Another post for @thewriteblrarchives nano event :)
Guidelines: Search your NaNo project for any words of your choice under ‘Show’ and try to share at least three excerpts containing them. Then, answer the questions under ‘Tell.’
To participate, copy and paste these questions into a separate post and tag @thewriteblrarchives in your post so we can find you! We will reblog your answers as #Show and Tell.
Week Two: Act Two - Conflict
Show:
No | Why | Don’t | Journey | Ridiculous | Yes | Good | Bad | Try | Attempt | Terrible | Idea | Sad | Happy | Feel | Hurt | Blood/bleeding | Stop | Excited | Heart | Hit | Road | Hide | Door | Careful
Why
“Changing the narrative across the Western Star Systems is crucial, we know that, and that’s what a lot of people are working on,” Alder said. “But the fact remains that the human government is intentionally keeping its own citizens in the dark. That’s why they try to keep us out of vantaric territories, that’s why they keep such tight control over the press inside human territories.”
“That’s why they didn’t torture me during my questioning when you were watching,” Sefynne said.
Alder cringed slightly, but nodded. “And when I learned how much I’d been lied to, my loyalty to my government collapsed.”
Don’t
“Alder, it’s alright.” Sefynne sat up and set a hand against their back.
They struggled to catch their breath, shaking their head. They rubbed their eyes, their stomach turning.
“Yeah. Just a dream.” They exhaled and lay back down, muscles still tense. They rolled onto their side to face Sefynne. “It seems like you haven’t had nightmares in a while.”
“I have. I don’t tend to move in my sleep, however.” He reached out and ran the tips of his fingers across Alder’s forearm.
“You haven’t told me about them in a while.”
“They’re always the same. There’s nothing new to tell.”
“I’d still like to know.” Alder reached out and pressed a hand against his chest. “If you want to talk about it.”
Good/Bad:
Alder smiled again, the same stiff smile. “Yeah, that would be good. Let me just change into something short sleeved.”
“Okay,” Sefynne murmured.
Alder pulled off their shirt as they faced the closet.
Sefynne stepped forward, brushing his fingers over a raw patch of skin on Alder’s shoulder.
“How did this happen?”
“Oh.” Alder shrugged off his touch. “I over exfoliated.”
Sefynne frowned. “You scrubbed the top layer of your skin off.”
“Sounds bad when you say it like that.” Alder chose a shirt and pulled it on.
“Alder, I’m,” Sefynne took a breath, “worried about you.”
“Don’t be. Seriously.” Alder turned and pecked him on the lips. “Come on, let’s go to the tide pools.”
Sefynne hesitated, but followed them as they left the room.
Try:
“Is justice even achievable?” Alder cut in with exasperation. “I mean, justice means people have freedom, but when people have freedom they screw each other over. For everyone to be treated equitably you’d basically have to live under an authoritarian regime, but that’s not just either.”
Hevez shrugged. “We can aim for improvement regardless.”
“And what do we want? What’s the solution to Earth’s conflict? Everyone disagrees. We destroy the current system and then what?”
“We can start by establishing basic rights for all people. Or try to get as close as we can.”
Attempt/Happy:
Alder sat on the bed and rested their elbow on their knee, their chin in their hand. “Mm. I guess … then I’m going to have to think and talk about everything. And I don’t want to.”
“You’re already thinking about it,” Sefynne challenged.
“Stop being right.”
Alder lay back on the bed and Sefynne sat next to them. He picked up their hand and turned it to kiss their palm.
“I know everything is hard right now. However, I still fully intend to keep my promise.”
“About being happy?” Alder asked.
“Yes.”
Alder pulled on Sefynne’s hand and he laid down next to them.
“I love you,” Alder said.
“I love you too.” Sefynne attempted to run a hand through their hair and his fingers got caught. “You need to brush your hair.”
Tell:
1. Have you had any Eureka moments?
This prompted me to remember that I had a great idea while falling asleep last night, and I can’t remember what it is :(
Other than that, I’ve slowly been putting pieces of my plot together, but that’s it.
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is what you have in store for your characters? Have they already experienced some of it? How are they feeling?
I have a few different directions I’m thinking about going int, some worse than others. I’d say none of it gets over a 7, they had the worst moments of their lives in the previous book. The first act of this book (which the excerpts are from) revolves around healing from that trauma.
3. If you could ask your characters what they were looking forward to, or what they thought of their situation, what would they say?
They don’t know what to expect, but Alder and Sefynne both hope that their situation will settle down/Alder’s time in the limelight will be temporary. Alder’s more frustrated by their situation than Sefynne, because Sefynne is more accustomed to bad situations.
