Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-25361316-20141108230948

Hi guys,

A story of mine was recently deleted and I can't figure out why. It's gramatically sound, it's not a ripoff of an existing story, and it has a coherent plot. I'm honestly at a bit of a loss, especially since the admin didn't give a reason except "doesn't meet quality standards." I can't figure out how to use the Appeal, so basically I'm just hoping you guys could tell me where I went wrong and let me know how to improve in the future. It's very much appreciated.

I’m a man who likes to play with dolls. A lot of people find that to be peculiar or even unnerving. That’s fine; you have the right to your opinion, just as I have the right to my hobbies and interests.

I love dolls. I love their little faces. I love the stories you can live through dolls. Little people that you make up the rules for. You can make a whole world out of nothing but dolls. Give them names. Sally. Lester. Peter. Joy. You can come up with less conventional names. Aloysius! Brunhilda! You can give them names that aren’t even names. Floor! Starborn! Pentecost! Eyefruit!

When a doll is yours, you can do whatever you want with it.

I wasn’t allowed to have dolls when I was a boy. Once my mother brought me home a doll and told me not to tell Dad. But Dad found out and he became so cross that he beat me into darkness. Not the sort of darkness that happens when you lose consciousness; the sort of dark that comes when your mind shuts the curtains on the mean sun. I would shut those curtains often when I was a boy.

Not anymore! I’m a fellow who values my independence. And it may seem strange to you, but I’ll be hanged if anyone is going to tell me I can’t play with my dolls.

I bring lots of clothes home to my dollys. I’ll take old rags on the street or go to flea markets or sometimes even department stores if there is a good deal. I’ll wash them and iron them. I’ll take the fabric and cut and cut until the clothes are just the right fit for my dolls. My dolls have so many splendid outfits. Much nicer than the kinds you buy in the store!

I like the girl dollies the best. Boy dolls can be nice but something about the girls make me feel good in my stomach. They are serene but they are joyful too. Their clothes fit them the best. Sometimes it’s so hard to make a nice set of trousers or a fine shirt for a boy doll. But the girl dolls look lovely in anything. And they always have a smile for you!

The girl dolls are the best ones. That’s my opinion.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I like to paint the dolls. The paints you buy in stores are mostly fleshtones but sometimes I like to use my creativity and apply a little bit of red or blue or lime green to my dolls. You might have a very curious picture in your head of what those dollies look like. Rest assured, they are very pretty. I always coordinate my paints with the outfits I pick. I never

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">they never gave me dollys because I always broke them, I always broke the dolls the last doll I had when I was a boy they took away from me because they were scared I would break it and I screamed and screamed and scre

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Goodness! I got a bit off track.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Well, anyway, sometimes it’s hard to find the dolls you really like in the shops. I don’t very much like the Mattel dolls and a lot of the dolls I really love are quite expensive. I don’t have terribly much money, so sometimes I have to steal the dolls. I know it’s wrong of me to break the law, but sometimes it’s necessary. “I don’t spend money on much else, so this is just making up the difference,” I tell myself.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I took a dolly from someone’s house the other day. I happened to look through the window as I walked past ; I was almost shocked breathless. He had so many lovely, happy dolls, dressed so very nicely! I almost began to cry right there on the street, his dollys were so beautiful. But then I started to get mad. I started to really get very angry. “Those should be MY dolls!” I said to myself. “I bet he doesn’t even CARE about dolls!” It’s sad, but true. Lots of the time, the people who have the best dolls don’t even take good care of them.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">So I took one of his dolls. I waited until it got quite dark to enter his home. This is the country, so there isn’t very much artificial light when the mean sun goes to bed. It is a true dark out here. It becomes a sort of silent dark; so dark you can’t see and so dark you can’t hear. Maybe that doesn’t make sense.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">But, anyway, I’ve made a lovely dollhouse for the dollys. I can’t afford the expensive doll clothes that that man could, but I pride myself on making some good, fashionable clothes with not very much. And we play so many games. Just yesterday we had a tea party in my back yard! I only throw my tea parties when it gets dark, however. The mean sun is not invited to my tea parties. The true dark is a much nicer guest.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I have a lot of fun playing with my dolls, but as I said in the beginning, not very many people appreciate my hobby. I suppose that man didn’t either, because he’s been kicking up quite a fuss about his missing dolls. A couple of days ago two police men showed up on my doorstep asking me questions about the dolls. I don’t like police men very much. I know they’re only there to help, but they make me very nervous and very very very very mad sometimes.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I don’t suspect I’ll get to play with my dollys for much longer. I suspect that the police will try and take them away from me. I will not allow them to. If they try to steal them from me I will break them. I will break them so their happy eyes will be rolling away from their little faces, I will burn them in their clothes, I will take their arms and their legs and I will pull them from their sockets. If I cannot play with my dollys than the police won’t get to play with them either.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Maybe it’s for the best. Sometimes the dolls can be a little bit frustrating to play with. Just yesterday at the tea party my dolly said “sir please let me leave, sir please where is my father, sir please I don’t like it here.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">That made me so upset. I almost became very cross and struck the dolly. But then I remembered to keep my temper in check and I put my hand across the table and I touched her and I said very sweetly “dollys aren’t supposed to talk.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;font-size:14pt;line-height:115%;">You have to be very gentle with the dollys. You know they break so easily. <ac_metadata title="not sure why this story was deleted, want to improve for the future"> </ac_metadata>