Characters, Sick Dogs, and Thundering Kittens

Hello, darklings!

So, my writing group does challenges every month or so, just things to get our creative juices flowing. This month has been Char-Tune June. It’s been a fun, easy little challenge to just think about what makes our characters so unique and different from each other.

We’ve all sorts. We have our precious cinnamon rolls. We have our unhinged violent “good” guys. We have those who are neutral and following their own selfish agenda. We have villains who believe the end justifies the means. We have good-hearted people who make mistakes. 

I often develop my characters organically. Kind of like newborn calves, they get introduced on the page and I let them have the lead as they stumble about. They spontaneously figure out their quirks on their own and might even decide how they fit into the plot in surprising ways. Sometimes I have to go back and rewrite their introduction when they “mature”, just to make sure their character is congruent and grows in believable ways. 

Sometimes a character that’s meant be a quick side character becomes a big deal. I usually don’t regret it at all, though often means trimming the story becomes tricky later. There are limits to how much lead characters can have, or they will derail the plot and pacing. 

When struggling with a character, I’ll word vomit them interacting with different characters in a variety of scenarios. This helps me iron them out into a more reliable shape before I throw them into the actual book scenes. Using character building questions, like what the writing group is doing this month, is also a handy way to figure out how they’re alike and different from the others, so don’t be afraid to pull one of those up online and start tapping away until the character has a solid shape to your inner eye. 

I really enjoy making characters and giving them their own unique voice. Hope all you corvids have that joy.

Research History This Week: Head wounds, neck injuries, cervical nerve damage, tunic styles, hats styles, depth pressure, horse breeding, and travel time by foot.

Writing Whoops: Apparently, it’s “kerfuffle”, not “kerfluffle”. 

Beasties Update: My black lab, Sirius, got to visit the vet’s on Thursday. Wednesday night

he woke me up to go to the bathroom, which was unusual. The next morning he went several times, showing discomfort and bloody urine. This was worrisome, as stones and infections aren’t common in male black labs, and he turns 11 in October, which definitely pushes age limit and issues, so vet squeezed him in for an emergency visit. 

They drew blood, gave him pain killers and antibiotics for the infection, and said they’d likely want an ultrasound tomorrow, but just couldn’t manage it with how busy they were that day. Labs turned out to be fine—in fact, downright ideal for a doggo his size and age. Friday he went in to for an ultrasound, and absolute best case scenario. No tumors, cancerous looking lesions or growths, stones, any of that. 

Which meant this poor boy is of the age where he doesn’t pee with as much vigor as he used to, so he’s not voiding fully. Since he doesn’t drink as much as the other dogs because he’s turning older and lazier, that likely left urine to dry and crystalize in his urethra. That tears coming out, and that can get infected. 

He’s still on pain killers and antibiotics, and he’s doing way better. We’ll be stepping up his exercising again and I’ll adjust his food accordingly, since he’s at ideal weight right now. (86 lbs. He’s quite the horse.)

The kittens continue to grow fast. Hecate, the tabby girl who will be remaining on the acre, has three modes: sleeping, cuddly, and feral Tarzan. Gray boy is similar, but without playing exorcist and climbing the curtains or attacking any motion with such intent savagery. He’s more of a cuddle bug. 

J. Argo’s black kitten, Luci, is apparently the same, but also has decided that one of the dogs is his dog, and likes to spar with the dog’s tail. You can see him pictured here, looking sleepy, but we know that’s only a lull before the zoomies strike once more.

Watching and Reading: Uhh, I did lot of overtime this week instead. I have spendy mechanic and vet bills this month!