I would like to know as a reader which of the two opening paragraphs below makes you want to read more?
1. The explosion could be heard for miles and the scent of smoke from the fading buildings tainted the air for days afterwards. Maud, a nine year old little girl was found in the nearby cemetery, huddled by the cemetery wall shortly after it happened, she was discovered to be the daughter of the local priest, Father O’Hara and his wife Mildred O’Hara, they were killed in the blast and half the church had gone too.
2. Smoke and dust filled the air and sirens deafened all around. Her eyes filled with tears as she saw her home being bombed by the unknown attackers of her city; a little girl no younger than nine was holding onto her ears with her eyes closed crouching by a tombstone in the local cemetery nearby. It was an awful sight; it was an awful noise, much more awful for a little girl like Maud. After a while somebody found her crouching there all alone. They asked her name, they asked where she lived but all she could do was cry and point at the pile of smoking rubble that was her home.
This is based on the novel I was writing for NaNoWriMo, the first paragraph is the absolute first draft of this story, and the second paragraph is the revised second draft.
Would you keep either of the paragraphs or revise again?
A little information here, I never completed NaNoWriMo or this novel, the story is on hold until after Christmas. I managed to write approximately 37,000 words towards this and I didn’t consider it to be a half way point.
Filed under: About my work Tagged: cemetary, creative writing, draft, explosion, fantasy, Maud, NaNoWriMo, novel, paragraph, revise, revision, story, work, write, writer