Chuck Wendig: Terribleminds

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November 23, 2015 / 196 Comments

NaNoWriMo Challenge: A Snippet Of Your Work, If You Please

So, Friday I wasn’t able to lock and load a new flash fiction challenge — I got back too late from traveling, and whilst on the road it’s incredibly difficult to actually work on new blog stuff (WordPress in mobile format makes that trickier than I’d like). But, really, that’s probably okay — the flash challenges go by the wayside during the month of November for obvious reasons.

As such, I’d like to posit a different challenge:

Go to your online space.

Grab 1000 words of your NaNoWriMo work-in-progress (or, really, even if you’re not participating, any WIP of yours), and slap those 1000 words online for all to see.

Grab the 1000 best words — or, at least, the ones with which you are the happiest.

Then link that post back here in the comments.

That’s it.

No criticism necessary.

Just sharing the work. Camaraderie and commiseration.

DO IT NOW OR YOU GET THE HOSE

71 Comments

Add yours →

  2. Frances Pauli says:

    I am well behind on the count this year, but I’ve got the first grand up on the blog at least. 🙂
    http://francespauli.blogspot.com/2015/11/hows-nanowrimo-coming.html

    November 23, 2015 — 1:02 PM

    Reply

  3. gregmulka says:

    I killed an angel and I liked it.
    https://goo.gl/wOAQWb

    It’s a smidge more than 1k words.

    November 23, 2015 — 1:23 PM

    Reply

  4. T Hammond says:

    A snippet from my Urban Fantasy project, Posse: Legends. A paranormal posse who hunt down supernatural criminals.
    https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/9455347-excerpt-from-posse-legends

    November 23, 2015 — 1:24 PM

    Reply

  5. SC Rose says:

    Here’s mine. It is a sci-fi/fantasy. I didn’t post quite 1,000 words because it would end in a weird place, but it’s the very first part of Chapter One! I really love this story. While I have hopes for it, I’m writing it for me because it haunts me. Here’s an intro to what it’s about:

    Everything in Suni’s life seems to come with a catch. She’s alive, and yes, that’s a good thing, no complaints there, it’s just that everyone else from her planet is dead. While it’s great that she can quote lines from her favorite movies, she can’t remember who she is. She has great friends, but none of them are human and all of them are slaves to the evil overlord who took over her planet. On the bright side, there is a handsome, mysterious man that’s caught her eye, but of course he’s insane and full of secrets and lies. That’s just her luck. Armed with a ghost without a face and CD changer full of Lady Gaga albums, is there a way she can save what’s left of her world and find happiness without a catch? Well, that’ll always be the dream.

    https://thoughtsofaramblinglunatic.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/first-part-of-chapter-one/

    November 23, 2015 — 1:30 PM

    Reply

  6. Barbara Barbex says:

    I’m so behind, it’s not even funny. But by posting the beginning, it feels like made a promise to actually finish this, no matter how long it takes. http://the960writers.tumblr.com/post/133808744689/the-nanowrimo-novel-has-come-to-a-screeching-halt

    November 23, 2015 — 1:57 PM

    Reply

  7. dcxli says:

    Here’s the first 1,000 words of my WIP. It’s in the wpic fantasy genre, but it is still in the very early stages. This is my first project that is anything more than a flash fiction, so I would appreciate feedback.
    https://dcxli.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/nanowrimo-snippet/

    November 23, 2015 — 2:16 PM

    Reply

      • StarNinja says:

        I feel gipped. I was promised an Wpic fantasy. What is this?
        Anyways, I very much enjoyed your snippet. You say it’s the first 1000 words, but it felt like the middle of an ongoing saga of epicness, which is a good thing in my book. White Doors of the Order is totally the name of the Heavy Metal/Throat Chant/Orchestra Album I’m going to produce as soon as I win the lottery. Keep WIPing it up!

