The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Monday, July 3, 2017

A Movie in My Head

      I probably look a bit weird when I write. Most likely, many people would say I look odd all the time... If I'm writing and I have to include a gesture or some physical movement, usually I'll either squinch my eyes up as I imagine it or I'll actually act out the movement.

     For me, it helps.

     This evening Radar went out and played in the sprinkler. Oh, we weren't watering our lawn. This was just for the dog's entertainment. He went out once, came in a muddy, stinky mess but he enjoyed it so much, I let him out again, and this time I videotaped him.




                                         
                       Here is a video of Radar having fun in the water.

     
        Certainly, if I was writing about much Radar enjoys water, taking a video of him would help my description. I could watch the clip several times so as to not miss a single bit of his antics. 

         As we watched him play, my husband said, "We really can't stop him from going crazy about water, can we? I mean, isn't it in his genetics to love water?"

        That made me think. What comes naturally for the main character in my WIP? What kind of gestures do they do and how do they carry themselves without even thinking about it? Making movies in our head, and watching people helps us writers make each character distinctive.  

        What crazy stuff does your pet cat/dog/albino python do?

12 comments:

  1. Radar is having such a good time! Maybe he needs to do that for five minutes every hour.

    I can understand why a retriever loves water. Why my dachshund-heeler jumps in every body of water he sees is still a mystery.

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    1. Val--Yes, he should do that for five minutes every hour, and then when you do a drive-by and drop Hick off at my house, he can mop my floors every hour.

      Maybe Jack is still trying to find his identity as a dog. Perhaps you've stifled him by calling him a dachshund-heeler. Have you seen that parent/those parents who mark "U" as their child's gender until the child is old enough to tell the world what they are? '

      Perhaps Jack is struggling with that?

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  2. Radar is having such fun. Your a good doggie mama.
    Character studies can be done at any Starbucks, but Wal-mart is the go to place for weirdos. You can observe some real shenanigans there.

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    1. Linda--Aren't you a weirdo-magnet? (And if Bill is looking over your shoulder--present company INcluded.) Can't you find weirdos no matter where you look?

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  3. There's room for only one weirdo in this family! (Libs the Tiny Terror doesn't even come close to first place :-) )

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    1. Cathy--You know that CS is looking for "crazy family" stories. That might even include four-legged family members, I figure. (But perhaps you're too busy writing for the Korean children's market to bother about Chicken Soup? ;)

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  4. We don't have any pets but my in-laws have a dog, Charlie. Whenever a butterfly or bird flies overhead and he sees their shadow, Charlie chases the shadow.

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    1. Pat--Dogs DO do silly things, don't they. (Thanks for playing along and writing a book blurb, Pat. I appreciate it.)

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  5. Anything to bring the reader into the story! (Well, there are some things I might not act out.)

    Winston and Bogey are a constant stream of craziness- most of which requires a broom or mop to fix.

    Pat
    www.patwahler.com

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    1. Pat--I guess the operative word is "stream" when it comes to cats and dogs and accidents?

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  6. That video made me smile. When I let Zacky Peanut out, he starts out stalky slow, then growls ferociously and charges into ground cover in the space between the garage and the common fence, evicting all wrong doers. Never mind that there are rarely any wrong doers, he does this 90% of the time! (he does flush out a critter or a cat sometimes, though.)

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    Replies
    1. Shay--Isn't it hilarious that dogs do that stalky thing? They probably think they're wolves or some other wild animal.

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