Skip to content
  • Home
  • Meet Travis & Whitney
  • Our Books
    • The Throwaway Queen
    • Destiny Seeker Series
    • Finding Your Future Fans
    • Speechless
    • The Ancients Stirred
    • The Fight of Fallen Stars
  • Editing Services
  • Our Clients
  • Events
  • Contact Us
  • SHOP
clear

Wit & Travesty

Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 50

OUR WORK

weekend writing warriors

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone! Time for another Weekend Writing Warriors snippet. Every Sunday, I join a bunch of writers through a blog hop and post an 8-10 sentence snippet of my current project. You can click on the link to see what everyone else is up to.

Can you believe we’re already here at snippet 50? That’s about 500 sentences of content! Without further ado, here’s the next segment. Go ahead and read it, then get on with your Mother’s Day festivities.

After a bit of a lull, Sam comes forward with the first solution. Lotte is not sure if it’ll work, but anything’s worth a try, right?

“Lotte, I think I found a cure to your curse,” my brother said. As habit dictated, the whiteboard was always near and I reached for it and just scribbled a question mark. I highly doubted the library would have dirt on Chris’ trick bag.

“You know Hans Christian Andersen, right?” he asked.

Back up—our grandma is part Danish, so of course I know who he was. He’s only the most famous Dane there ever was, because he wrote fairy tales that everyone thought came from the Grimm brothers, but it’s not like I ever sat down to read any of the stories. I tilted my chin down, glaring at him as if he should’ve know the answer to that question.

“I don’t really know how I even came up with this,” Sam explained, “but I figured that if this was really done by magic, maybe there’s a fairytale that had a similar outline. I looked through the Grimm Brothers’ work, the Thousand Arabian Nights, and H.C. Andersen’s stuff. I found two versions of a fairytale that sound a lot like what happened to you.”

Trust the bookworm to know what to do, right? I’m lookin’ at you, Hermione.

I do have a question for the masses. I plan on sharing the fairytale this is based on (The Wild Swans by H.C. Andersen) but I’m not sure where. At first it was in the prologue as well as right after this snippet. Should I ditch the prologue to avoid redundancy or is there a better way to approach this? It’s mainly because I want to enforce the fact that this is a retelling, but it’s also a retelling of a not-so-familiar tale. I do like doing the hard way.

Until then, check out other snippets here. You can also learn more about the novel, Speechless, here. Don’t forget to comment below if you’ve got a snippet to share as well! Compliments and constructive insight are equally welcome.

Save

Share

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
8Sunday, Denmark, fairytales, H.C. Andersen, library, lotte, retelling, Sam, wewriwa
12 Comments on Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 50

Post navigation

Previous postMonthly McGruder Updates: April
Next postBlog Tour: The Fairest Poison

Related Posts

 
Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 56
 
Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 21
 
Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 51

12 comments on “Weekend Writing Warriors: Snippet 50”

  1. Marcia says:
    May 8, 2016 at 8:52 am

    *ahem* Tycho Brahe was a famous Dane, though I suppose Andersen’s work catches modern people’s attention more. I just didn’t want Tycho to get short shrift 🙂

    Good snippet. Sam explains just enough so we know how he came up with his lead, without being too wordy.

    As for including the fairytale twice, I think it could work if one telling is basically a really condensed version with just a couple of the most important points focused on. The second mention could fill it out a bit more and I think that would help avoid a feeling of repetition. But context is king. You might be able to pull it off quite nicely where other writers wouldn’t. Let us know how it goes!

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 8, 2016 at 10:01 am

      This is true–there are a lot more famous Danes than my narrator gives credit! I do appreciate your insight. I wrote the prologue and earlier bits during NaNoWriMo, so I can tell there are sections that are *extra* wordy to get me through the daily word count! But you’re right about context; as long as the readers don’t forget what’s going on, then we should be good to go. *thumbs up*

      ― Reply
  2. Veronica Scott says:
    May 8, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    I wouldn’t do a prologue. Readers often skip those. And I for sure wouldn’t include the material twice. That’s my ‘sage’ advice LOL. Enjoyed the snippet, love the concept and best wishes!

