Hello, hello! It’s that time again—updates on ROW80 and my WIP. Hop on board and feel free to join in!
It’s been a busy week. I was in West Virginia for Labor Day weekend, hanging out with some of my favorite people at my aunt’s annual party. I enforced my strict No Writing or Editing rule, though I didn’t manage to stay off social media. Ah, well.
In other news, as of this Thursday, I officially have a middle schooler. I can’t believe my firstborn is in sixth grade already. (That’s ages 11-12 for any non-Americans with a different style school system.) He will be fine; whether or not I am remains to be seen.
Onward and upward!
ROW80 Goals:
- Write 1hr/day in Passing on Faith: Nope. Was away for the weekend, no writing.
- Read 30min/day: √ Sure did! Finished a book and a half on vacation.
- Write a blog post that isn’t ROW80/WIPpet: Not yet. Maybe I’ll write a whiny post about being the parent of a middle schooler later this week.
WIPpet:
For this week, much as I adore Cat, I’m giving you an earlier scene in the story involving Micah’s BFF, Zayne. You get to learn quite a lot about her (and them) in just a few sentences, so I especially like this part. It takes place before Micah travels down to the lake house, when he’s informing his bestie that he’s leaving.
My convoluted math: (9 + 2 + 2 + 0) – (1 + 4) = 8 for 8 short paragraphs.
Micah gave her the bad news by way of taking her out to lunch. She met him at work, and he skipped out over his planning period. Zayne flipped on the radio—which Micah thought unnecessary for a five-minute drive—and turned down the volume on the praise-and-worship her wife preferred.
“Yuck. How can you stand riding with her when she plays that shit?” Micah asked. He was busily rifling through the glove compartment in hopes of finding something more like Zayne’s usual taste.
Zayne eyed him sideways. “I can just ignore it.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t.” Micah leaned back against the seat, listening to the song. “I guess this one’s not as bad.” He grunted. “She’s been around forever. Remember when we used to get stoned and make out to her music?”
An unladylike snort escaped from Zayne. “Of course. I thought she was hot. That, and I wanted to be her.”
“I know. You never let us get past the up-the-shirt stage, though. Too bad.”
Zayne laughed as she parked the car. “You saying you still want this?” She gestured down at herself.
“Gross. No way—you have boobs now.” He wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue.
And there you have it. Next week, I’ll introduce another character we haven’t seen before, along with a plot strand.
If you like what you see, please go join my fellow WIPpeteers and read their snippets here. This party is courtesy of K. L. Schwengel. If you want to participate, blog your work-in-progress, do some fancy math to connect it to the date, and share it with us at the link-up. Happy writing!
I love how holidays or travel allow for so much more reading to get done. It’s nice to take a break from the writing and enjoy not only time with family and friends, but also a chance to dive into a book without thinking, “But I should probably be writing right now.” Travel is when I get more reading done than any other time.
The WIPpet is really cute, and you’re absolutely right. I already have a strong sense of their friendship from just those few lines! Well done.
Yes, I find that too, about reading on vacation. I have to really discipline myself not to work while traveling like that. It’s hard because I have to keep careful notes so I don’t forget important story things that occur to me when I’m away from my computer.
I had fun with that WIPpet. Zayne is one of my favorite people, and she doesn’t appear nearly often enough in this story! She may need her own.
This is a whole new history (to me) of Micah’s. Interesting. I was getting slightly confused as to who was making out with whom, but I’m guessing that Micah and Zayne both decided they were more attracted to the same sex. :-p
Sorry for the confusion…yes, Zayne was living as a boy at the time, and they were sort of involved with each other.
That is a good snippet for showing a lot about the characters in a short space of time!
We all need breaks from the writing occasionally. As long as we don’t make it a habit, it’s all good. 🙂
Definitely good to take breaks…but I find it so hard to do! I’ve never had this experience with any sort of work before, where I didn’t want to take a break. I have to force myself into it.
I take it Zayne is transgender?
Yes. This isn’t how the reader finds out, actually, but I thought their dialogue here was good for showing their relationship.
Your dialogue is so evocative of your characters. Lovely work! Micah seems a lot different here than when he’s with Cat. I like Zayne – she intrigues me.
And congrats on the middle schooler! My daughter is 25 now and has two babies. Wow! Time sure flies. 🙂
I love Zayne. Micah is indeed different with her, much more open.
Yes, time does fly! I sent my kiddo off this morning feeling just a little sad. But I know he’s likely already having a good day, and I can’t wait to hear all about it.
This is definitely a side of Micah we haven’t seen. A little playful. Love the last two paragraphs! Nice exchange to build character.
Oh, yes. He’s more free with Zayne. I suppose that’s as it should be—more comfortable with our long-time friends than with strangers.
I like seeing Micah like this. He’s so much more reserved with Cat and this is a nice break from that. And hopefully Jack is having a great time in school.
I’m glad people seem to be liking this side of Micah. 🙂
Jack will be home in less than 2 hours…but who’s counting? LOL! I can’t wait to hear all about his new school.
Love the energy and friendship between these two, the easy conversation, the jokes and laughter. I was wondering if the scene couldn’t begin with Micah picking up Zayne and then the bad news emerging over lunch, rather than that opening sentence that predicts what will be coming along next. Especially neat image of Micah rummaging in the glove box!
I’m glad their friendship comes across!
This is actually in the middle of a scene, so I’m not sure I completely follow what you’re suggesting. He hasn’t told her anything yet, but the reader already knows what he’s going to say because the action already happened prior to this bit of dialogue. What follows this part is when he tells her what’s going on.
Aw, I love this! Banter and epic friendships are my favourites. 😀
Yup! There’s certainly some epic-ness to the two of them! 🙂