Yep, back in first-draftsville again. I finished edits to Torn, can’t do any more on my own, so that’s sitting and waiting to be called up to the major leagues (ie my editor’s computer, which is likely nicer than mine).
That leaves me free to desperately struggle to win NaNoWriMo. I only need 2,000(ish) words per day, but I’m going to lose a few days at the end of the month, so I really need to get my butt in gear.
I’ve re-written the first chapter of (working title) Sparrowhawk & Son and moved on through the second. I was going to do it in 3rd person, but this character’s voice is too strong for me to take the words out of her mouth. First-person it remains, and on we go. Cat is probably less like me than any character I’ve ever written. She’s hard, abrasive, cocky, sees no point in reading for entertainment, and admits to not being all that bright when it comes to school. Still, she’s got a great sense of humor and an interesting way of looking at things, and that should get us through.
Now to decide whether I need to throw another POV in there, or whether Cat can handle the story on her own.
For WIPpet Wednesday, here’s something I wrote yesterday. All first draft, of course. Cat (Catalen) is about to go on her first ride in… whatever I’m calling the private airships in this world. She’s from a polluted, poor town, and isn’t used to anything like this. If you read the now-unlinkable first draft of the first scene a while ago, you may remember that she slept with a rich guy she met at a club the night before, and he showed up in her machine shop this morning. She calls him Richie von Perfecteeth… That’s not his name. She doesn’t care.
WIPpet math: 18-(1+1)=16 sentences*
This thing is unbelievable. When I’ve gone to flicks at the Goshen Theatre, where they show hand-me-down films from the High City, I’ve assumed the characters’ surroundings were made up, or at least exaggerated. But this is real. Everything in here is so damn clean. Pale brown carpet covers the floor. Electric lights. White walls, white furniture—chair, sofa, painted tables. Holy shit, they have flowers in glass containers, like it’s nothing. Big purple ones. Cut, so they’re just going to die and need to be replaced. I want to go in and touch one, but I hang back in the doorway. Richie pushes past me.
“You can come in,” he says. “Nothing here’s going to bite you.”
I smile to myself and wonder whether he still has the bite mark I left on his shoulder last night. He catches that look, frowns, and turns away.
Yeah, Not-Richie is in trouble if anyone finds out about his little indiscretion. This should be fun.
For more snippets from works in progress by my WIPpeteer buddies, click here. Leave some comments, have some fun, see what’s on the go, jump in on your own blog if you’d like. Say hi to KL Schwengel, who hosts this shindig and needs to STOP MAKING ME THINK SHE’S GOING TO KILL OFF SOMEONE I LIKE.
Sorry for yelling. I get attached.
*ahem*
—-
ROW80 Update
finish drafting book 3 of Bound trilogyfinish self-edits on Torn, get ready to go to JE- start something new and panic over trying to finish NaNoWriMo on time
If we could count editing hours this month like we can during Camp NaNo, I’d totally have won by now. But we can’t. I counted words I added to Torn during the editing process, but also took into account the ones I deleted, so that wasn’t a huge help overall. But it’s cool, I can still pull this off. Aiming for 4,000 words a day, just to be safe (and to account for silly things like days of spending time with my family. I know, right?).
Too bad there’s nothing I can do to make up for the hours I spend distracted from my work. If I actually spent all of my work hours working, I would be so much more productive than I am.
And as an official goal:
- read all WIPpet Wednesday posts
I pulled it off this week. Going to do it again.
For more ROW80, click here.
Thanks for stopping by!
—
*That’s right, I used brackets. BEDMAS, SUCKAS!
disregard the prologue 
November 19th, 2014 at 10:10 am
niiiiice. This reminds me of hunger games for some reason, a good reason. I think it’s just the train when they get on it the first time. Anyway! Yay for new pretty shiny things and yay for NaNo!