        November 25, 2015 — 10:04 AM

        Reply

    • Aimee Ogden says:

      I think the writing is definitely there, but as it is I’m not sure this does enough to distinguish itself from the rest of the genre? Right now we have a young Standard Fantasy Protagonist receiving an important message, which we haven’t even gotten to in the first 1000 words. Maybe you could play on the odd locale of Magemont to set a unique scene a little bit more, or start closer to the action? Alor’s reaction on being present for the revelation of this message, possibly? Right now we have to wait quite a long while to get to any meat, and the characters aren’t different enough to carry me along that far.

      I don’t want to make it sound as if this is a terrible piece, because it’s not! I’m just not sure it’s a strong enough opening, especially not when I can see the strong writing there behind the overlong introduction!

      November 23, 2015 — 4:10 PM

      Reply

      • dcxli says:

        Thanks for the feedback. I always struggle a bit with just how much exposition I need. Actually, this is part of a prologue, and one that I am considering cutting entirely. Alor isn’t even a POV character in the rest of the story. Thanks for the feedback, it’s definitely something to think about.

        November 23, 2015 — 5:04 PM

        Reply

    • byjuliekolbie says:

      Wow, you also have my interest up. What is this order? The King of what? Questions, lots of them. I think you have a great start. Good luck!

      November 24, 2015 — 11:59 PM

      Reply

    • Sarah_Madison says:

      You made me feel the cold!

      November 25, 2015 — 8:35 AM

      Reply

  8. Onyxflame says:

    Gah, had to make this public. Hope it doesn’t bite me in the ass.

    https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154413327429768&id=763014767&fs=0

    November 23, 2015 — 2:41 PM

    Reply

  9. Adina says:

    I have never commented here, but I read. This is as good a time to jump in as any. The first ~1000 words of this year’s NaNo. I look forward to reading everyone else’s.

    https://adinalenore.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/1000-words-of-nanowrimo/

    November 23, 2015 — 2:46 PM

    Reply

    • Aimee Ogden says:

      This started right in with a moment of tension, I love to see that! And it raises some interesting questions: what is happening, who “they” are and what they are, for that matter.

      Some nitpicks, even though I know it’s NaNo: there’s a bit of tense switching early on, that’s easy to remove in editing though. “The backpack I was using is filling up fast”, for example – starts out in past tense then jumps to present in the same sentence. I’d also like to see more specificity in what the “noises” are that she’s hearing from downstairs; just “noises” don’t paint much of a picture.

      But like I said, that’s just nitpicking! It’s an interesting and exciting start.

      November 23, 2015 — 4:15 PM

      Reply

    • lukeofkondor says:

      Reads pretty good to me. What’s the plan for it? 🙂

      November 23, 2015 — 4:57 PM

      Reply

      • Adina says:

        I’m about 41K words into it right now, and a little over halfway through the story. Urban (Rural? Not much happens in an actual city) Fantasy. Main character, gifted with ESP-like powers, is running from the head of an organization that is using other gifted people. Nefarious reasons, of course.

        November 23, 2015 — 5:09 PM

        Reply

    • byjuliekolb says:

      The intensity is high. I agree with giving more specific sounds. Details such as that shelf, since I don’t see the shelf I don’t know which shelf, because I can’t see that there is a shelf. Little nitpick things like that. My interest is up. I have questions, and am compelled to know who she is running from, what were the people screaming about, and why did they leave and come back?
      Nice work!

