Snazzy Snippets: Share Some Snippets in 2016!

WELCOME 2016. And with it, Snazzy Snippets is here for all writers and WIPs with gratuitous alliteration!

I'm continuing to co-host a bimonthly link-up with Emily @ Loony Literate, called Snazzy Snippets. For those who weren't around last time:

It’s an opportunity for writers! Every two months, we post a prompt or question for you to share a snippet of less than 500 words. It’s designed to let you have fun, analyse your work on a smaller level, or just write something to join in.

If you’re not a writer, or aren’t working on anything, don’t go back up the rabbit hole just yet. Read everyone’s wonderful snippets on the linky!

Still have questions? Snazzy Snippets has its own page on the blog, with FAQs and more. Take a look! I also wanted to say: this isn't just for novels! The prompts were designed with novels in mind, but most are also applicable to short stories, poetry, anything. We welcome all types of writing!

January prompts!

A snippet from page 16

or

A snippet of 16 words or fewer

or

A snippet about something NEW
e.g. a new year, new school, introducing a new person/character/setting, a new revelation

Remember to include your post URL in the linky! I'll be sure to visit ALL your snazzy snippets. Also, the next Snazzy Snippets may be coming earlier than expected, so stay tuned. And now MY snippets!

1. A snippet from page 16

The locket refused to come off her neck. This was why Mo preferred stealing from corpses—they weren't particularly attached to their jewellery.

The northerner certainly hadn't complained when Mo stole the locket. A northerner and a girl-corpse, so a witch. Except witches didn’t die, that was why the mipo lived sixty years without starving. Even while tricking idle fools out of their money by tossing a few sticks.

Mo stalked over to the mipo's counter and said in an undertone, "I want a consultation."

The mipo glanced at Mo's neck. "I don't touch that. Black magic."

Real magic. Powerful magic. The mipo was a fraud, everyone whispered, but no one shouted it just in case they were wrong. Mo moved her hand to the knife hidden in her coat.

"You can’t kill me, everyone knows that."

Why, had anyone tried? Mo killed a witch just this morning, and she wasn't inclined to trust everybody.

"I can hurt you," Mo said.

The mipo is a legit part of Chinese superstition — they're people who can commune with the dead. It's derived from wenmi, which translates literally to ask rice, so I created the term mipo or rice grandmother, which I thought was oddly fitting for my Chinese witchy story. The mipo only appears in this one snippet for the purposes of exposition (and for showing how fantastic real witches are.)

But unfortunately, the mipo here is truly based off superstition and Mo sees right through that. Being our compassionate, heroic protagonist, Mo immediately threatens the mipo to give her a straight answer.

Is the answer right? Is it wrong? You'll have to read WIBAS to find out. *grin*

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2. A snippet of sixteen words or fewer

they were done with the monsters. happily ever after.

/CHAPTER BREAK/

the monsters were not done with them.

WIBAS is really more an experimental work than anything I've written before. I play with structure and lots of prose poetry, and every now and then I drop in a line of fairytale-heavy reference. This is my favourite so far — the princess Mak and her friend Yi have just decided to leave behind their struggles and be wonderful friends. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts, and the chapter ends!

Of course, I would never be so kind. The next chapter is that single sentence you see above, and the chapter after that is essentially their breakup.

Seriously ... I highly doubt I'll ever write a SINGLE healthy romance.

The monsters here are figurative and more psychological than anything, but there are indeed actual magic monsters in WIBAS. Again, my lips are sealed on this — but monsters are in some way a gateskeeper to the past and our protagonists encounter them.

3. A snippet about something NEW

Willem’s gait rapped a merry rhythm behind her when they entered the justiciary. “Work sweet work.”

Kim might have mirrored his grin, but her throat tightened when she looked up the stairs. “Stop smiling.”

“Why? We’re in the justiciary, there’s nothing to fear. Here you stand above everyone.”

To see more of the crumbling world. “Stop smiling,” Kim repeated and made her way up the stairs. “That area is restricted,” she called out to the southern boy. “The trial for this afternoon has been postponed.”

“Peace be with you,” the boy said, pressing his hand to his heart. “I’m looking for the justiciar.” His olive face was too square and solemn to be handsome, but that crooked smile made a thousand empty promises. That wasn’t why Kim’s heart was racing.

The boy wore the loose white robes of the south and the face of Stanley Mexrenne.

He was sixteen at most. Kim’s hands would shake if they weren’t clutching her skirts. So much for the rebels having no figurehead. It took all her focus to form the words, “I am the justiciar.”

And to wrap up, a Matryoshka snippet to mix things up! You guys saw a bit of this snippet in a previous round, so you can check that out for comparison if you like!

And a new person enters the political fray! Previous to this, a power-hungry Prime Minister, a quietly defiant Chancellor, a group of desperate rebels, and of course Kim herself were jostling in the capital ... but Thomas' arrival spurs them all into action.

At the same time, Thomas is also a call back to the civil war, which is an older time that none of our characters want to go back to. As a member of the literal next generation, Thomas uses methods quite different from his father. As his mother puts it:

Liberty is for the bygone age, when war was glory instead of memory. This is the time for vengeance, for widows and bastards.

Remember, if you like the sound of my WIPs, my takeout army hears about all beta reading opportunities first + reads alllll the extra snippets!

Get first dibs on the Mulan + Swan Lake retelling

Any thoughts on my snippets? What are your writing plans in 2016?

Twitter-sized takeout:

• #amwriting in 2016? It's your chance to shine in @AlyssaC_HK and @thelooneytuney's Snazzy Snippets link-up! (Click to Tweet)
• "they were done with the monsters, but the monsters were not done with them." Snippets from @AlyssaC_HK! (Click to Tweet)