November 19th, 2014 at 11:07 am
Kind of the same situation in this scene, I guess. Poor, dirty fish-out-of-water in a wealthy setting. There’s another book the plot reminds me more of, but I’m trying to get away from that. 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 10:12 am
“Holy shit, they have flowers in glass containers, like it’s nothing. ” I love this line. It tells so much about the character and her world. I think I’m going to thoroughly enjoy Cat. You have a very clear voice for her already.
Fine. No more death threats for you-know-who. If I kill anyone off, it won’t be him. That wouldn’t exactly be fair, would it? I mean, he’s been through so much and now…ah…never mind.
November 19th, 2014 at 10:13 am
Oh, I trust that he’s going through some serious… stuff. Look what you did to him before. You monster. 😉
November 19th, 2014 at 2:00 pm
Another great excerpt. Cat is a great character, Kate. Richie von Perfecteeth. Hee hee!
November 19th, 2014 at 3:07 pm
His name is actually Sebastian. I like that MUCH better. 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 2:18 pm
Lovely scene, and visually stunning. I could see Cat so strongly through her voice I was right there beside her – taking a look around the room and sneaking glances in her direction. She’s fascinating. I can’t wait to learn more. I’m glad you decided on first person POV. I want to be in her head!
And now, adopting my best Rob Schneider voice (from Waterboy) ‘You can do it’, and we can – still plenty of miles before the finish line 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 7:52 pm
Yeah, I’m enjoying being in her head. I think I already have next week’s WIPpet snippet, since it made me snort in a rather undignified way. This thing’s not a comedy, but it sure has bright spots. 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 3:18 pm
I like her reaction, too. It’s more than intimidating to go from run-down to up-scale or small-town to big-city. And I like the name Richie Von Perfetcteeth, though I’m wondering what he has in mind, inviting her over, if having slept with her could get him in trouble. Hmm…
November 19th, 2014 at 6:58 pm
Nothing here’s going to bite you.”
I smile to myself and wonder whether he still has the bite mark I left on his shoulder last night.
hahahaha
November 19th, 2014 at 7:05 pm
I do like her. 🙂
November 19th, 2014 at 11:53 pm
I really like these characters immediately! I hope we get to hear more of them!
November 20th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
Great excerpt, Kate. I really like Cat’s voice! I have a fondness for chicks with an attitude. 🙂
November 20th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
Me, too. As long as they also have a sense of humour and aren’t too angsty. 🙂
November 20th, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Oh, man. That line about the bite mark. If Not-Richie is worried about being caught, what’s Catalen doing there? Hm. Maybe he’s too distracted by the bite mark?
November 20th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Technically, he’s just along for the ride and didn’t expect to ever see her again. Oops.
November 20th, 2014 at 8:10 pm
I really like the voice so far! Good luck as you keep going!
November 20th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
Thanks!
November 20th, 2014 at 9:16 pm
OMG how are you going to go from 2,000 Nano words a day to 4,000???? You CAN do it! Really like the snippet (though Cat resonates with a different time period for me — my Cat is Catriona). love the setting in the future and Cat’s gritty voice. The premise is interesting enough to provoke at least 2,000 words on its own. All the best.
November 20th, 2014 at 10:10 pm
If I can keep from being distracted, and if I plan well enough, I can do 4000 words a day no problem.
Unfortunately, I have attention/focus issues, so it’s a bit of a challenge.
November 21st, 2014 at 5:31 pm
See, this is what I miss when I skip out on my ROW80 Wednesdays. I have a Kat in my current WIP and she’s very much not like me, but your Cat is even less like mine. I like her, though – what an interesting character. Looking forward to reading more snippets!
November 22nd, 2014 at 12:48 am
Haha – Richie vonPerfectetth is a perfect name! I like Cat – abrasive and hard can be lovable as well. I think it’s awesome that you’re challenging yourself by getting into the head of someone not like you. The mark of a true professional!
November 22nd, 2014 at 11:57 am
“professionalism” definitely sounds better than “creative masochism” 😉
November 23rd, 2014 at 2:16 pm
Very different from Bound, but equally fun!