      November 25, 2015 — 7:04 PM

      Reply

  10. thomaspierson says:

    Here’s my contribution. It’s a bit longer than 1000 words, because the section that I like the best is a whole scene so if I lost out on the word count prize, i’ll just drown my sorrows in a bag of Doritos (Cool Ranch, of course).

    http://www.tmpierson.squarespace.com/

    November 23, 2015 — 2:55 PM

    Reply

  11. Write Your Wrongs says:

    Brace yourselves. This SciFi ensemble cast will pull you in and won’t let go. If you like stories where the good guy always wins, every story has a happy ending, and the heroes remind you of Superman, this is not for you. Well it might be, but it’s not like that. I hope you choose to give into this gritty tale of addiction and betrayal, ambition and conspiracy. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m riding it till the rockets fall off.

    https://glbusenlehner.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/the-long-awaited-chapter-one/

    November 23, 2015 — 3:29 PM

    Reply

    • Aimee Ogden says:

      Some interesting ideas raised in here, but right now I feel like it’s too much backstory all at once. Backstory is important, but not when it comes at the cost of pushing back the start of the actual story! I also felt like Jackson’s inner monologue was, for an inner monologue, occasionally a bit overwrought. There were pieces that could have worked fine as part of the narration, but didn’t feel like they fit in as part of a character’s thoughts, like this:

      ” Even with the pulsing red in an endless tug-of-war with the black of darkness that hasn’t let my eyes focus in hours …”

      It just doesn’t ring true for me as inner dialogue. But escaped prisoners and cool sci-fi guns are always good! I think you have some cool toys to play with, I just think they need to come out of the box sooner!

      November 23, 2015 — 4:22 PM

      Reply

  12. Anne Lippin says:

    “On Thursday morning, two days after my fifteenth birthday, I got boobs…”

    http://annelippin.com/blog/2015/11/23/nanowrimo-merriment/

    November 23, 2015 — 3:41 PM

    Reply

    • byjuliekolb says:

      I have to say, I like the characters and interaction. I settled in quite quickly. The dialogue read with a natural flow. I must compliment you on the ability to pull me into the tale and let me feel like I am looking around and begin to settle in within the word count.

      You got a smile, and that is quite a lot considering the day I had and the mood I was in. Thank you.

      November 25, 2015 — 7:26 PM

      Reply

  13. Lynn C-H (Goth Kitty Lady) says:

    In order to avoid the hose, here is the only section of A World Full of Monsters that was around 1000 words and actually made sense in that space without a ton of explanations being necessary: http://gothkittygazette.net/2015/11/spider-bunnies-from-hell/

    This story started out as one kind of thing in my head before NaNo started and then became a sci-fi story along the lines of Ghostbusters meets Jurassic Park once I started actually writing it. And let me tell you, it has gone to some really strange places over the past 23 days.

    November 23, 2015 — 4:04 PM

    Reply

  14. markadamthomas says:

    Thanks for the chance to share. My 11th NaNo, my 6th novel. I’ve posted the first part of the first chapter, roughly 1K words. Red Rain is a Weird Western Fantasy. I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave comments on my blog.

    https://markadamthomas.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/red-rain-working-title-chapter-one-part-1/#more-400

    November 23, 2015 — 4:28 PM

    Reply

  15. Jana Denardo says:

    I should get this to 50K within the next few days. Mine is soft sci-fi and LGBT. I put more info about it (so the snippet make sense) on the post itself. Enjoy.

    http://jana-denardo.livejournal.com/183811.html

    November 23, 2015 — 4:41 PM

    Reply

  16. Scott A. Bullard (@writingbull) says:

    Here’s the first scene from my YA Fantasy WIP for NaNoWriMo. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. http://scottabullard.blogspot.com/2015/11/nanowrimo-wip-1000-word-snippet.html

    November 23, 2015 — 5:39 PM

    Reply

  17. Dominika says:

    Here’s the first 1000 words of this year’s first NaNoscript, plus 2220 more words for the fun of it. No defined genre, just some explorative writing; https://dominikalein.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/challenge-nano15/

    November 23, 2015 — 7:30 PM

    Reply

  18. shortstackontwitter says:

    Here is my contribution (first time poster here)
    if you find a Chopra, the character’s full surname is Braithwaite-Chopra. I’ve been waiting till I was done to find and replace all of those.
    http://shortstackontwitter.tumblr.com/post/133828926121/1000-words-of-the-mushroom-people

    November 23, 2015 — 7:35 PM

    Reply

  20. Rich Hayden says:

    No link. Sorry, I’ll accept the hose if necessary. Well, here it is, 1000 words of something I’ve been pecking away at.

