The Official Writing Challenge
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There's a lot of energy here, a lot of word pictures and action. Great potential.

One critique ( and only because it's been pointed out to me so many times!) is to watch the voice and tense. It shifts back and forth a few times which distracts from your otherwise gripping story.

Blessings as you continue in your writing adventures!
This is quite lovely. You do a nice job of starting with the suspenseful storm that lures the reader in.

The little red ink I might offer would be to tighten your sentences just a bit. For example the opener could be something like this:
Without warning, the wind and waves pummeled our sixteen-foot fishing boat.
With such a limited word count, it's important to make every word count. Also by rearranging it a bit, I was able to turn it from a passive line to an active one.

Overall, though you did a fine job. You covered the topic in an interesting way while still delivering an important reminder. It's too easy for me to get caught up in the storms of the day and in my misery miss the beautiful gift of a sunset. I needed this reminder right now and thank you for sharing.
01/10/14
As a Level 1 writer, you might not be aware of the free writing lessons available on the FaithWriters forums. This week’s lesson is on writing devotionals, and next week will cover writing on topic for the weekly challenge. Look for it at http://www.faithwriters.com/Boards/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=67, or if you’re on Facebook, you can “like” Faithwriters Writing Lessons. I’d love to have your input into the conversation there!
01/10/14
I enjoyed this entire piece, it pulled me in and kept my interest throughout the drama, while delivering a sweet ending.

God bless~
01/11/14
Excellent job of using words that appeal to your readers' senses--you gave us a real appreciation of time and place.

My suggestion would be to give us a better sense of character--I didn't know who "we" were until nearly the end when you gave us Mike's name, and I still know very little about the two of you.

You're a writer who will do very well, and I look forward to reading more from you here.
Tensions builds. Descriptions warn. Danger ahead. What now?

Safty reached.

Peace and rest.

Well told story.
01/13/14
A nail-biter indeed! Very riveting and well written.

I found it a bit hard to follow the "time-frame" however. After the characters awoke, I thought it was the other morning. I didn't know the time of day the story started; and when I heard bird singing and see the sunshine coming through the curtain, I assumed immediately it was the other moring. (saying something like: "The amazing sunset crept through the curtain" would indicate that it was evening.

Loevely story however, it grabbed my attention and held it through to the end.
The storm piques the reader's attention. The middle was a little light on description. The end was wonderful.

I might have divided the story up a little more even (beginning, middle, end) and showed more of their relief to get back to the cabin. But, this is your story, and I enjoyed it.
01/14/14
Wow, what a story! And a great one for this topic.

I love your attention to detail, and the second to last paragraph is my favorite.

One suggestion, especially for a piece as intense as this one, look for words that slow the action down or decrease the intensity of your phrases. These words are sometimes called "weasel" words because they steal energy from the sentence. These are words like just, began, being, apparent, had, and almost.

As an example, if "...while my husband began to bale..." was changed to "...while my husband baled..." the sentence would have a higher "action" feel.
01/16/14
Congrats!!!