Drafting a book is like traveling a twisty, turny road. Here are some recent glimpses into my work on Song of the Raven, my new verse novel manuscript:
- I don’t usually like to keep word count records. I’m a pretty slow drafter, and my daily numbers can be a bit demoralizing. Rather, I like to keep track of my hours of work (something I can control).
- Guess what? I’m keeping a running record of my daily word counts. Why? Who knows! But for now it’s generally working, so I’m not going to question it.
- In early December I went on my annual writing retreat. The first day I wrote 1012 words. The second I wrote 242. The third I wrote 1077. Why so few words the second day? Who knows!
- A few weeks ago, one of my writing sessions centered on finding a new raven sound my birds could use as an exclamation. So far, my ravens Kek! Kek! Kek! when defending their territory, Kra! when they are afraid, Kro when they are affectionate, and Caw! Caw! when they are announcing themselves. Caw! of course is tricky, because it’s a sound usually associated with crows. But digging back into my notes, some researchers have used it as one of many ways to express raven calls, too (though ravens’ caws are deeper and croakier). Ravens have numerous vocalizations which can change meaning depending on the context. They also have different dialects (for lack of a better term — so interesting!). After scouring my notes again, I decided Crruck! will be my ravens’ exclamation.
- By the way, ravens and ravens is the way my protagonist, Tumbledown, refers to a large group of ravens. Corvids (birds in the crow family) are able to count and might understand the concept of zero. But for big groups of birds — bigger than numbers a raven can define — ravens and ravens will have to do for Tumbledown.
- We’re in the middle of packing up and moving to a one-story home. In the midst of the hustle, my ravens have been a respite and joy. Book World is always my favorite place.
I’m looking forward to The Song of the Raven. I know it’s a raven story, but I have a thing for crows. Both are such smart birds. One summer while working on my masters, I observed a crow playing a game on a high pitched roof. He rolled an acorn down to the gutter, and hopped down to retrieve it, hopped back up to the peak and then rolled it down again. This continued for several minutes, until a crow friend arrived. Afraid that the unwanted visitor would take the acorn, he grabbed it and ended the game. I wrote a poem about it, because the kitchen where I was staying had a decoration of a row of wooden crows standing at attention. I contrasted it with the real crows outside the window. I’ve collected crow poems for years. Great birds! It will be fun to read your upcoming novel. I enjoy your posts each week. Kathleen
I absolutely love this, Kathleen! Corvids love to play and will create toys out of anything. Aren’t they amazing birds?
Yes, ever since I talked with Jean Craighead George and she told me about the crow who flew in and out of her kitchen, I’ve been a fan. She taught it to say a few words. They are just so smart.
JEan Craighead George: WOW.
About birds counting, Outdoor Photographer gave a helpful tip for birders in that the trick to get into your blind without ducks and such being alarmed is to walk to your blind with a friend, and then have the friend walk back out. The magazine said birds can’t count, and so they think both of you left, and will then resume their natural behavoir. Not sure if that’s true, but if any bird won’t be fooled by that, it’s a raven. And “ravens and ravens” sounds like the perfect phrase to get across a flock of them.
Corvids can count!! Check it out: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/counting-crows/