swankivy.com - writing page - long fiction

Al's Story

Read "Al's Story" Read Author's Analysis See Character Sketches: 1 and 2

This page is about "Al's Story," my first serious novella. This was the first time I really tried to write a piece of short long fiction (heh) from beginning to end, and it actually did go through an expansion at one time. You can read the entire thing here, even though it's certainly quite embarrassing as well.

The Plot: Alecia meets the mysterious Al over a coincidence at their lockers and the two quickly start to fall in love. They seem to have a lot in common, but there are some mysterious things about Al that make Alecia very curious. After some bonding, the teenage sweethearts begin to have a physical relationship. Shortly after Alecia loses her virginity to her boyfriend, she finds out he is from another planet—and not only that, he has to leave. But he'll be back for her. . . . Meanwhile, Alecia withdraws from her normal life and discovers she's pregnant. The pregnancy, birth, and raising of her precocious alien baby takes all of her attention, and Alecia holds out for the hope that Al really will return from the stars.

This was my first attempt to edit something I'd already written in order to clear up inconsistencies, develop characters, and in general make it better. It's obviously not well-written or even particularly inventive, but I think it was an important exercise, and my friends at the time really liked it. The novella was handwritten in my teenage careful cursive and reached 66 pages. The typed page count is 37 and the final word count is 9,553.

If you'd like to know more about my first novella, here are your options:

Read the Story: Here you can read the whole thing without interruptions and judge for yourself. It's preserved with spelling and grammar intact.

Author's Analysis: This is my discussion of what I thought I did well and what I thought I did badly. It involves a fair amount of self-mocking.

See Cover: This was drawn at the same time the book was written—1992. It's supposed to be a glimpse into Alecia's memory box. Click for a large scan of the cover art.

See Another Character Sketch: This is another drawing showing Al and Alecia on the swings.

If you were amused by this and want to see more old bad writing, be sure and check out the "ancient history" section of my writing page.
If you're curious about my current skills in the long fiction department, check out the novels in my "current projects" section.

If you want to send me a comment about "Al's Story," go to the interactive comment form.

BACKLINKS:
MAIN PAGE
WRITING PAGE
LONG FICTION PAGE

Read the Story:	Here you can read the whole thing without interruptions and judge for yourself. It's preserved with spelling and grammar intact.
Author's Analysis:	This is my discussion of what I thought I did well and what I thought I did badly. It involves a fair amount of self-mocking.
See Cover:	This was drawn at the same time the book was written—1992. It's supposed to be a glimpse into Alecia's memory box. Click for a large scan of the cover art.
See Another Character Sketch:	This is another drawing showing Al and Alecia on the swings.