Hi! I am Julia, 24, and I have finally decided to introduce myself, my work and my writeblr! Apart from writing in my freetime I am a journalist, director and author for science TV documentaries. I live in southern Germany and write primarily in german.
I am also a massive nerd who enjoys reading, gaming and pen and paper roleplay games.
My genres:
science fiction
contemporary fantasy
young adult/ all age
Current WIP:
Kath’torok: After God and Satan decided to bury their old feud and destroy boring humanity, a philantrophic demon tries to find a way to save the stupid humans she grew quite fond of. After she gets stopped by a misantrophic teenage human with otherworldy abilities and is robbed of her demonic powers, she and the human have to find a way to work together.
Apart from talking about my WIP and rambling about my writing process I also post/ repost writing advice, inspirational quotes/pictures and writing motivation! If you want to, introduce yourself in my inbox, I would love to get in contact with other young writers!
Tagging: @thewriteblrarchives (thanks so much for all your hard work!)
SHOW
forward
He leaned forward on his section of the wooden table, seeming to speak only to her now. The rest could have disappeared and neither of them would have likely noticed.
“We all agreed, Ms. Paquet.”
“Yes, we all agreed. But I think it is also important to note the consequences it will have for the innocents.”
“There is always a cost.”
She banged her fist on the table and everyone around her jumped. “Do not give that damned means to an end argument again, Luca. I will not hear it.”
smile
She nodded, not looking up as she typed away furiously on her phone. Romeo felt a pair of eyes on them and he turned to smile. The older woman instantly looked anywhere but at them now, obviously embarrassed at having been caught. Exactly his point. He didn’t need anyone close to them prying into what they were doing, especially with basically all cell lines down.
rest
“He felt his manhood was being threatened,” Luca explained. “Easy.”
“This situation will hardly be easy, though, Mr. Kessler,” Inés advised. “People are going to be hurt by this situation. You remember the effects their stock market has on their collective psyche, I presume.”
“Of course,” he answered back. “Of course I do. I also understand how important they are on the world stage and how that entire stage has now been tainted. This is the only way to correct the problem, I’m afraid.”
He leaned forward on his section of the wooden table, seeming to speak only to her now. The rest could have disappeared and neither of them would have likely noticed.
bright
“Hey, you,” someone else asked. “You. Bright green hair.”
Romeo tracked the voice until he found its source and nudged Yukon. He pointed to the man waiting to be noticed, something she wouldn’t have done without him because she was too deep in what was in front of her right now.
“What?”
“You gettin’ service down here?”
“Oh, uh, no. No. Just writing notes for when it comes back on. Don’t wanna get behind on work.”
“Some of us are trying to get in touch with our kids, so if you can, let us know,” a snippy lady piped up.
She scoffed and showed the lady her screen. She’d switched over to her Notes screen so fast no one could’ve noticed. He was impressed. A regular occurence. He wasn’t sure why anymore, though.
There she is, Romeo thought. My girl. Thinking on the fly.
good
Darian stood up when Inés walked in, trying to catch her eye and point out the empty seat next to him, but she passed it, and him, up completely. He adjusted his suit as he took his own seat again, watching her closely. She looked distracted. Tired, even. Not something any of them should be at a time like this. But he knew better than to mention it. No good would come of bringing it up at the zero hour anyway.
gentle
When she opened the first set of doors, she could already see the gentle glow from the computer screens beyond the second set. She started to breathe heavier as she got closer, straining to hear their blasphemy but coming up short. Maybe they’d already taken off. They had to of known she’d be after them the minute she saw that bullshit.
laugh
She shrugged, never looking away as she started to work rapidly. They stayed quiet for a while before Romeo started to laugh. It was a low chuckle at first, but it quickly dissolved into more hysterical laughter. She looked over at him and then at his screen to see what was so funny.
She cracked a smile when she caught sight of the millions of gifs flooding Romeo’s screen. Pepper was here. Well, not here here. But he’d found them. She was laughing right along now too as he found every possible screenshot that involved their situation.
TELL
What are you proudest of this NaNo? Have you hit any goals? Written any incredible lines? I’ve been excited by the project all the way through. I can’t always say that because of how intense NaNo is by design. I’m always happy to have done it when it’s over, but around the middle of the month, I’m dragging. That wasn’t the case this time.
What challenges have you overcome? Have you tripped over any plot holes? Struggled with finding time to write? Encountered the dreaded writer’s block? Plot holes? No. But finding time to write has been a beast! I also run a company, so it’s hard. I just run out of time in the day. I hate it.
What do you like the most about your writing? Your dialogue? Description? Unique plot? The plot is easily my favorite part. I have been pestered by this idea for a while, so it’s super exciting to get it down finally.
Optional bonus question: What’s your rocket fuel? Coffee, hot cocoa? Dr. Pepper all the way.