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 9, 2016 at 1:06 pm

      Thanks for the insight! I’m seeing this is a debate over whether a prologue is necessary/worth it or not. I appreciate the ‘sage’ advice! 🙂

      ― Reply
  3. Ed Hoornaert says:
    May 8, 2016 at 3:11 pm

    I pretty much agree with Veronica’s advice about Andersen’s material. As for the snippet, I’m curious to find out how a fairytale might help get rid of her curse.

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 9, 2016 at 1:07 pm

      The next snippet will be my summary of the tale, so we’ll see!

      ― Reply
  4. Elizabeth Alsobrooks says:
    May 8, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    I’d never heard anyone say readers often skip prologues. I never do. I consider them necessary background material. A lot of people skip quotes and such at the beginning of chapters I know. As to the fairy tale twice, I do agree with that. I think I would do what I could to avoid it.

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 9, 2016 at 1:08 pm

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who skips them! They’re usually too abstract for me to understand, especially prologues for fantasy novels, so I can see why many skip over them. Thanks so much for weighing in on this!

      ― Reply
  5. Amy Braun says:
    May 8, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    I think he’s onto something there… 😉 As for the fairy tale inclusion, that’s a tricky one. I actually like writing prologues since they can be key to part of the story and are often fun introductions. However, depending on the fairy tale you choose, some readers might not catch onto it unless the connections can be seen with the main characters. We might need some kind of refresher to the tale so we know what to compare it to. Maybe refer to it once so we know the clues and will pick them up later? I can definitely see the dilemma you’re having! But you’ll figure it out! 😀

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 9, 2016 at 1:11 pm

      I know, right? I’m thinking that once the manuscript is done, I can afford to write a mock prologue and add the synopsis of the tale where it’s intended and let the beta readers or writing group peeps weigh in. A lot of this depends on how well I pull it off. And I’m all for writing and chucking if it doesn’t work. ;P Thanks for still offering your two cents!

      ― Reply
  6. Gem Sivad says:
    May 15, 2016 at 7:13 am

    I never skip reading prologues probably because I often use them. I like being able to give a smidgen of back story to bring readers up to speed without doing a huge info dump. Good luck. I like your concept and your snippet.

    ― Reply
    • Whitney says:
      May 15, 2016 at 8:39 pm

      Thanks for your input on the debate. I usually try to read prologues because I can tell the writer included it with specific intentions. It seems like the nice thing to do, right?

      ― Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Amazon
  • Etsy
  • Instagram
  • Goodreads
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Spotify
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • MARKETING/SELF-PROMO
  • OUR WORK
  • UPDATES
  • WRITER'S LIFE ADVICE
Brittany Olsen
Whitney helped me with two short projects written for children, and she was very pleasant to work with. She has an eye for detail, helping me with small grammar errors as well as insights about adding scenes that would enhance my story. Her turnaround time was extremely quick, which I really appreciated when on a deadline!
Angelika Offenwanger
Whitney did a copy-edit on my third novel, Checkmate. She was a pleasure to work with, and helped me give my novel that final polish that it needed before publication. Put her on your list for editors that help your work shine!
Jessica Frazier
Whitney McGruder has created a vast and imaginative world in Destiny Seeker with surprises to delight the reader at every turn. Readers can settle in to devour the diverse and ingenious magic Destiny Seeker has to offer. I highly recommend it.
Tori Nix
Working with Whitney was a breath of fresh air! I enjoyed every minute of my experience with bringing my book to life! Whitney not only did an exceptional job, she is also a very kind, patient, and I hope to continue to do business in the future!
Jessica Thompson
Whitney was great to work with. The whole experience was professional, yet flexible. Helpful, yet kind. My manuscript improved so much through Whitney's guidance that I received my first book deal!
Rachel Barnard
I won a contest via Wit & Travesty in the summer of 2017. The prize was a professional edit of the first 100 pages of a WIP. My middle grade fantasy was only 90 pages, so she read the entire manuscript. She was communicative and positive about the project. Her edits markedly polished up my manuscript and were easy to understand.
Jonathan Baker
Whitney and I worked together in a writing feedback group some years ago and have remained in touch since then. From the beginning, I was struck by her absolute responsibility as an editor. Even in the capacity of a group member, not even being employed or contracted by me to edit my work, Whitney was unerringly punctual, thorough, and accurate with her feedback. Her advice is genuinely insightful and I believe the marketability of my work was noticeably increased due to her guidance. I so value her skills that I still turn to her as a resource after three years of working with her in-person have passed.