Fic Snippet: Opening Paragraphs
Nov. 27th, 2019 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_rose posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
lmdeeIt's NaNoWriMo and if you're participating, good luck! For this month I'm posting snippets of things I've worked on during previous NaNoWriMos.
I did rebel NaNoWriMo in 2016 and wrote original fiction and fanfic, counting all the words towards my overall goal.
This is from the start of a piece I wrote for an online challenge. I'm pleased with the descriptions since I always have to work harder at that aspect of writing; dialogue comes easier to me.
The ruins were unnerving even in the afternoon's warm glow, as abandoned dwellings often were. It would surely be more disturbing once night began to draw in and shadows crept along broken pillars and cracked walls. It was clear this had been a lavish home and it did not take much imagination to look at the grand entrance hall and imagine guests being greeted, their cloaks removed by servants and safely stowed away, drinks pressed into gloved hands.
The fireplace in what Alanna took to be either a dining room or large drawing room was huge. There were some soot stains on the granite and a few of the marble tiles on the surround were chipped, but otherwise it was in good condition. Dan was already happily reverting to his role as a forester and gathering supplies to make a fire.
Had there been a family who sat in front of this fire, exchanging pleasant stories of their day? Or a stern patriarch who ruled from the chair nearest the fire as if from a throne? There were no chairs left, no thick rugs or other elegant trappings of wealth, just a damaged table in one corner, covered in spiderwebs and mouse droppings.
It made sense to shelter here from the storm they could all see and sense coming, but Alanna was more disturbed by this place than she cared to admit. The history of it seemed to linger, haunting every inch of this abandoned mansion. If she closed her eyes she thought she could smell rich roasted meats and feel the warmth of dozens of candles as those assembled ate well and toasted each other across a long table filled with a feast that would please a king.
I did rebel NaNoWriMo in 2016 and wrote original fiction and fanfic, counting all the words towards my overall goal.
This is from the start of a piece I wrote for an online challenge. I'm pleased with the descriptions since I always have to work harder at that aspect of writing; dialogue comes easier to me.
The ruins were unnerving even in the afternoon's warm glow, as abandoned dwellings often were. It would surely be more disturbing once night began to draw in and shadows crept along broken pillars and cracked walls. It was clear this had been a lavish home and it did not take much imagination to look at the grand entrance hall and imagine guests being greeted, their cloaks removed by servants and safely stowed away, drinks pressed into gloved hands.
The fireplace in what Alanna took to be either a dining room or large drawing room was huge. There were some soot stains on the granite and a few of the marble tiles on the surround were chipped, but otherwise it was in good condition. Dan was already happily reverting to his role as a forester and gathering supplies to make a fire.
Had there been a family who sat in front of this fire, exchanging pleasant stories of their day? Or a stern patriarch who ruled from the chair nearest the fire as if from a throne? There were no chairs left, no thick rugs or other elegant trappings of wealth, just a damaged table in one corner, covered in spiderwebs and mouse droppings.
It made sense to shelter here from the storm they could all see and sense coming, but Alanna was more disturbed by this place than she cared to admit. The history of it seemed to linger, haunting every inch of this abandoned mansion. If she closed her eyes she thought she could smell rich roasted meats and feel the warmth of dozens of candles as those assembled ate well and toasted each other across a long table filled with a feast that would please a king.