Any Beta Readers Out There?

[paranoiawilldestroy]

Writing a novel. Need some feedback. Anyone interested?

 

I'm on Chapter 5 of 9 of Act 3 (56k word count thus far, roughly). I'll attach my synopsis. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm an amateur, and before undertaking this project, I was mega amateur, with some pieces (somehow) getting placed.

I also studied writing in my mid 20s and got selected to represent the college in short story contests. Like I said though, I'm sure there's plenty of rough edges needing smoothed.

I'm not looking for an edit, just someone with an interest prepared to read and critique. PM if you have the time.

Cheers!

 

Hope Is a Choice Synopsis.docx

Edited November 30, 2022 by paranoiawilldestroy
wrong file

[paranoiawilldestroy]

An excerpt from the 2nd part of my fictional character's interview, after she's related her sorry tale. It never made the cut to appear in that Chapter. So, I'm probably safe enough to put it here without putting off any agents etc.

 

Just an idea of what to expect...

 

Zahra frowned. Something that Alison had just said bothered her. ‘What do you mean by “power”? We live in a liberal democracy…’
‘Someone has power when that person has the ability tae make another person decide something they wouldnae otherwise have decided. Western governments rarely have tae resort tae force wae their own population. They dae, however, have hooks in every media institution fae the top down, and thus control the stream of information as it flows tae the public.  
‘The folk managing this stream of information are not daft and have a full understanding of the features of human psychology I’ve touched on. It’s ludicrous tae suggest that politicians aren’t conscious of the influence media moguls wield on public opinion, and therefore ludicrous tae suggest politicians don’t meet wae them tae discuss how best tae influence the democratic process.’
‘Can you provide any specific examples of this happening?’
‘Aye, of course; it happens aw the time. The maist influential one took place under a Labour government, rather than our current, Conservative leadership. However, both New Labour and the Conservatives are fully committed tae the free-market economy advanced by Thatcher and Reagan. That means both parties are two sides tae the same coin…
'Anyway, Tony Blair became the Godfather of Rupert Murdoch’s grandchild after the two of them plotted how tae sell the illegal British and American war against Iraq. As an aside, it seems awful convenient for them that the scientist who had supposedly uncovered evidence that Hussain was hiding weapons of mass destruction was already dead when nothing could be found in Hussain’s bunkers.  
‘We killed untold civilians on foreign soil, because of the lies our Prime Minister told us through Murdoch’s papers. We lost servicemen and women, we detonated schools—we invaded another country and bombed it tae fuck, aw on a false premise. Blair is a war criminal.  
‘That war was started tae monopolize oil routes fae the East into Europe, wae the States daein the selling. Blair was an arse-licking cunt when it came tae President Bush. At least Bush only invaded Iraq… There is a list in existence of the top ten countries he wanted tae invade...'

 

[paranoiawilldestroy]

After you start breaking your own chains...

 

What comes next?

 

The song is clearly by Radiohead. It's called Creep.

[paranoiawilldestroy]

Thank you for Plug In Baby... That was very nice of yer.

[paranoiawilldestroy]

Feeling adventurous...

I'm not quite clicking yet. But... hells bells, singing is human. Being stuck to a desk is slavery.

Radiohead again. Paranoid Android.

[paranoiawilldestroy]

And this one, Robbie William's Angels. Cos his first album was really good. In fact, best pop album of that decade, in my humble opinion...

 

 

[paranoiawilldestroy]

Well... that was a bout of phenomenonal weirdness, even for me. Not much else to say