Some other blogs I read (Amy Knupp, Edie Ramer, Michelle Diener) have a tag going on that I found interesting.
The premise is this:
You turn to page 123 in your work-in-progress. (If you haven’t gotten to page 123 yet, then turn to page 23. If you haven’t gotten there yet, then get busy and write page 23.) Count down four sentences and then instead of just the fifth sentence, give us the whole paragraph.
Now, I'm not going to be so cruel as to tag people, but I'd love to see what you're all working on, so if you'd care to share, please do so. I'll get it started by posting the paragraph four sentences down on page 23 of one of mine (called Chimera Falls).
(It's rather a shame where this landed, because I love the bit just before it, but I'm following the rules here.)
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The door opened immediately and Bernie’s head appeared. “Honestly, Meghan, why in the world didn’t you just knock on the door instead of yelling like that?” Her aunt looked up and down the street quickly as she opened the door a little wider. “The whole neighborhood probably heard you, and here I am trying to tell everyone you’ll fit in just fine…” she grabbed Meghan’s arm, “now don’t just stand there gaping at me, come inside.”
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Your turn!
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7 comments:
Here's my piece, from a work called "Where it Wanders."
Morris licked at his heavy lips with a pale tongue but managed to control the shudder that threatened to break free in his muscles. His eyes darted around the room as he stalled for time, darting over stained orange chair and warped table, over frayed brown carpet surrounding sway-bellied twin beds.
Cool, Charles. Now I'm wondering if Morris is human or something else,and why is stalling for time?
Nice.
“The fuck is this?”
Yup, it's dialogue....
All that copying and pasting from individual chapters to get to 123, and that's what I got.
came up with.
'The fuck is this?' Fuck is *that*?
LOL, Steve. Is that the whole paragraph?
Yup. Chapters usually only run a couple, three pages. Fast-paced, me.
In fact, I'm thinking I might take out that "the"...
Page 23 was a little better:
Stagger stood, relaxed and still. Despite the heat and the dark closed room, his skin was cool and dry. He listened to the blood hissing through his body and waited for his moment.
Resonance dodged through a sea of nodding, dejected hobby animals. She missed a smiling whale by inches, but then stumbled over a half-buried pig whose now missing spring had at some point succumbed to gravity. She managed to keep her footing, but the delay was enough.
Thanks, Charles, Steve and Avery for sharing. You've all got some great stuff that leaves me wondering what will happen next.
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