Skip to main content

Why I Like Posting Snippets

Posting snippets of your story is a fun exercise.  Here is why:

 
 

#1.  It is sort of a reward for the work you put in.  After all, if you didn't write anything, you wouldn't have any snippets to post.



#2.  It's fun to see what gems you have created. 
     Some writing is ho-hum.  I look over my own work and see boring sentences such as "She walked outside."  Sometimes a boring sentence is necessary and fits very nicely into your paragraph, but it doesn't sound impressive in a snippets collection.
     However, as you read through your story, you find some unique sentences that can stand alone.  Then you put them in a snippets post and feel very proud of them.  For me, sometimes it's a confidence booster.  Hey, look, I do have some good pieces in here!



#3.  They are a way to share what you are writing without spoiling the story.
     Seriously, if you can guess my plot from the 6 snippets I posted last Friday, you are either a genius or you are cheating. 
    Sometimes, I pass up posting a gem-of-a-sentence because it IS a spoiler.
    But, more often, I just have fun picking out sentences that make you wonder what is happening in that scene and, hopefully, make you want to read more.


How about you?  Do you post snippets from your writing?  Why or why not?

Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2015 at 2:45 PM

    I'm a little bit shy about posting my writing on my blog, but I love reading snippets posts from other bloggers, so I think I might try posting some snippets of my own sometime. It really is fun to find one sentence gems with the perfect turns of phrase and wording in my novel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ashana LianFebruary 16, 2015 at 4:30 PM

    Hi again! I hope your book is going well. I do sometimes posts snippets but only only a feature I do called Fiction Friday. It's encouraging because it reminds me the progress I've made. (So when I post nothing, I feel appropriately guilty, LOL.) I have more short stories posted. Although in general I should post things more often.

    That's why I'm writing a new short series on my blog starting this Friday! And I must come back and read these snippets of which you speak. Brilliant topic for your post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)February 17, 2015 at 6:11 AM

    That will be fun to read, Ana!

    Ashana, I like the idea of having a day of the week set aside for the snippets party on your blog. And you're doing a new short series? I might have to swing by your blog and check it out. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Emily Ann PutzkeFebruary 20, 2015 at 8:05 AM

    Yes!! I agree! Posting snippets is so fun and rewarding. I haven't done it in a while, but I've been thinking of doing it again. =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Esther Brooksmith (wisdomcreates)February 20, 2015 at 10:47 AM

    I would love to hear some bits from your new story, Emily. :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....
18 comments
Read more

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?
20 comments
Read more

Wherein I Still Have My Nose and Ears

     I decided to take the plunge.  I was going to chop a plot thread out of AAM so the story would fit in the contest word length restrictions.  I saved my old version and set up a copy for me to modify.      Stories are like woven cloth.  Each plot thread is woven into the entire story.  So if I decide to cut a character or a side-theme, I have to go through the whole book, chopping out the references to it.  This leaves gaping holes and sometimes it looks like the whole story is going to unravel.  Everywhere I chop, I have to readjust the whole scene to keep the flow.  It's a rather ticklish procedure.      Over the dinner table, I mentioned that I was chopping a sub-plot.  My younger sister protested loudly (she hasn't read it, but I previously told her the general idea).  Then my mom (who also hasn't read it) offered to read it and tell me what she thought could and couldn't be chopped. ...
7 comments
Read more