TAG! A moment in time…

My friend (and Ready. Set. Write! participant) Juliana Haygert tagged me for a fun WiP post. (Hers is HERE and it’s fantastic.) The parameters are as follows:

Search for the words “moment,” “forever,” or “time,” in your work-in-progress, pick your favorite excerpt, post on your blog, and tag others!

Easy, right? Here’s a bit from the contemporary young adult WiP I started a few months ago. I’ll be working on it this summer for Ready. Set. Write!, and I hope to finish the first draft by the end of August…

******

Though eye contact seemed to pain her, the girl managed a sympathetic smile. “Ms. Parnell is a hard ass when it comes to schedule switches after the start of the semester,” she said, her voice soft, wispy. “But I hear flattery goes a long way.”

“Yeah? Thanks for the tip.” Tyler thought about introducing himself with a handshake, but the girl was staring down at her feet again, nudging a rip in the carpet with the toe of her shoe. Were they done already?

“I’m Tyler,” he said in an attempt to recapture her attention. He kept his hands to himself. “New to Clayton City by way of Cleveland.”

She glanced up. Her cheeks were stained pink, and Tyler had the distinct impression that she was thrown by his continued attempts at conversation.

“Oh,” she said. “Well, welcome to Small Town, USA, I guess.” She hesitated, then, like an afterthought, added, “I’m Jenna.”

Jenna. A sweet name. An innocent name. After his time with Kendra, Tyler was starting to think sweet and innocent were the way to go. And it didn’t hurt that this Jenna was a surreal sort of hot. She made him think of the nymphs he’d read about last year in English, shapely and elemental and sort of hypnotic. He liked her hair, its color and its length; he could imagine her thick ponytail wrapped around his hand. He liked her eyes, too, the way she looked at him through her lashes like she was playing at demure. Or, maybe she actually was demure—an intriguing notion. She was wearing a long dress with little flowers scattered about the fabric, and a denim jacket that covered her from collarbone to wrist. She wasn’t baring an inch of inappropriate skin.

Tyler was equal parts fascinated and frustrated.

******

And… I’ll tag Temre Beltz, Tracey Neithercott, and Katharine Owens. I hope you girls play along too!

38 thoughts on “TAG! A moment in time…”

  1. Liz Parker says:

    First: I love this post idea. Second, I REALLY love this excerpt! I didn’t realize your WIP was from a guy’s POV. It’s so good! Great accompanying photo.

    • katyupperman says:

      Thanks, lady! You should totally do one too… TAG!

      This story is actually told from three perspectives, which is what prompted me to use third person. I’m kind of nervous about my ability to pull it all off, but only time will tell, I suppose. 🙂

    • katyupperman says:

      Thanks so much, Jennifer! They both end up doing terrible things later on, so it’s a goal of mine to make them as charming as possible early in the story. Hopefully I can pull it off!

  6. Jaime Morrow says:

    I love this so much, Katy! And I love that it’s told from third person. I’ve been thinking of giving that a whirl sometime to give first person a bit of a break. Hope to someday read more of this story. 🙂

    • katyupperman says:

      I really like writing in third person, now that I’ve given it a few tries. I don’t always love reading third person though, so I’m very nervous about my ability to do it justice and make the characters easy to connect with, despite that fact that the reader won’t be in their heads. Ugh… Writing is hard!

  7. katharineowens says:

    Oh my, Katy– you are such a talented writer. LOVE it! “…shapely and elemental and sort of hypnotic”. Gorgeous, evocative writing. YAY! And thanks for including me.

  8. Raven says:

    This flowed so well. A writer has to have a lot of skill in order for me to stay interested in reading something in third person. You definitely have the skill! I love that I can get a sense of Tyler’s character. The voice/imagery is strong as well. I hope you finish writing this wip this summer. 🙂

    • katyupperman says:

      Yay! I can’t wait to read your excerpt, Trace! And I’ll probably be taking you up on your offer to make sure this thing “doesn’t suck” one of these days. 🙂

  10. Temre Beltz says:

    Oh, Katy, wow – I LOVE this! The more I read of your writing, the more I fall in love with it. Each story is so distinctive yet there is a similar quality or tone unique to you that I know will keep readers coming back again and again to your stories. I am so intrigued and so very excited that this will be the WiP you’re focusing on during Ready. Set Write! Also, thanks for tagging me! I will definitely be doing a search in my WiP for these words 🙂 Happy writing today!

    • katyupperman says:

      I can’t wait to read your excerpt, Tem! I know it will be gorgeous and inspiring and heartwarming, just like everything of yours I’ve read. And thank you so very much for your sweet words. I’m feeling more and more motivating to get back to writing!

  14. Alison Miller says:

    YOU are a TEASE!!! This is so awesome – I want to read all of it NOW. Hurry up and write this already!

  17. Erin Funk says:

    This is such an awesome excerpt! I especially like that bit about wrapping her ponytail around his hand. Please tell me that’s actually going to happen at some point later in the story! Looks like you’re off to a great start on this WIP. Can’t wait to hear about your progress on it this summer!

  18. Jessica Silverstein says:

    I’m so captivated by these characters, particularly Jenna. The third person is definitely working here–it’s close enough that I feel connected and I already feel invested. I want to know what happens next with these two!

  19. Miss Alexandrina says:

    Hehe, I can imagine doing this for my own novel – it’s a time-travel story, so those words come up a lot xD
    Cool extract, by the way, I LOVE the way you describe Jenna and the voice of the piece.

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