    Once Celes was led to her dorm, her future itinerary was dictated to her by a woman bereft of charitable features. She was thin, with a face full of lines. No doubt brought about from a life spent scowling in disappointment. Left to herself, Celes laid back on her new bed. It owned less comforts than the beaten mattress of her former bedroom, and offered nothing more stimulating than the view of a bunk above. She looked down the row, to a dozen or so beds that bore no distinction from hers. When the room was full, Celes imagined it to resemble that of a butchers workshop. Stacks of meat arranged for the convenience of others deemed more important.
    Setting her bags under the bed, Celes walked the empty room. The concrete of the floor under her step was cracked, the walls stained from years of decay. The ceiling above randomly exposed wooden ribs, as the plaster had fallen away. The roof assuredly leaked, but with paltry few days of rain in January, this seemed of little consequence. All the same, Celes felt thankful that she received a bottom bunk.
    Light poured in from the windows which streaked the room. The hot breeze carried in on wafts of stale air. She peered into the encroachment of the forest, and longed to run. To flee this vapid place. She wanted to give herself to the wild, to become one with it, or falter under its demands. Her wishes were apparently the wishes of others, those now gone. Bars hung before her vision, cutting the scenery before her eyes into columns. Pilasters of a world she was denied.
    She strode into the shower room. She could smell the mold, her eyes treated to trails of rust as they ran from the faucets and ringed the drains. She then thought to this area at the times when it teemed with activity. It scared her, to stand naked before the eyes of strangers. What was worse, Celes knew she was the youngest resident of this wing. Too old to be placed with the younger children, she was given to the wolves of adolescence. These were the girls that had been in the care of January for years, and for years to come, there they would stay. Celes knew the prospects of being adopted once the childish cuteness of infancy yields to the budding of a complicated adult. The room enveloped her like a massive ball of crystal, and inside its grip, Celes gazed her future with the clarity of a seer. Here, she would remain, for the remainder of her childhood. What a hollow classification this seemed. It was a time already dead, all that was left was to wait on the formality of time. For the day when she would be again cast out into circumstances unknown.
    Celes ventured into the courtyard. Like the windows, the area was cordoned off by a fence of iron. This vision sunk into her mind much the same as the dorm did previously. It wasn’t part of the butcher’s workshop, rather, it was the snare. The trap where the meat is left to run wild, but not free. It was the killing ground. The waiting room of a slaughterhouse.
    There were amusements, most of them rusted, but many of the younger children played on them without concern. Most of the older children milled about in packs. They trawled the yard like herds of predators, keeping a sharp eye out for those to exploit. The boys and the girls intermingled, these arrangements garnering the most attention from the staff. Celes heard the calls of the faculty as they shouted to those that ran too fast or played too rough. But a few jaded adults can not monitor all the activities of sly adolescents. They no longer possess the eyes for such things. Celes observed what they could not. The passing of goods, certainly contraband, from one young hand to the next. The threats extended, not from words or actions, but from eyes that brimmed with violence. The closeness, without the telltale signs of physicality, that hormonal teens share with one another. In this mass, this microcosm of the larger world, Celes saw the truth. She witnessed the strong ones and the tyrants. She discerned the hunters from the prey. She had been thrust into a primal setting, a place of animals and teeth.
    The night came, and those inside the grip of January’s unwanted bastard program, were ushered into their proper dorms. This would be the first time that Celes would be forced to meet the others. To lie with the wolves which had already laid claim to territory that she now occupied. Under the lights and the watch of the attendant, there was silence and stares. Dozens of eyes studied the new arrival. The skinny girl with fragile limbs and terror in her stare. Like a wave as it crashes over the wreck of a ship, the lights went out. Cast into blackness, Celes held her breath. Whispers rose from the dark, hushed laughter peppered the air in tones of menace. Celes rolled to her side and clamped her eyes shut. In felt impossible to her, but Celes pined for sleep. The underneath of her consciousness would mean the arrival of nightmares, but this at least was a torment she was accustomed to battling. She felt her nerves spark, the sweat as it ran through her hair. Her fingers strangled the sheets, and tears leaked from under her lids. Celes knew better than to cry, to wail. To alert the others to her weakness. She began to hope that her nocturnal torturer would be especially brutal this night. Maybe then, the whole of the dorm would bear witness to the madness within her. To view her as a beast every bit as mighty as they.

