Today I bring you a very short snippet from my work in progress, courtesy of the Lucky Seven game. I’ve been tagged by Liv Rancourt, who posted a snippet from her quarterfinal entry in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — Hell… The Story.
Mine is still very much a work in progress, unpolished and raw. I’ve recently written a new opening scene, from which I’ve selected the snippet below (approx 7 lines from page 7 of the WIP – as per the rules). Alas, I still don’t have a working title yet.
Some background: This is a fantasy novel about Adehl, a young woman who has been living a lie so that she might ride with an idealistic spiritual group and wield earth magic. But then she makes a decision that will cause her entire life to unravel and seed a secret reform movement…
Doneyah’s mouth hung half open and the fingers on Cloud’s bridle spasmed. Adehl felt an insane urge to laugh. She had imagined a hundred different reactions to her announcement. Leave the Vuusah? Impossible! Once the Vuusah have chosen you there is no going back.
It wasn’t true, of course. They just didn’t like to acknowledge it.
“What do you mean, leaving?” Doneyah’s voice grew louder, almost a growl, and she shook her head as though to clear it. “When will you be back?”
“I’m not coming back.” Adehl gathered the reins in one hand and prepared to fend off Doneyah with the other.
And off she goes to screw up her life and give hope to other minority groups in the process.
The rules of the Lucky Seven game are:
- Go to page 7 or 77 in your current WIP… Go to line 7
- Post on your blog the next 7 sentence or 7 lines—as they are!
- Tag 7 people to do the same
It’s true a snippet this short doesn’t tell you too much, and there needs to be a degree of flexibility to arrive at an excerpt that hangs together and is interesting; but it’s fun all the same.
I’m not going to tag anyone specific for this one, because I think anyone and everyone should feel completely free to select a snippet from their WIP if they choose to. It’s a great option for a post — so if you’re a writer reading this, consider yourself tagged!
E V Gregory 
Intriguing snip, Ellen, and you did a great job of framing it! I might have to play…will let you know if I do. 😀
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Thanks, Siri – I really should do this more, judging from how terrifying I found pressing ‘publish’. I’m glad you were intrigued. And I look forward to reading your contribution!
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Thanks for sharing, and it’s quite an intriguing little snippet. I can’t wait to read more and discover what is going on!
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Glad you enjoyed… I was glad to find something remotely intriguing in roughly the right spot on page 7!
Now it’s your turn. Consider yourself tagged!
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I enjoyed the snippet–it grabbed me enough to want to know more about what’s going on and I’m looking forward to reading more when you’re ready 🙂
Thanks for the quasi-tag on Facebook. I just might have to play using my current project. It looks like there are a few consecutive lines on page 7 that are less first-drafty than the rest 😉
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Excellent – looking forward to seeing your post, Mike.
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Finally! That’s quite a cool little tease, and I’m very much looking forward to reading how it is Adehl goes about screwing up her life 🙂
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Finally I did the post or finally you read some of my WIP?? Haha. These things are a tease, aren’t they… I suppose they’re supposed to give you a feel for tone and style. Rather nerve wracking, really. But at least this particular (carefully selected) snippet does hold together.
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Finally I get a sneak peek!
😉
And it’s a good one…
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