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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Youth group tonight

9/4/04

We had youth group tonight. I admit I was tired, lazy, and didn't want to go, but after I got together with the high schoolers for small group time, I was glad to be there. I enjoy asking them questions, pushing their limits, making them think. Many of them have gone to church all their lives and give pat answers, and I enjoy making them dig deeper, think harder, reflect on what they truly believe. Sometimes I go off on tangents--like I did tonight--but I do hope I helped them understand the bigger picture of what being a Christian is about.

I'm working on chapter one. A part of me is frustrated, because I feel like I'm trying too hard to be witty, original, entertaining. But shouldn't the first chapter sparkle? Except that it doesn't. What's lacking? I'm reading GETTING INTO CHARACTER by Brandilyn Collins and it helped me visualize the minor character much better, add cohesion to his actions. But the scene still falls flat. Compared to Trish's Chinese wedding banquet, this just doesn't have that vavoom.

Any words on paper are better than no words at all, but this is terribly disappointing. I better lift this to God in prayer. Maybe He's trying to tell me something. The only way to salvage this is with His help.

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