    November 23, 2015 — 7:58 PM

    Reply

  21. Ruth Nestvold says:

    I did this earlier this month already — not the first 1000 words, only the first 350 or so of Ygerna, a radically different retelling if the story of Igraine, mother of “King Arthur”:

    https://ruthnestvold.wordpress.com/2015/11/11/changes-for-wippet-wednesday-and-a-brief-update/

    November 23, 2015 — 8:34 PM

    Reply

  22. Zoe K. Brewer says:

    This is all your fault. Here it is, roughly 1000 words of my adult dystopian novel trilogy Willow. It’s the first 1000 actually. http://zoekbrewer.com/2015/11/24/work-in-progress-willow/

    November 23, 2015 — 8:41 PM

    Reply

  24. Cj Younger says:

    http://herebedrakons.tumblr.com/post/133836332265/nanowrimo-wip-unedited

    Here is my (unedited – scary, I know) first 250 words or so for Nanowrimo. Feedback appreciated. I’m not sure if people without a Tumblr account can view it, so just let me know and I’ll post it in the comments.

    November 23, 2015 — 9:44 PM

    Reply

  25. leeannwrites says:

    😀 Yay for breaking away from your comfort zone and sharing crappy first draft excerpts!

    https://theswordandthekeyboard.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/nanowrimo-challenge-a-snippet-of-your-work-please/

    November 23, 2015 — 10:29 PM

    Reply

  26. Marina Alexander says:

    “Cinthi’s interest piqued at this idea—wards that could keep people out were exciting. Wards that could keep people out permanently were even better.”

    http://astoryadayblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/preview-of-wards-dont-put-too-much.html

    November 23, 2015 — 11:19 PM

    Reply

  27. Steven Laidlaw says:

    Future Sci-Fi military AI stuff. Please tell me what you think!

    http://pastebin.com/sN68syTR

    November 23, 2015 — 11:59 PM

    Reply

  29. paigevest says:

    I’m working on a collection of shorts for NaNo, which I’ve titled ‘The Darkest Parts of Me’. These 1000 words are the first sections of a 12k word short story tentatively titled, ‘Her Path To Redemption’. Unedited, of course.

    I’d be happy to provide the link to my blog post containing the rest of the raw story, for the interested.

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kbuaz7LQQ3CM2IU7Aib28JHntI9bYeCTqMyA1sM6W_w

    November 24, 2015 — 1:11 AM

    Reply

  33. @elizabethamber says:

    I chose a different excerpt than the one that’s up on my NaNoWriMo summary. I hope people enjoy it and want to see more.
    http://www.amberunmasked.com/nanowrimo-excerpt/

    November 24, 2015 — 9:19 AM

    Reply

  34. C. B. Matson says:

    Ok, I’m game… The Hose? Woo-hoo, bring it on!!

    http://www.cbmatson.com/the-cloven-earth.html

    Scroll past the blurb

    November 24, 2015 — 9:44 AM

    Reply

  37. Katherine MacKenzie Bradford says:

    I know I’m late to the party, but here goes..

    http://bit.ly/21esvtv

    November 24, 2015 — 1:44 PM

    Reply

  38. Kat says:

    My NaNo book is a YA Fantasy based on Korean mythology. So…yea…here you guys go.

