WIP meme, crossposted from teh Tumblz
Ok, ok. I hate being tagged (there may be a rant on this soon to explain *why* it's a thing for not just me but for... oh, I'll shut up now and save that for the post) and yet I have been tagged in this thing, and have seen friends do this thing, and I'm too ill to fucking write properly today, so ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT. Have it your way. I will do this thing. Bear in mind that these are subject to tons of change, what with my anal levels of proofreading/self-betaing. It's not even regular level anal, it's fisting level anal. So here's a look into Of Roses Unfurling, part 23. (Yeah, I know.)
NB: The original meme called for the first and last *lines* of the thing, but that's hardly worth a meme, I find, so I'll just do paragraphs. Because I can.
Go to your current work in progress and share the following:
The first paragraph of the work.
"Take the date fruit, for example," Jaffar says and gestures at the tall, robust date palms as he and his family stroll through Afrasiyab's vast orchards. "See the way the fruit hangs there in abundant clusters, offered to us, almost whispering 'come, eat!'" he cries, his eyes glittering with awe. "That it should be handed out to us like this, to provide for us, to sustain us... this, children, is what I mean when I speak of Divine Presence. Such are God's signs, proofs of His blessings and His guidance--easily gleaned if you but look at the world with your soul's eyes."
Afrasiyab is the ancient palace in Samarkand; I've made the Sultan of Samarkand (Jaffar's little brother, Mohammad) and his court live there.
The first paragraph of your current chapter (or if it's a one-shot, the first line of the tenth paragraph).
I have no idea what the fuck the context of "one-shot" is here. In fact, I've seen it used in so many weird contexts that I'm not even sure what *anyone* means by "one-shot", really. I would've thought it was just... a one-off fic in comparison to a multi-part series. I never realised people could use it for "one-chapter fic"... so much of classic fanfic is one-chapter, under 10 k, anyway.
But now, I have to punch myself out of digression into bitching again (it's like herpes... it never leaves), here we go:
It is the day of Tiregan, and all of Samarkand is alive with festivities to welcome the first summer rains, so hoped-for and yearned-for in this reign of oppressive heat. In the gardens of Afrasiyab, splendid pageant follows splendid pageant: dancers in colourful garb weave their way past fountains spraying out an abundance of water-flowers multitudinous in shape and form. The fountains, a dozen in number, gush out columns and shields and cascades of water in the shape of lilies, lilies-of-the-valley, narcissi, violets, jasmine; each flower in turn is painted, bespeckled by a series of moving, colourful lights from lanterns perched upon rotating clockwork wheels. The fountains and the dancers are accompanied by music made by a full band of clockwork minstrels: five beautiful brass maidens, each playing an instrument of her own, each slightly different in tone. In the middle of all this stands a great clockwork tree made out of brass, fully gilt: upon it perch all kinds of golden birds from the parrot to the crow to the humble sparrow, each one moving its wings and tilting its body to peck at a fruit, the fruits themselves carved of rubies and emeralds. Were one to approach the little pond of crystal and glass beneath the tree, one might even catch the gilt swan laying a sapphire egg.
The last paragraph you wrote.
"Go after him," Fadl groans from the floor, holding his right arm. "Don't worry about me right now. I've had worse," he hisses, pulling the singed fabric from his arm, wincing when a piece of skin comes off with it. "He burned my arm, but that cauterised the wound immediately; there's hardly any bleeding." He looks up at Jaffar, obviously appalled that he is still standing there. "What are you waiting for?! Go after that son of a bitch!"
A line for a chapter/part you haven't written yet.
I don't write out of sequence, but I do have tons of ideas in my notes. Roses 23 is just... silly now. It's going to be over 50 000 words, I'm sure. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever had this many notes for a ToBfic. That's what happens for having such limited writing time these days--tons of notes, only sporadic writing. But I have things such as:
-Maybe the kids help with the crystal--Y goes "Stop pretending you haven't been scrying in secret; I know you are good at this".
-Begin at Afrasiyab feast--J and Y are still there. Want some tenderness for them here. Discuss the plot a bit.
-Fadl (and J?) discuss w/shaykh
-Mohammad at the centre of a feast. May be at Afrasiyab
-Shaykh bug reveals some rebel plans: arguing guys
-Line up your players! Level the playing field! Who are the participants? Their weaknesses? Strengths? Weapons? Distractions? Motivations?
-Start with Jaffar, Fadl and the Shaykh discussing their plan.
-Women will plan protective circle. Shabestan, crystals, talismans around town
-Who is where during the feast?
