraph at a time, and see if   
   >>   
   >> anything is left; anyone who starts a piece like this has already gone   
   >>   
   >> far wrong.   
   >   
   > This isn't an opening; it's part of a scene in the early middle in a   
   manuscript of perhaps novella length.  Yes, it describes a kitten taking a   
   dump.   
      
   Every topic-sentence of every paragraph is an opening with regard to all   
   that follows.  The first objective should be to retain the reader's   
   attention; if you lose the reader, you've failed entirely.   
      
   Some may feel that it's acceptable to lose a few readers here and there,   
   but those who are no great loss are probably not reading to begin with,   
   and if the reader you lose is the one who determines which pile your   
   manuscript belongs in, well there you are.   
      
   Unless the reader finishes reading what you have written, you've wasted   
   time that could have been better spent drinking beer in front of the TV.   
      
   > It is much more difficult to be interesting writing about goofy British   
   aristocrats who fight over a silver cow creamer worth $200, than say a secret   
   agent blowing away terrorists and whose bosses are all moles.  That is the   
   fundamental issue that I'm    
   thinking about.   
      
   Apparently you think that a cat's crap is even less interesting than   
   pampered cows, and if that is the case, we agree.   
      
   You might wonder whether it is better to do something useless with great   
   skill, or adequately do something useful.   
      
   If there's no point to the story, there's no point to it; if it has a   
   point, distracting from it for the sake of a skillfully planted turd   
   could be a mistake.   
      
   > I don't know you, although I've written to you in posts a few times.  May I   
   ask if you're a writer of some sort making a comment about technique, or are   
   you a fan from rasfw giving me a sort of review?   
      
   It doesn't matter who or what I am, what matters is how my words affect   
   you; if they are not helpful, say so and I will stop.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)