Ally Aldridge Novel, Writing

The Story Snippets Challenge

I love the photo prompt challenges on Instagram, especially those that inspire and encourage me to share my writing.

The #StorySnippetsChallenge was hosted by the following authors on Instagram: @amandalyncreek , @bridieblake , @jjotisauthor , @sireyourstory and @son_dae_writes .

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Tomorrow is the start of #StrorySnippetChallenge. I'm going to join in. To find details of the writers hosting the event and how to take part, see below: Repost from @amandalyncreek using @RepostRegramApp – So excited to co-host the #storysnippetschallenge with @bridieblake, @jjotisauthor, @sireyourstory, and @son_dae_writes! ⁣⠀And a big thanks to @authorbrittanywang for bringing us together in her Patreon group. ⁣⠀ The challenge will happen during the week of May 20th- 26th if you want to join us. This will also be the first time I reveal anything about my work in progress. I'm what I like to call nervcited to share, although I've received good feedback so far from my teacher and my classmates. ?⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ Each day of the challenge has a prompt and a corresponding hashtag. Here they are:⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ Day 1: #MeettheMainCharacter (tell us anything you want about your protagonist!)⁣⠀ Day 2: #TeaserTuesday (Share something that will make your audience want to read your work in progress!)⁣⠀ Day⁣ 3: #SettingSetup (Describe your world/setting to show the mood/tone of your WIP)⁣⠀ Day 4: #FirstLines (She a snippet of the beginning.)⁣⠀ Day 5: #ThemeStated (What's your overall theme in your WIP?)⁣⠀ Day 6: #ExcitingMoment (This can be your inciting incident or midpoint. No spoilers, though.)⁣⠀ Day 7: FunDialogue (Show off one of your favorite conversations in your WIP)⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ If you're an author and want to join, be sure to share this image and use the hashtag #storysnippetschallenge!⁣⠀ ⁣⠀ Let's do this! :)⁣⠀

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My story snippets

Here, in this blog post I am going to collate and share all my snippets in one place that I posted during Monday, 20 May 2019 to Sunday, 26 May 2019. These are snippets from a work in progress so may change by the final edited version:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

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Today’s prompt for the #storysnippetschallenge is #themestated I only recently learnt about this concept of novel writing from #savethecatwritesanovel , so I hope I have got this right. In chapter one an unexpected thunder storm strikes the removal van and cuts the engine. This postpones her best friend (& neighbour) Jace from moving away. The storm is a hint at Marian’s powers awakening early. Only Gwyn is aware of her being a #mermaid. She gives Mariah this advice/warning but Mariah shrugs it off angrily as she thinks her mum doesn’t get how upset she is about the situation. She heads off to enjoy the extra time she now has with Jace. Later in Act 3, Mariah will need to learn to control her emotions to master her powers. #contemporaryfantasy #paranormalromance #jewelofthesea

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Saturday

Sunday

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Today is the last day of the #storysnippetschallenge . Today’s prompt was #FunDialogue : He laughed and leapt off his swing at the highest point, flying into the air and then landing on his feet a few yards in front. I followed suit. My dress floated up around my waist, before falling back to my knees. "I saw your knickers," Jace smirked. I blushed, "How old are you?" "Thought you were a lady now?" He teased, "Flashing isn't very lady like." "At least I act my age and not my shoe size!" Childishly, Jace stuck out his tongue. Laughing, he grabbed my hand and all the anger washed away in a second, replaced by a fast running bubbling brook that was turning a whirlpool inside me, "I want to show you the duck pond." #jewelofthesea #yafiction #paranormalromance #contemporaryfantasy

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Reflecting on the challenge

I really enjoyed this challenge. It made me think about different parts of my story. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have edited my manuscript but I was still checking over and fine tuning the snippets before posting.

Most of all, I love sharing my writing and this was a great opportunity to give my followers snippets and tease them into wanting to read more. I think using snippets like this would be a great way to promote a published book too as it gives people a taste of your writing and the story, like a little appetiser.

It was great fun seeing what others writers were working on too. Writing a novel can be lonely but taking part gave a sense of being part of something bigger – I was not alone in my writing journey. It gave something to connect with other writers over.

I was flattered when someone commented on how much they liked the way I presented my snippets. This was a huge compliment as I am no professional. They are all created for free in Canva. On Thursday, I created my image in Canva and then used the Video Typer app to animate my text – again this was free.

Have you ever shared snippets of your novel?

If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy:

Create with Canva Beginners Course Review

Instagram For Writers — Ally Aldridge

April, I featured poets – what’s next?

Camp NaNoWriMo Diary (midpoint April 2019)

Camp NaNoWriMo Diary (middle to end)

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Ally plus text

Ally Aldridge Writing

Day 8 – Magic

She kissed his lips and took his life

And gave him a new one full of ice

His fingers blue as he played with his gift

Hoarfrost alive building on his finger tips

Snow blew around in a blizzard of his

Drawn to the woman who granted him this

 

He looked into her eyes searching for answers

Should he be scared of this new power

*****

Someone was coming, it was not safe

Quickly she took him in her embrace

Down into the water their bodies crushed

Safely hidden from the intruders eyes

Her kiss feeding him oxygen, keeping him alive

And what was this, upon her neck

The little slits looked like gills

Her pupils stretched like a reptiles

 

Day 8’s challenge

For Day 8 the challenge was to “write poems in which mysterious and magical things occur. Your poem could take the form of a spell, for example, or simply describe an event that can’t be understood literally. Feel free to incorporate crystal balls, fauns, lightning storms, or whatever seems fierce and free and strange.”

I loved this challenge and had so many ideas, I couldn’t focus. I thought about a statute coming to life, that is the perfect manly figure, capturing the hearts of women but he can’t be touch or you’ll turn to stone and he has a graveyard of statues of women that hadn’t been able to resist him.  I will save that story idea for another day…

Drift - cover

Instead, I wrote the poem based on one of my favorite scenes from my novel Drift (querying as Jewel of the sea).  The whole novel is on Wattpad for feedback and the chapters this poem relates to are titled 26. Don’t Tell and 27.  Revelation.

The version I’m sending for query has been edited a lot and has different chapter names but I still value any feedback you can give me.  The novel is marked private so only followers can view (to prevent pirate/mirror sites).

If you don’t have Wattpad, you’ll be pleased to know that I have posted the two chapters to my blog. Click here to read.