#WIPjoy June 2016: A Month of Celebrating Our WIPs (and a Collection of Tweets & Excerpts from Mine)

/ saraletourneau

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed my #WIPjoy Tweets during the month of June. This meme is a month-long challenge led by YA sci-fi and fantasy writer Bethany A. Jennings; and for every day of the month, writers answer a specific question and share bits about their current work-in-progress (WIP). Participants can also take the meme to Facebook, their blog, and other social media outlets they haunt use.

WIPjoy-June-2016

The “index” image for #WIPjoy June 2016, courtesy of Bethany A. Jennings. Click to view a larger version.

This  was my first time participating in #WIPjoy, and it was a lot of fun! It especially gave me a chance to learn what other writers are working on, get a taste of their writing style, and cheer them on as they work on their drafts. Now I’m even more excited to read some of those stories when they’re published someday!

And what I did I share for #WIPjoy? The Keeper’s Curse, of course! (It IS my only WIP at the moment. *lol*) So, I thought I’d share a collection of my #WIPjoy Tweets here with you. This post doesn’t contain all of my Tweets from the challenge – but it does feature some of my favorite questions / answers, and several of the excerpts I shared. Feel free to share any feedback in your comments, or “like” or “retweet” any of the linked Tweets. 😉 Enjoy!

A Collection of (Some of) My #WIPjoy Tweets and Excerpts

Day 5: Which character(s) do you relate to most, and why?

I had two answers for Day 5, so I gave each its own Tweet. Doni, who is one of TKC’s supporting characters, is a healer whose talents and curiosity aren’t always appreciated by others, especially his father. Yet Doni has managed to stay true to himself despite the odds. It’s something I’ve learned for myself as a writer, and I’m glad to see one of my characters has done the same.

I wanted to mention my protagonist Eva as well. While she and I have drastically different personalities, we share something fundamental. I struggled to fit in during middle school and high school (when I was a “young adult,” in other words). Even though I had a few friends, I never felt like I could comfortably be myself in front of my peers. The weird thing is, I hadn’t planned on bringing that experience into TKC, yet it snuck its way in. Art really does imitate life, I guess.

Day 7: Did you base anyone off a real person?

I’d plead the Fifth if I ever base a character on someone I know. (*lol*) But for Day 7, I decided to mention Eva’s mother, who was a singer when she was alive. I’ve always imagined her voice sounding like that of Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation, especially during the band’s Silent Force album, when Sharon used her high range quite a bit. The ballad “Somewhere” is a gorgeous example of this.

If you have trouble accessing the YouTube clip via the linked Twitter, check it out here instead.

Day 8: Share a line / excerpt that shows a character’s sense of humor.

Keli is another supporting character from TKC, and he has left me in stitches since the day I wrote his first lines. He’s charming, easygoing, and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He also knows how to push certain characters’ buttons – and sometimes it gets him into trouble. (*hee hee*)

Day 10: Share a line / excerpt that makes you want to hug a character. 

I hadn’t had time to edit this excerpt before the Tweet went live, and looking at it made me cringe. But it also made me realize that I haven’t introduced you to little Willem yet! Maybe this young Mountain Boy is due for a Beautiful People entry in the near future.

Day 12: Share a chapter beginning you love.

All I’ll say for now is that Eva did a Bad Thing in Chapter 6 (you’ll get a hint of what that Bad Thing is above), and then I make her pay for it in Chapter 7. (*evil author laughter*)

Day 14: Share a line / excerpt where a character tries something new.

Day 14 was a tough choice. Some of the new things Eva tries in TKC would give away certain plot points, so I picked the least spoiler-ish one: the moment when she considers teaching Willem self-defense. It’s a huge moment for Eva, since she’s contemplating doing something she wouldn’t have done in the past (help the Mountain Folk in any way). It’s also one of my favorite scenes in the story, partly because of Eva and Willem’s first conversation.

Day 18: Share a chapter ending you love.

Every now and then, you have to satisfy your characters by giving them a taste of what they want. Chapter 3 of TKC currently ends that way for Eva. How she feeld about it later on may or may not be another tale. 😉

Day 20: Share a line / excerpt that mentions food.

There are a LOT of food references in TKC, so it was hard to pick one for Day 20. I finally chose this bit from Chapter 10, where Eva and her fellow Councilor Remi are having a (more or less) serious conversation – and then Remi decides he’s hungry. Because that’s Remi, of course. (*lol*)

Day 21: Does nature or the weather act as antagonist during the story?

I’ve mentioned in past TKC-related posts that the Fei in this story world practice a form of nature worship. So, nature and weather have been important factors from the very beginning. And when you’re on a quest, Mother Nature won’t always cooperate. This excerpt from Chapter 11 is one of many examples demonstrating this.

