This Lesson was about elements of story and fiction writing. This is my favorite topic to write about because reality sucks and I can build worlds and people I actually write about. Unlike this world and you, which I don’t.
There were 2 parts, the first was a description of the main character. A common technique to keep characters consistent in longer stories is to write down what the character is like ahead of time so you can reference it.
When I checked my score for this story, I found it was cut short. Maybe there’s a limit to the number of words? In any case, I added in the rest (as I remember it) which is the second quoted section with white text on a dark gray background.
I received full points for this assignment. There wasn’t a lot of feedback, but I’ll take it.
“Interesting read. I like it.”
Description of the main chracter:
A young-looking human man with tan skin, light blue-gray eyes, and a warm inviting smile. He’s of average height with a thin but athletic build, like a swimmer. He has light brown hair with streaks of black which he keeps short but is usually unkempt. When he does pay attention to his appearance, he parts his hair on the right and typically uses oil to keep his hair in place. He is most often found wearing a well warn set of leather boots, which look as though they’ve walked around the world a few times. As for his clothes, soft leather pants, a tunic made with a fine thread and a wool cloak are what he can be found in most of the time.
Story:
An old man, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of an old house, looks up from the wood he is whittling when he hears the squeak of the gate. Walking toward him is a young human man who looks like he has spent a lot of time outdoors. When their eyes meet, the young man’s mouth pulls back into a friendly smile and his eyes widen and seem to gleam.
“Hello!”, says the young man in a cheerful voice as he approaches the old man on the porch. “My name is Bill. I’m passing through and was told you let rooms. Would you have one available for the next day or two?”
“I has one free.”, replies the old man. “No vis’ters. No botherin’ da uder borders. No loud noise after dark. It’s tree copper a night. Fo if you’re wantin’ breakfast. Da missus makes fresh biscuits an eggs.”
“Biscuits and eggs!”, exclaims Bill. Looking to his left he sees some chickens scratching in the dirt. “Fresh, from the looks of it! I’ll take it!”
The old man stands as Bill reaches into his cloak and pulls out a small leather pouch. He unties the string sinching the bag shut and rummages around with his fingers until finally pulling out 8 small copper coins.
“Two nights with breakfast, good sir.”, he says, placing the coins in the outstretched hand of the old man.
The old man looks at the coins flipping each over. Satisfied they are good he gestures for Bill to follow him. They don’t enter the door facing the road, instead, they make their way around to the back of the house.
“Da privy’s dere.”, says the old man, pointing to a small shack about 20 ft from the back door. “You’ll be usin’ dis door fer commin’ an goin’.” He explains as they step into a small entryway. There is a door straight ahead, one to the right, and a steep narrow stairwell running against the outer wall of the house to the left. The old man points at the door across from the entry.
“In da mornin’, you’ll go trew dere to da kitchen fer breakfast. Me or da missus ‘ill call up when it’s ready.”
“I can’t wait! It’s been ages since I had biscuits!”, exclaims Bill. Clearly excited about the breakfast.
The old man cocks his head to the side and gives Bill a curious look. “Ok then. Yer rooms upstairs.”
Bill follows the old man up the stairs where they emerge at the far left side of the house at one end of a narrow hall that spans the width of the house. At either end is a small window, which is the only source of li
ght. There are three doors on the right side of the hallway. The old man goes down the hall stopping at the middle door, opens the door, and steps to the side.
“Dere ain’t a window but dere’s a lamp on the table and da sheets are clean.”, he says as he hands Bill the key. He turns and starts walking down the hall toward the steps.
“Thank you!” says Bill. The old man raised his hand above his head in response.
Bill steps into the dark room and raises the glass on the oil lamp exposing the wick. He looks toward the door before placing his finger on the wick and saying, “Light.”. The wick starts to burn bathing the room in a yellow light. He adjusts the wick until he gets the brightest flame without smoke, then closes and locks the door.