Hello, fellow writers! Today is the day we announce the prizes and say goodbye. *sniffs and grins simultaneously* Go check out Rebekah’s announcement to see if you won and don’t forget to pick up the inspiration book!
I’ve enjoyed partying with you all immensely. We’ve played a quote hunting game, asked questions of the authors, and made new discoveries together.
We’ve shared…
…and now it’s time to WRITE!
Your cursor blinks at you against the white page of the computer screen. You back away intimidated and pull out a notebook with faint blue lines running side to side and a thin red one marking the boundary.
You glance back and forth between the computer and the notebook. And promptly hit your head on your desk.
No ideas. Or maybe too many. Is “once upon a time” too cliche of an opening? Do you type with your left hand or your right?
But what’s the use anyway? There are better authors out there in the world. Do you really need to tell this story?
Yes.
Wars are always won with words, and you and I are on the front lines. There is a battle being waged for the minds of people. Will they fill their minds with what is true and lovely and pure or will they grab the first thing they can find? Because you have to admit, the beautiful books are few and far between, and we bookworms run out very quickly.
If God has given you a story, write it. If He hasn’t yet, maybe you need to find it. But when you write, bring your readers to Him. Write with all the gifts He’s given you and sharpen your skills as a diligent squire.
You write a few words fueled by fresh enthusiasm and purpose. You will write these words even if they are only needed by a few people. Even if you only have one reader who is blessed. Because you must.
Go on, brave writer! 😀
*hopes she didn’t scare you all with her dramatic portrayal* If you’re feeling especially brave, I encourage you to post up to 100 words of your WIP in the comments, and I’ll give you my opinion of them. 😉
And just to break the ice, here’s 100 words of my short story “The Memory Girl”. Go ahead and critique me!
“She was out of excuses. Every Saturday she had used up one, and the real reason–that she was terrified of meeting new people–didn’t seem good enough to share. It sounded quite silly when she admitted it aloud to herself as she scrubbed at the breakfast dishes while the rest of her family prepared to go.
The sound of happy siblings navigating out the doorway without banging their instruments filled her with guilt again. She couldn’t play an instrument, but she could at least hand out gifts afterwards like the little ones did. She was being silly.”
Anyway, it’s been great partying with you all! So long for now!
Once Upon An Ordinary 
I like your new profile pic! 🙂
Okay, 100 words:
“The small six-year-old girl rode her bike down the street, pedaling fast. She was going to be late for her piano lesson! Her backpack bounced as she rode, the pages of her brand new piano books rustling. Leona stopped at the stop sign. Great! There were a lot of cars coming from both sides of the road, Richmond Street. This wasn’t normal; her parents wouldn’t have let her go if they had known that it was a busy time of day.
Finally, the road cleared, and Leona raced across. Only two more blocks! One block… and she turned the corner.” ~The Cousins (short story for a GoodReads writing contest) 🙂
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Thanks! 😉
I love your excerpt! Leona sounds like a cute little girl, and I can picture her hustling perfectly. 😉 A couple things I see are when you mention the piano books rustling, you may want to add the word “inside”. Also, unless it’s an important detail that Leona specifically notices, it might read better to remove “Richmond Street”.
Great job and good luck with your contest! 😉
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Okay, thanks for the tips!! 🙂
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Great post, Kate! Yes, we must go forth with a clear determination to bright truth, light, hope and Christ to our readers.
Thanks for being such an important part of this party, Kate! I couldn’t have done it without you! 😀
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Yes! I think hope is one we can tend to forget sometimes too. All of these things are most necessary. 😉
Aw, thank YOU!!! You helped grow this tiny idea to such an amazing party! 😀 (And did all of the organizational stuff I’m bad at. 😛 )
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Well, I couldn’t organize if you hadn’t given ideas. 🙂
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I’m not great at critiquing others’ work, but here’s 98 words from the middle of the first chapter (after the prologue) of my WIP. 🙂
“My room is small and crowded with pathetic, useless things. I guess it’s fitting, in a way.
Among the stacks are pieces of pre-War technology that stopped working years ago–an old television, a hand mixer, a stereo, and more. There are also plenty of banned books that no one remembered to destroy, their covers faded with time and dust. I wish I could read the titles, but the letters seem to switch around whenever I try to learn. Samuel told me a while ago that I probably have a condition called dyslexia, but Father says I’m just stupid.”
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PS: In case you’re wondering, Samuel is the narrator’s older brother.
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Gotcha. I had kinda guessed that. 😉
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WOW, Raevyn! This really grabbed my attention! Great job! 😉 Since I haven’t read your story, I wouldn’t know if you are already doing this or not, but be sure to take advantage of describing the stacks to introduce props that will be important to the story later. (Like those books maybe??) 😀
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Intriguing paragraph, Raevyn! I’m curious about this story.
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SO FUN, KATE! 😀
Intriguing 100 words. 🙂
Uh, 100 words… here’s mine.
The Oktoberfest was a short time of selling anything and everything, at tents, tables, whether in your front yard, or rented lots. Everyone had a yard sale up and running. Trailers of food, funnel cakes, and slushie cones littered the roads, lines of people crowding in line to get their treats. Ice cream trucks picked their way through the heavy traffic on the road. The roads were always jumbled with cars, trucks waving Confederate and American flags, the occasional tractor that carried hillbillies or Amish. In town, concerts would be set up, and car shows were shining outside the courthouse.
God bless!
-Ang
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Thanks, Angela! I’m excited about this story. 😉 It’s ending up being longer than I had first expected, but I’m enjoying it. 😉
Your excerpt immediately transports me to adorable, rural America! Now I’m hungry for ice cream and small towns. ❤ Even the spelling of "Oktoberfest" got me interested and in when and where this is. The only thing I saw that could use a little improvement was the sentence about the trucks littering the road. Because of something about the sentence structure (or my over-literal brain 😛 ) I almost thought that the funnel cakes and slushie cones were all over the road. 😀
Anyway, good job setting the tone of your story, and I love that shining carshow! 😉
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😀 It’s always fun when the stories keep going, right? Great job, Kate!!
Thank you, Kate! 😀 Yes, the spelling of Oktoberfest was so cool to learn and it’s such a fun time. I loved incorporating it into my novel. Thanks for the critiquing!!
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I like your 100 words. Here are 87 from the opening of my book (which may have to change, come to think of it, because Joseph was only three at the time, and in the 1800s most children didn’t know about such things): ‘THERE WAS NO DOUBT about it. Ma was having a baby. Joseph Reno smiled, at the same time wiping the cornbread crumbs before Mrs. Muggins could notice. Mrs. Muggins was their nearest neighbor, five miles away, and here she was, taking them into her house for the evening though she detested little boys. Add that to the round lump Ma had gained around the middle and Ma’s hurry to send them off to Mrs. Muggins’ house. Pa had looked worried and had shoved them out the door.’
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(It is based on the lives of my great-great grandparents, so I have to keep strictly to the timeline of things.)
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Ooo! That’s brave! Sounds like fun. 😉
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Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Oh, that is a thought! If you are having your main character be three, he probably wouldn’t notice that their neighbor lived five miles away either. I do love this as a story opening though! Do you have an older child in the family you could switch the POV to? Aw, that “round lump” bit sounds really cute. 😉
Great job supporting the kid’s theories with all the little details! 😉
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Amen to that, Kate. Each of us must be faithful to write the story God has placed on our hearts. May we focus on the pure and lovely things and write about them.
-Bekah
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I love the way you put that! Focusing on the pure and lovely He had given us…
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