On Sunday I reached 80,000 words. Only 20k or so more to go!
Here are a couple sentences I read this week, from Waking the Dead by Kylie Brant:
With one eye on the road, he leaned over and opened up the glove box. Grabbing a handful of fast-food napkins, he shoved them at her before closing the compartment again.
I chose those two sentences not because they're scintillating, but because they illustrate something I have a very difficult time with in my own writing. I tend to paint in broad strokes, and it's hard for me to slow down and put minute details of action into my work. Other writers can make a paragraph about how a waitress takes an order and it seems completely natural. For me, the entire meal only takes a paragraph or two.
That said, here's a paragraph I wrote last week:
Five o’clock? How had that happened? And where was Tim? He should have been in Dobbs Hollow no later than four. Had he called? She slid carefully out from under Ethan’s arm so as not to wake him and went out to the living room to see whether she’d missed a call. Nothing, which wasn’t like Tim at all. He knew she worried.
I've been skipping around in my work, just ignoring the bits I can't quite figure out yet. It's part of my new strategy for finishing the first draft. How about you? Read anything? Write anything? Let us know in the comments and we'll update this post throughout the day with links to your "two bits" for this week!
Leah J. Utas has toothsome sentences up on her blog this week!
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8 comments:
Excellent lines, Laura! And mega congrats on reaching 80k words!
You've got my attention.
I have an attempt at something over at my place.
Thanks, Elaine! I'd hoped to be finished with the first draft by now, but you know how that goes.
Love 'em, Leah!
I'm so excited for you! And envious, too. 80K is a fabulous milestone. Maybe it's all downhill from here?
I'm currently reading the M.C. Beaton for our next review and giveaway! The first two from the prologue: Over the heathery flanks of the mountains, over the lochs, over the vast tracts of land that make up the county of Sutherland in the very north of Scotland, down to the fishing boats bobbing at anchor along the west coast, the amazing news spread. That most famous of highland bachelors, Police Sergeant Hamish MacBeth, was to be married at last.
Suffer while awaiting more, Hamish fans! Near the end of the last WIP chapter I finished drafting:
Pat had his hat off, clutched to his chest in a sign of respect. There was a waxy, unhealthy sheen over his forehead and upper lip.
Greetings from Florida!
Here's two sentences for a story I am polishing this week.
"After the funeral, the mothers gathered in our kitchen. My brother was building a Lincoln log fence and I was shooting Aggies when we heard a knock on the door."
As to reading, all I have read so far is the instructions for the DSL install for my PC. I am doing this post on the laptop with the clubhouse wireless.
Terrie
Clare -
Pat doesn't sound healthy at all!
Terrie -
Ummm, you need better reading material! LOL!
Laura,
Congrats on the 80K words! Wonderful. Keep up the good work.
Here's two I read, from The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing Vol. II:
"For a reader to care about your story, there has to be something at stake -- something of value to gain, something of value to be lost...You have to convince the reader not only that something is happening, but that what's happening matters intensely -- not just to the writer, but to the characters involved."
Two from my WIP:
"Forty-seven years stands between me and the evidence inside this crumbling cardboard container— the personal effects of a murder victim. My gloved hand trembles as I gingerly remove the first piece of evidence from the top of the musty box: Edwin’s taxi permit -- and I see his face for the first time."
Hi Laura,
Loved the sentences. I often have the same problem re adding the details that make a scene feel real. I think it's from writing ad copy all these years where I have to be as concise as possible.
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