    ”Gumiho” Readiculous Blog

    November 24, 2015 — 1:57 PM

    Reply

  39. Katherine Hetzel says:

    NaNoEdMo project… third draft editing of my WIP during November instead of writing something new.

    http://squidgesscribbles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/challenged-by-chuck-wendig.html

    November 24, 2015 — 3:03 PM

    Reply

  40. Lisa M. Collins says:

    The Dread Pirate Mel and her band of Space Marauders…https://lisacollins.wordpress.com/2015/11/24/chuck-wendigs-nanowrimo-challenge/

    November 24, 2015 — 9:20 PM

    Reply

  41. Cj Younger says:

    Mage meets redhead : a story of true unlove.

    This is the very beginning of my WIP for Nanowrimo (completely unedited, so brace yourself). Feedback greatly appreciated 🙂 always looking for ways to improve.

    CHAPTER I : Emma

    I was a thief. A liar. A traitor. A mage. So basically, the whole world wanted me dead. I’d gotten used to it, to the glares and the jeers and the screams. But that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

    The sky was dark as I stalked through the shadows, clothed in black leather and a desire to do something bad. Luckily for me, I had a mission. A once in a lifetime chance. And yes, it involved something bad.

    Wrenching an old, creaky ladder from the side of a brick house, I dragged it over to the opposite wall, trying to make as little noise as possible, and failing miserably. Climbing up, I pulled myself onto the roof, lying flat against the freezing stone. Nearly fifty feet away, a guard leaned against a wall, smoking on the roof of the Third Admiral’s house. Digging in my bag for my blowgun, one specially crafted for assassins, I kept one eye on the guard, and the other on the ground below. No movement but rings of smoke drifting into the night sky. Propping myself up on my elbows, I crammed the dart in and sent it flying.

    It struck home, burying itself in the guard’s neck. He dropped like a stone, and I ran, low and fast, jumping over the gaps in the buildings and the sickening drops below. He wasn’t actually dead, of course, but just because I wouldn’t kill him didn’t mean I had to be polite about it.

    Grabbing the ledge with one hand, I swung down and through the window, tumbling through the heavy velvet drapes to land in a crouch. So far, still alive. I took a deep, slow breath, and scanned the room. Books. Everywhere. On desks and stacked on the floor, dropped in a basket and buried under a mound of clothes. On the far side, a bed bigger than my tiny hole-in-the-wall dominated the room.

    I stuffed a priceless pearl necklace in my pocket and crept towards the door.

    My instructions were simple. Get in. Get out. Don’t die. Oh yeah, and if you can, would you mind grabbing some important documents guarded by one of the Three Admirals and about fifty tough guards?

    He’d made it sound so easy. Jerk.

    I’d made it halfway to the door when behind me, something moved.

    Cold steel pricked my throat, and a low voice ordered, “Don’t move.”

    Yeah, I was screwed.

    I froze, and a wild eyed girl with equally wild red hair spun me around and shoved me into the wall. “Who are you?” She hissed. “What are you doing here?” I slowly raised my hands, painfully aware of the sharp object pressed into my throat, and the hot blood coursing underneath.

    “Um…hi?”

    She was not amused. “Answer the question.”

    “Emma Crowe.” I said hoarsely, straining away from the blade. “And…this is awkward. I may or may not be trying to steal from you.”

    She scowled. “Well, you’re doing one hell of a job.”

    November 24, 2015 — 10:25 PM

    Reply

9 Pingbacks

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  4. NaNoWriMo Challenge: “A Snippet of Your Work, Please.” | The Sword and the Keyboard
  5. Chuck Wendig’s Nanowrimo Challenge | R. J. Eliason
  6. NaNoSnippeto! | Cem Bilici
  7. Amber’s “NaNoWriMo” excerpt: Full Body Manslaughter | Amber Unmasked
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