-F especially smug and complacent of everything turning out ok
-Women and J, in chorus: "shut the fuck up, Fadl"
-Mohammad nods and says: "trust in God but tie up your camel"
***
And so on and so forth. I'm on the last plot chapter right now, and after that, I should have "only" the last celebratory unfings to go, with which I'll wrap up the whole thing (but since they need to be Proper Sex Scenes, that'll take up 5-10 k as well). Pray that I'll be able to finish it sometime this century. It's been nearly a fucking YEAR now!
NB: The original meme called for the first and last *lines* of the thing, but that's hardly worth a meme, I find, so I'll just do paragraphs. Because I can.
Go to your current work in progress and share the following:
The first paragraph of the work.
"Take the date fruit, for example," Jaffar says and gestures at the tall, robust date palms as he and his family stroll through Afrasiyab's vast orchards. "See the way the fruit hangs there in abundant clusters, offered to us, almost whispering 'come, eat!'" he cries, his eyes glittering with awe. "That it should be handed out to us like this, to provide for us, to sustain us... this, children, is what I mean when I speak of Divine Presence. Such are God's signs, proofs of His blessings and His guidance--easily gleaned if you but look at the world with your soul's eyes."
Afrasiyab is the ancient palace in Samarkand; I've made the Sultan of Samarkand (Jaffar's little brother, Mohammad) and his court live there.
The first paragraph of your current chapter (or if it's a one-shot, the first line of the tenth paragraph).
I have no idea what the fuck the context of "one-shot" is here. In fact, I've seen it used in so many weird contexts that I'm not even sure what *anyone* means by "one-shot", really. I would've thought it was just... a one-off fic in comparison to a multi-part series. I never realised people could use it for "one-chapter fic"... so much of classic fanfic is one-chapter, under 10 k, anyway.
But now, I have to punch myself out of digression into bitching again (it's like herpes... it never leaves), here we go:
It is the day of Tiregan, and all of Samarkand is alive with festivities to welcome the first summer rains, so hoped-for and yearned-for in this reign of oppressive heat. In the gardens of Afrasiyab, splendid pageant follows splendid pageant: dancers in colourful garb weave their way past fountains spraying out an abundance of water-flowers multitudinous in shape and form. The fountains, a dozen in number, gush out columns and shields and cascades of water in the shape of lilies, lilies-of-the-valley, narcissi, violets, jasmine; each flower in turn is painted, bespeckled by a series of moving, colourful lights from lanterns perched upon rotating clockwork wheels. The fountains and the dancers are accompanied by music made by a full band of clockwork minstrels: five beautiful brass maidens, each playing an instrument of her own, each slightly different in tone. In the middle of all this stands a great clockwork tree made out of brass, fully gilt: upon it perch all kinds of golden birds from the parrot to the crow to the humble sparrow, each one moving its wings and tilting its body to peck at a fruit, the fruits themselves carved of rubies and emeralds. Were one to approach the little pond of crystal and glass beneath the tree, one might even catch the gilt swan laying a sapphire egg.
The last paragraph you wrote.
"Go after him," Fadl groans from the floor, holding his right arm. "Don't worry about me right now. I've had worse," he hisses, pulling the singed fabric from his arm, wincing when a piece of skin comes off with it. "He burned my arm, but that cauterised the wound immediately; there's hardly any bleeding." He looks up at Jaffar, obviously appalled that he is still standing there. "What are you waiting for?! Go after that son of a bitch!"
A line for a chapter/part you haven't written yet.
I don't write out of sequence, but I do have tons of ideas in my notes. Roses 23 is just... silly now. It's going to be over 50 000 words, I'm sure. In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever had this many notes for a ToBfic. That's what happens for having such limited writing time these days--tons of notes, only sporadic writing. But I have things such as:
-Maybe the kids help with the crystal--Y goes "Stop pretending you haven't been scrying in secret; I know you are good at this".
-Begin at Afrasiyab feast--J and Y are still there. Want some tenderness for them here. Discuss the plot a bit.
-Fadl (and J?) discuss w/shaykh
-Mohammad at the centre of a feast. May be at Afrasiyab
-Shaykh bug reveals some rebel plans: arguing guys
-Line up your players! Level the playing field! Who are the participants? Their weaknesses? Strengths? Weapons? Distractions? Motivations?
-Start with Jaffar, Fadl and the Shaykh discussing their plan.
-Women will plan protective circle. Shabestan, crystals, talismans around town
-Who is where during the feast?
-F especially smug and complacent of everything turning out ok
-Women and J, in chorus: "shut the fuck up, Fadl"
-Mohammad nods and says: "trust in God but tie up your camel"
***
And so on and so forth. I'm on the last plot chapter right now, and after that, I should have "only" the last celebratory unfings to go, with which I'll wrap up the whole thing (but since they need to be Proper Sex Scenes, that'll take up 5-10 k as well). Pray that I'll be able to finish it sometime this century. It's been nearly a fucking YEAR now!