Month: August 2010

Friday Five: The School Daze Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

         

1)  Dropped Zebu at the high school this morning for freshmen orientation.

2)  Zebu was disdainful yesterday when I asked if he knew what he was going to wear today,
     yet this morning proudly pointed out that his shoes matched his shirt. 

3)  Wildebeest got himself up and out the door for a 6 a.m. cross country practice this morning.  Wow.

4)  Zebu and Wildebeest have a gym class together this semester, and are giddy with excitement.

5)  I cannot believe summer vacation is over.

         
                                                                     © Tracy Abell 2010

Wishing everyone a glorious August weekend!
                    

Life can be nuts . . .

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

            

 

. . . so you might as well take a big bite.

         
                                                                          © Tracy Abell 2010

Today I’m out from under a cloud that hovered for the past two months,
and I’m feeling lighter and more like me again.

Now it’s back to my life being nuts on my own terms.
                                                                       

Plot Revealing Itself?

/ Tracy Abell / 13 Comments

    

A couple weeks ago I wrote about my panic over
characters revealing themselves.

Wise writer-friends weighed in on how they enjoy this aspect
of novel-writing because it means (among other things) that
my characters are still speaking to me,
and that I’m getting to know them just as I get to know people in real life,
and that I should bask in those little revelations because they add an element of surprise to the process.

Such wise friends.

I’m now hip to (and content with) the character revelation thing,
but am now wondering how you all feel about plot points revealing themselves.

What I’m struggling with is that I have basic plot points figured out,
but I have to keep tweaking and tweaking to fine-tune them.

Do you all have this issue with plotting?
(I’m not even sure if I’m making sense here so will try one last description):

It’s as if I know the plot points but it turns out that’s not enough to write this draft;
I have to keep rethinking/reworking the plot points to get where the story wants/needs to go.

I was making such headway but in the last couple days have gotten bogged down
in figuring out what I thought was already figured out!

Anyone have insights?
               

Juvenile Behavior

/ Tracy Abell / 16 Comments

            

I’m supposed to be working on BIRD BRAIN,
but keep getting distracted by three juvenile Western Scrub Jays.

I saw one hopping around my patio table this morning,
checking out the umbrella turn-handle as if hoping it would yield food.

Fortunately, she came around the house and found the motherlode of peanuts.


                                                                                                              © Tracy Abell 2010

The youngsters aren’t able to extract the whole thing the way adult jays do,
but they peck at the shells until they can pull out one peanut at a time.

(This qualifies as research, right?)
                       

Selective Neglect

/ Tracy Abell / 16 Comments

           

I went out into my garden just now.
It’s not a pretty sight.

I’ve neglected it for the past couple months
as I focused on my writing projects.

Here’s Lamb’s Ear strangled with bind weed:

Yarrow upstaged by thistle:

Sunflower in a neck-and-neck race with incredibly tall thistles:

Yesterday Zebu came out in the front yard where I was busting sod,
a task I began a month or so ago.
I’m taking out a huge area of lawn to be replaced with rocks
and isolated plantings.

Zebu asked, "Do you expect to have this done by winter?"
I replied in the affirmative.
Zebu expressed some doubts.
"Not only that," I said.  "But I’m also going to have the kitchen all painted
and finish my book."
He said, "Something won’t get done."
I said, "Well, it won’t be my book.  I’m finishing that."

He went back inside,
and I dug out another piece of lawn.
                                

Friday Five: The Where-I’m-At Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 6 Comments

         

1)  I’m loving my whiteboard as I sort out characterization and plot for BIRD BRAIN.

2)  But for the sake of my brain cells, I need to make the big investment and buy non-toxic, no-odor markers.

3)  I’m now enjoying all the little revelations that come with revision, and am no longer beating myself up 
for not being an omniscient author.

4)  I’m writing every single day, making progress every single day, and feeling better about myself
every single day.

5)  This week I received a 14+ month response to a query for FRAMED, and all I could do was laugh.

Wishing everyone a grand weekend filled with whatever brand of happiness your hearts desire!
              

We’re All Bird Brains

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

 

          

Working hard on BIRD BRAIN
and feeling good about making progress.

The cool thing about this project
is that most anytime I look out the window,
I see my inspiration.

These Grackles visited me almost a year ago
but they still make me smile.


                                                                                                                                              © Tracy Abell 2010

I might have to take a break and belly up to the feeder for a snack (or two).
                                  

Boy Stink

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

        

Seeing as I live in a house full of boys,
I think it’s fair I post the girl perspective:

AGNES by Tony Cochran

I don’t know about dead chickens,
but I’d definitely say my snorts of boy
either clear my head or knock me out.
               

Friday Five: The Trail Running Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

                   


ONE bunny sighted on the trail.
TWO humans sighted on the trail, one on foot and the other on a bike.
THREE brief walking stints because the hills were killer.
One-two-three-FOUR-one-two-three-FOUR, the cadence I chant in my head to keep me moving along the trail.
FIVE pounds lost this summer that I don’t miss hauling around with me.

Happy Friday to all!  Have a wonderful weekend filled with blue skies and laughter.
                    

Characters Revealing Themselves

/ Tracy Abell / 18 Comments

      

I’m trying not to panic about all this,
but as I work on BIRD BRAIN, 
I keep going back and adding bits and pieces of characterization.
Stuff I just recently discovered about the characters.

I’ve been working on this project off and on
(with lots of OFF), since April of 2008.
You’d think by now I’d know the characters inside and out.

What’s it like for the rest of you?
Do you continue to get glimmers of understanding as you write?
Or do you figure out all the basic, most important stuff beforehand?

Or, like me, have you ever thought you knew all the basic, most important stuff
only to discover you did not really know those characters?

As I said, trying not to panic . . .