Katherine McIntyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Plunging into the Sequel
I’m about 12,000 words into the sequel of An Airship Named Desire, and already, the characters are returning like I wrote them yesterday. Bea is still one of my favorite characters to write, hands down. She’s so hot-headed and opinionated, but that’s why I love her. Any situation, when asking what Bea would do, it’s usually the ballsiest, craziest option. She’s brazen and a bit of an asshole at times, but she’s as loyal as the ship she flies and would do absolutely anything for her crew.
One of the things I forgot about with writing Bea though, is how much she butts heads with others, in true Aries girl fashion. Which makes the upcoming scene I’m about to write that much more fun, because I’m introducing certain characters from the extended universe, and chances are she’s not going to take a liking to them on first try.
I’m going to keep plugging away though, hopefully ramping up the pace this month. In the meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this unedited preview.
“A couple sat by the fireplace whispering to one another. The moment I walked in, they turned and stared, giving me one hell of a sneer. Too bad I didn’t play their games. I grinned extra wide, thrust my hips forward, and waggled my fingers at the pair. From behind me, Mordecai audibly sighed. I promised I wouldn’t start any fights—none were made about ladylike behavior.”
Katherine McIntyre's website
One of the things I forgot about with writing Bea though, is how much she butts heads with others, in true Aries girl fashion. Which makes the upcoming scene I’m about to write that much more fun, because I’m introducing certain characters from the extended universe, and chances are she’s not going to take a liking to them on first try.
I’m going to keep plugging away though, hopefully ramping up the pace this month. In the meanwhile, I’ll leave you with this unedited preview.
“A couple sat by the fireplace whispering to one another. The moment I walked in, they turned and stared, giving me one hell of a sneer. Too bad I didn’t play their games. I grinned extra wide, thrust my hips forward, and waggled my fingers at the pair. From behind me, Mordecai audibly sighed. I promised I wouldn’t start any fights—none were made about ladylike behavior.”
Katherine McIntyre's website
Writing a Bounty Hunter Bar Scene
When I'm working on stories, I need a proper soundtrack to get the juices flowing. That's one of my key tools in fighting Blank Page Syndrome. The other happens to be copious amounts of coffee and tea. So yesterday I was plunging into a gritty bar scene for the latest Airship story. I love, love, love writing about dicey, dirty bars rife with tension and danger. This was one such. But when I was flipping through my playlist, a lot of the songs just weren't resonating with the scene. After all, it was a reckless, tense, yet still fun scene to write.
What solution did I come across?
Tarantella from This Way to the Egress's latest release. The jaunty melody with interspersed serious sections fit the scene to a T, and the words started flowing. If you get the chance to give them a listen, I highly recommend.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L01Su...
More at Katherine McIntyre's Website
What solution did I come across?
Tarantella from This Way to the Egress's latest release. The jaunty melody with interspersed serious sections fit the scene to a T, and the words started flowing. If you get the chance to give them a listen, I highly recommend.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L01Su...
More at Katherine McIntyre's Website
Balancing a Story
So, I'm writing the sequel to Airship, and I think one of the biggest concerns I have is that folks will be disappointed with the change in action. It's a little more cerebral than the first book, but for good reason. With Bea as a Captain now, she can't just respond to orders--she's got to come up with them. And so a lot of what was just instinct and reaction before has to have forethought and logic behind it before choices are made.
This is a big transition book for Bea, seeing her grow as a character and how she comes to accept responsibility. What I want throughout this book, is to establish her as the Captain, and grow her confidence in leadership. She was comfortable bossing around before, but in the beginning of this novel, she does a lot of second guessing to her choices and self-blame--even though she's been running the Desire for a couple years now, the decisions aren't instinctual yet, and she doesn't have the experience that her predecessor did with making them.
Hence the trickiness with writing this follow up...but one thing I can promise is that there's still plenty of danger and the same smart-talking, trouble attracting, hapless crew as always.
This is a big transition book for Bea, seeing her grow as a character and how she comes to accept responsibility. What I want throughout this book, is to establish her as the Captain, and grow her confidence in leadership. She was comfortable bossing around before, but in the beginning of this novel, she does a lot of second guessing to her choices and self-blame--even though she's been running the Desire for a couple years now, the decisions aren't instinctual yet, and she doesn't have the experience that her predecessor did with making them.
Hence the trickiness with writing this follow up...but one thing I can promise is that there's still plenty of danger and the same smart-talking, trouble attracting, hapless crew as always.
