Sunday, February 24, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors 2/24/13


         Street Glass is my novel-in-progress. My tagline: Underprivileged 18-yr-old Latino leaves street gang and befriends white, over-privileged musicians.

While some of the plot is subject to change (draft two is a pretty early draft, after all) the basic elements will stay, as will the character "voices". So these excerpts will still give you a good idea of how the plot plays out and what the characters are like. The year is 1986, in Los Angeles, California.

I'm collecting all the snippets here so you can easily see what's going on.

This week, I switch scenes to introduce my other main character, Sandy, who’s the drummer for a big-time rock-n-roll band. They’re rehearsing before a tour. One of the guys shouts out to kick up the tempo on Eric’s song … but he hasn’t cleared that with Eric.
Bouncing on his seat, Sandy hammered the snare and spread of toms. The thunder reverberated in his gut and made his head ring, and it was glorious. The cymbals winked at him as they bobbed on their stands under the changing colors of the overhead lights.

Lennie’s swirling piano notes turned into something like Elton John on speed. Eric’s guitar squealed and not in a good way; it dropped out of the music as he threw his hands up.

Brian’s bass wobbled to a stop and the piano chords skipped some notes before disappearing. Sandy kept clicking the hi-hats then quit even that.

Standing at center stage, Eric leveled a drop dead glare at Lennie, then Sandy, then Brian.
         For more excerpts from a wide and wonderful variety of stories, visit Weekend Writing Warriors. We have fun blog hopping all over the world, and we hope you'll come along!

Thanks for visiting my blog today. Comments gratefully accepted :-D

12 comments:

  1. Wow. Really nice descriptive sequence.

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  2. Uh oh. Brian isn't happy. Nice excerpt.

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  3. Uh oh, they're in trouble. Nice snippet.

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  4. Oh I was lost in the music, I ADORE drums...and then the discordant end...wow, a terrific snippet!!!

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    1. Hugs, sweetie! I'm just gettin' started :D I don't know why but I've been a drum-o-phile as long as I can remember!

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  5. This is awesome, Marcia. Enough music lingo to make the reader feel "inside" but still understandable to those of us who know next to nothing about it.

    I particularly like, "Elton John on speed" and the cymbals winking at Sandy.

    Dang! Great job! :-)

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  6. Good depiction of the music. They just couldn't keep up with Sandy, could they?

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  7. "Elton John on speed." LOL! Reminds me a bit of That Thing You Do. Does the faster tempo end up working better, I wonder?

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  8. Love this excerpt! Wonderful descriptions. You obviously know a lot about music. :-)
    "The thunder reverberated in his gut and made his head ring, and it was glorious." This is exactly how I feel when I listen to hard rock and metal. Glorious indeed!

    (P.S. Have a great time with Bon Jovi :-) )

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    1. heehee, thanks! I wouldn't say I know *a lot*. I have been very observant over the years though. I used to bring binoculars to rock show; while the band was playing away, I'd be focused on stuff going on behind them, in the shadows :D

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  9. Great imagery! I like how you incorporated not just the visuals but the sounds as well.

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  10. Please forgive me not answering everybody individually this week. Real life has a way of intruding obnoxiously.

    I do appreciate so very much everybody's comments. This novel grew out of my love for rock music and acquired more layers as I got to know the characters.

    One of my biggest challenges is writing about music in a way that lets readers -hear- it. I hope that rock fans will connect with my fictional band the way they do to their favorites in real life, and that non-fans will gain a sense of why rock is so powerful.

    Thanks again, everybody.

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