“I’d like to live like a river flows, surprised by its own unfolding.” John O’Donohue
~ pondering Tahoma’s human journey
Tahoma and I have only been friends for a few weeks now; we are still in the romance stage of our relationship. At the moment, I’m interested in every little thing he does. I know as I write his story there will be conflict and dark moments that define good literature, but for now, I’m happy in the romance stage.
He began his life in the canopy of cottonwoods over a river. He had a big brother that bullied him and tried to teach him his rank in the nest. Eagles were always a threat but he knew that on instinct. He was majestic and graceful and could literally soar through the air.
Being human, however, is something new to him.
He is still light and agile on his feet, but often forgets he is anchored in a human body. He stumbles as he adjusts to this new existence. His fight or FLIGHT reaction will be tested.
Teeth! Now there is a challenge. No one human was born with teeth and had to learn to speak and chew to thrive in the world immediately, so he may bite his tongue often in the beginning. Chewing his food will be new.
These are the physical adjustments to a human body my little Tahoma will be living with. What about the cognitive and emotional adjustments? Birds and other animals live in the moment. They don’t fret over the past or plot a retirement plan. I’m very curious to see if this human issue will infect his thinking.
Then there is the teen issue. Fasten your seatbelts….
Oh Maryellen,
This is so intriguing…am enjoying this so much!
Luana
Luana, This has been a different process for me. When I write a story, I have a beginning scene and an ending scene. Tahoma isn’t behaving that way….this process is an entirely new thing for me. I’m glad you are enjoying 🙂
thank you…
You have a way of making me get lost in the story. You have a true gift. I can’t wait to read the next installment.
I hope you will enjoy the actual short story when it is complete 🙂
It sounds very interesting.
thanks…it is a work in progress. I’m looking forward to seeing how it shapes up.
I love this Maryellen! Love watching you create this character and so look forward to the story!
I find this idea of writing from an animal’s point of view so intriguing and the mingling of the animal and human aspects so fascinating.
Have you ever read any of Robin Hobb? She is one of my absolute favorite fantasy writers and in her Assassin’s apprentice series she also writes from an animal’s point of view with much mingling of the human/animal viewpoint….reading this reminds me of those books/her style.
Can’t wait to read more!
I’m putting Assassin’s Aprentice on my wish list at Amazon…..I want to read that! I have another of her books in my ‘to be read’ pile….so many great books out 🙂
I’m glad you are enjoying the process. At first I honestly didn’t think anyone would be interested in the character development….so glad I was wrong!
thank you,
Maryellen
I feel writer to writer, it is a good idea to provide honest critique! Obviously, the beginning is the most intense and there are so many directions your imagination can take! Building character is exciting but also, daunting. I was once told by my creative writing professor, “Write characters that readers can relate to!”
Happy writing!
http://code38695.wordpress.com
🙂 I’m hoping Tahoma will hold the reader’s interest. Teens are at the awkward stage, and I think this will speak to that…
thanks for reading and commenting 🙂
Maryellen
This is amazing. I’m being introduced to fantasy (for the first time,) by you and Tahoma. I chuckled at his discovery of his new human body parts. (Tahoma and I were both surprised.) There is such gentleness in this writing of him that reveals a true lover of nature and all its creatures. Keep following your instincts! You’ve done such a good job of introducing Tahoma and leading us into a new way of seeing beyond ourselves. I’m also looking forward to reading the entire story.
I’ve written the first 4 scenes with Tahoma so far, only in rough draft. I can’t believe I have so much wonderful support and I’m only posting my mind dump of the process.
Fantasy is such an amazing read. I’m glad I could introduce you to it and I hope you will enjoy the journey.
Hugs, Maryellen
I think everyone here is dangerously close to getting very attached to Tahoma.
Whatever you do, don’t kill him off at the end. I hate when authors do that to characters I get attached to. I still can’t forgive John Irving for killing off Walter in The World According to Garp.
As you write about Tahoma “living in the moment”, I wonder if it will affect the way you approach life? I’m guessing our characters sometime start shaping us as much as we shape them…
Elaine, I am way too attached to Tahoma and would never dream of killing him off. At the moment, Tahoma is debating if he wants to remain human at the end of the story or if he prefers the life of a heron. Tough choice, but the decision is his to make…I’m only the writer 🙂
so happy to find you!! Thanks for reading my blog! I’m digging into yours now!
Hi Linda 🙂 hope you enjoy my blog, it is my meandering thoughts as I create another story….
I like how you consider even the little details, like speaking and eating like a human. I think when you’re finished with this character, he’s going to be very complete and interesting–a great character to read about and love. 🙂 Keep up the good work!
Thank you Karen, details are important to me. I know I will have tons of information about Tahoma that will never make it to the page, but he will be authentic and loveable 🙂
thanks for reading 🙂
Can we get an addthis.com button on these blog entries? So we can retweet them, or share on FB? That would be great, thanks. I like your style, I wish you’d blog more regularly and build it out. I Tweet at WorldsBestTips I’d love to exchange tweets. I don’t know if you do LinkedIn or not, but I can help out there as well. Let me know if you do other writing, I’d like to peruse. I appreciate you.
Lon Dunn, Sr.
WorldsBestTips Series
PS: You can just cut/paste the http://addthis.com button into your html editor. It’s free.
Thank you for your kind words!
I am new to the social networking sites, so I will check them out. I like the add-this button idea, so thank you 🙂
This is the only material I have online at this time. I did e-publish 2 short stories but I do not think they are avaialable any longer.
The blog is barely a month old, and I am sure as I get more comfortable with it, the posts will be more regualar.
Maryellen