My 60 seconds of WIP. Yes, I fully expect to cycle on this opening. Or, it will be in a different part of the story. I often realize where this chunk goes after I start to write. (Fiction or nonfiction.)
The transcript:
I’m Johanna Rothman, and this is 60 Seconds of Johanna’s WIP for December 14, 2023, where I read an excerpt of just a minute of some writing in progress.
This excerpt is from a short story I hope to sell to a thriller magazine.
It was quiet here in Ketchikan—quieter than she’d expected from a place where the seaplanes dropped people off. Even as she glanced up to see eagles flying overhead, they didn’t make a sound. Or, more likely, they were too far away for her to hear them.
She arrived at the two-story bright blue building that housed the local airline. Supposedly there was a taxi stand just beyond the building.
She looked around—there was no one outside. No moving cars. Nothing.
It was as if all the people were hiding.
That’s when she heard a low-pitched chuffing. A bear was nearby. Then she heard a snort, just as loud.
Two bears.
She looked toward the blue building and saw the double glass doors. She sprinted to the doors and tried to yank the right one open.
Nothing happened.
Then someone inside saw her and opened the door. “Come in, fast!”