Today is going to be better than yesterday. I so deem it or is that supposed to be I deem it so? Lack of sleep notwithstanding, of course. Yawn.
In non-writing news we went to go visit my brother-in-law’s brand new 6 week old puppy (German Shepherd). Poor guy had ordered one from a breeder back east who, at the last minute, decided to sell the pup to someone else. Luckily he found a more local breeder and picked his new baby (still nameless) up this weekend. She’s adorable but I’m reminded of how much work a new puppy is (kinda like a new baby). Before we went over there I thought I would come home with puppy envy and want to get another pup right away (which is silly because Chelsie, the current dog in residence – would not tolerate another dog in the house at all and she still has many years with us.) Anyway, it was good to know that neither my husband nor I had any desire for a pup. More dogs, yes, but when Chelsie is gone we both prefer the idea of a rescue dog or two.
I can link this to writing, really, because I am trying to figure out what kind of dog Max might be. I thought I knew but now I’m not so sure. I will have to go look at rescue dogs online and try and figure it out. I started mapping out Frankie’s neighborhood yesterday, figuring out what streets would be normal for him to run around on. Since this is based in a real town I went looking for landmarks and got all excited when I found a low-income housing project right in the area. It was perfect. But then the more I read about it the more I learned how much trouble the area was having with gangs and now I don’t know if I want or should use it. This book is writing itself in a completely different way than anything else. I’ve never done so much thinking ahead of time, I’ve usually just plunged in and wrote but I am still in that limbo-land knowing I have to do the Hugging the Rock revisions soon. (The revision letter is due today – we’ll see.) But the thinking is good. I’ve been able to discard a bunch of stuff plot-wise that either doesn’t work or doesn’t interest me and hopefully I have primed the subconscious pump to be working in the background. Time will tell.
It seems to me . . .
that you could still use the area. In your fictional world, the gangs don’t have to exist. Or they can exist peripherally as an additional threat to Frankie.
Re: It seems to me . . .
Yes, I thought about that. I’m really struggling with what to keep real and what to fictionalize. Like I was really going to have the “VERY BAD THING” happen to Frankie’s sister who suddenly has no name, when they were at the Boardwalk but my husband pointed out that might not be such a good idea since we visit this town every other week or so. I have only seen this new place on paper and online. We’re going there on Saturday for me to take pictures. I just need to remember not to wear red or navy blue.
Re: It seems to me . . .
Why the restriction on red and navy blue? Inquiring minds want to know . . .
Re: It seems to me . . .
Those are the current gang colors of the area. You don’t want to be caught wearing the wrong color in the wrong area. I’m out of practice dealing with that but for about a year I was doing writing workshops at a school that was in the midst of a gang-divided neighborhood and the kids had to educate me on what not to wear and what not to do.
Re: It seems to me . . .
whoops…that was me, of course.
made me t hink
of Oprah’s show yesterday when she got her new pups, Luke, Leila, and Gracie 🙂
Process
Your thinking process as it realates to writing…it really helps me, I can see that Im not so strange, in fact, I’m doing something right.
Don
http://devast.blogspot.com
Re: Process
Nah Don, you may be strange but not your writing process. It just never ceases to amaze me how every story comes to life in a different way.