Day 22: Share a line / excerpt about a smell.

Some of my favorite smells are the ones that come just before dinner’s ready. The tantalizing aroma of the food you’re about to eat makes you hungrier, doesn’t it? I was thinking of this for Day 22’s Twet. And not only does this excerpt from Chapter 3 feature that kind of scent, but it also shows the dinnertime rituals for Eva’s family.

Day 28: What do you want the future book cover to look like?

This exact “action shot” of Eva happens twice in TKC. I’d love to say why… but I can’t. 😉

Day 29: What’s the best thing people can say to you about this WIP?

Another tough one. I’d love to hear that readers were inspired by Eva’s growth as a character, found the journey exciting or the story world absorbing and believable, or were impressed by the quality of the writing. But no one else has read TKC yet, so it’s hard to imagine what people might think of it. Eventually, I narrowed it down to the reaction I had after finishing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the first fantasy books I ever read. If TKC – or any story I write in the future – can elicit that response from a reader, I’d feel like I’ve done my job as a fantasy writer / author.

Did you participate in #WIPjoy? How would you answer some of the questions from last month’s #WIPjoy for your own work-in-progress? Also, what are your thoughts about the excerpts and answers shown above?

22 thoughts on “#WIPjoy June 2016: A Month of Celebrating Our WIPs (and a Collection of Tweets & Excerpts from Mine)”

  1. Hey, I’ve seen your tweets on Twitter, but I didn’t realise they were part of a meme.
    It sounds like fun. I hope it will continue, because I’d like to partecipate, but I’m drafting at the moment (still on the very early plotting… welll I wish! Still on the very early researching stage).

    Liked by 1 person

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  2. The last answer was my favourite. I’m sure readers will love TKC. Very excited for the cover release as well. If it looks as you’ve described, it would be amazing! 😀
    Eva sounds like a character most teens can relate to as fitting in and forming an identity is crucial in that age. Would love to get a copy as soon as it’s out (hope it will be available here!).

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks, Nandini. 🙂

      I can’t remember if I’ve asked you this before… but how or where do you typically buy books in India? Are international books more difficult to find or higher in price? I’m just curious, since it’s relatively easy to buy any kind of book here in the US, but it doesn’t sound like it’s that way where you live.

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      • I usually order them online via Amazon (the Indian site). If the book is published internationally, it’ll be listed in the Indian site. I can easily find books by Rick Riordan and J. K. Rowling at reasonable prices on Amazon. Most bookstores stock books by Scholastic, which has a very good presence in India. So does Penguin, actually. Otherwise, it’s hard to get hold of books. Some authors release books only in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, so I’ll have to buy a digital copy and pay the equivalent rupee amount, which makes it very costly for me. Physical copies are even more expensive as they have to be imported and shipping costs added. Hence, I can’t buy a lot of books that don’t have a worldwide release.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Wow. So it can be very limited sometimes. I sort of had an idea, based on what you and another Indian blogger have told me before. But it must be very frustrating if you really want to read a book but can’t because of cost or lack of availability where you live.

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  3. This is a cool idea! I’d love to participate in something like this in the future. I love how overall it helps you feel so positive about your writing and other people’s writing. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. What a lovely meme – and you did a fantastic job of rising to the challenges:). It completely by-passed me as I’m not spending all that much time on Twitter, right now. I love the music you included, it’s beautiful Sara:)). And I, too, think the last tweet you posted is very apt. I really like the idea of the #WIPJoy and may well be joining in during September… Thank you for sharing these.

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    • Thanks, Sarah! Some days definitely were challenging, especially since I didn’t want to share anything that would spoil the most important parts.

      And yes, keep an eye out for Brittany’s site and Twitter page for September’s #WIPjoy as it gets closer. I’m not sure if I’ll participate this time, but I’ll keep an eye out for any friends who do. 😉

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  5. This is a neat hashtag. I’m not very active on twitter so I hadn’t heard about it. I’m glad you had fun participating. There were a lot of good prompts it seems!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    • Thanks, Tori! It was a neat challenge, for sure. The only real struggle was trying to keep up with friends who were also participating. It’s tough when you can only access Twitter for a couple hours each day. :S

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  7. #WIPjoy was a fun way of learning more about other writers’ WIPs, yours included. I didn’t have enough time for it this round, but since it’s returning this September, I want to participate again.
    I like how you wrote up this post, gathering your favorite tweets in one place. I might have to do that too, September. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks! And I look forward to seeing your #WIPjoy tweets in September. 😉 I don’t think I’ll participate this time, since I’ll be too busy during the first week of September to do much on social media, but I want to keep an eye out for any writer friends who will be!

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