Melissa's Revision Mondays

I don’t claim to be an expert on the revision process, but I came across a series of blog posts last year that really changed my thoughts about revising. Mary Kole’s series on revision from December is no doubt more helpful than anything I could share, (see Revision O-Rama)  but I’m going to invite you to join me on my revision process anyway.

I finished my WIP during NaNoWriMo, and after dutifully putting it away for one full month, I’m ready to begin revising. A lot of people dislike the revision process, but not me. Now that I’m finished with my WIP I feel like I have a raw lump of clay in my hands, ready to be shaped into something beautiful. But first I have to push out all of the air. If I don't, there will be holes in my manuscript, or the whole thing might blow up when I put it in the fire.
 






The very first thing I have to get rid of is my first chapter. I don’t even want to read it first. When I wrote it, I had no real sense of my character, my setting, etc… (this comes from being a pantster, what can I say?) So the whole thing has to go.



 
What about you? Have you ever banished a whole chapter from your manuscript? Do read it first to see what can be salvaged, or just let it go?

Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Boffiati

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY? (and Thursday)

I saw this word and knew I had to use it right away.  Boffiati- How do I put this? This is what a British/Italian couple call "fooling around".

Hey Cara mia, let's leave this boring opera and head home for a little boffiati.

Hope this gave you a New Years Eve laugh.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Zoosday Tuesday

***The opinions expressed on this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed by the Kansas City Zoo***

The White Cheeked Gibbon

What's the deal? I see one animal with white cheeks, but what's up with the blond? These are both white cheeked gibbons, the black one is the male and the blond is the female. These amazing animals change colors throughout their life. They all start out blond, regardless of sex, this helps them camouflage with the mother. Then at about two years old they all change to black. When they reach sexual maturity at about 6-8 years the females will go back to blond.

Gibbons are the only primates that are monogamous and mate for life. They form duets, that each have their own individual song.  At the Kansas City Zoo we have a young couple. The female is not quite sexually mature, she still has her black coloring, but in the next few years she will be ready to mate.

Gibbons are apes (but unlike orangutans, gorillas, chimps, and bonobos, they are called lesser apes.) This is only due to their size! Like great apes, they don't have tails, and they are highly intelligent.

Like orangutans, gibbons are arboreal, meaning that they spend all of their time high in the trees. They brachiate through the trees (meaning they swing by their arms from tree to tree.) Their arms are extremely long, their hands are hook shaped, and they have a ball-and-socket in their wrists. All of these features help them swing through the trees at up to 35mph.

There are 15 species of gibbon. They range all over South East Asia. The white cheeked gibbons are mainly found in Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Melissa's Myths for Mondays

There Are an Unlimited Number of Myths That Melissa Can Blog About

Sadly, I've run out of myths. I could probably think of more, and you probably know of many that I haven't even touched on, but since this is the last Monday of 2010, I thought it would be a good time to say bye bye to Melissa's Myths for Mondays.

Starting in the New Year, I'm going to be revising my Nano WIP and so I'll be blogging about revisions on Monday. I know there are a lot of great posts about revision, but this subject is too important not to hammer over and over.

Last year about this time, I was new to blogging and found Mary Kole's blog on revision. http://kidlit.com/category/revision/page/2/. I changed the way I view the whole process. I hope to be able to offer some tips for newer writers, and get all of your fabulous input as well.

So any last Myths for 2010?

EVERYONE HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Dyfilip

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY?

Dyfilip : A gymnastics move created by legendary Ukrainian gymnast, Dystansia Bolkonskya.

Claire Dugan is going to perform her first Dyfilip on the balance beam at the 2012 Olympics.

What Would Your Character Do/Say Wednesday

As the year comes to a close, so will this feature. This will be the last What would your character do/say Wednesday? In the New Year, Wednesday will have a brand new feature, but it's a surprise.

So for my last What Would Your Character Do/Say, lets talk about the Holidays.

1) Does your character celebrate any kind of holiday?

2) If so, what are their holiday traditions?

3) What about your holiday traditions? Tell us all about them.

My character William, lived in a suburb of Kansas City until the world fell apart when he was ten. His favorite holiday memory was going to see the Plaza Lights when he was six. (This happens to be one of my favorite holiday memories too.) The family drove to the Country Club Plaza and looked at the brightly colored lights, and the shop windows. Then they visited Santa Clause.

Zoosday Tuesday

***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed by the Kansas City Zoo

The Sumatran Elephant



I could go on and on about elephants. They are some of the worlds most fascinating and intelligent creatures. We don't have any Sumatran Elephants at the KC Zoo, we only have African Elephants.

Sumatran Elephants are the smallest of the Asiatic Elephant subspecies. They weigh from 6,000 - 10,000lbs. In contrast, African Elephants weigh 9,000-15,000lbs.

I hate to be a downer on these posts, but unfortunately these guys are highly endangered too, only around 2000 left in the wild. Just like the Orangutans and Tigers, they are threatened by deforestation. But elephants are eliminated mainly because they're considered so destructive by humans. WWF has a great article about using domesticated elephants to drive wild elephants away from populated areas, keeping everyone happy. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/sumatranelephant/sumatranelephant.html.

Female elephants are very social. They live in family groups lead by a matriarch who keeps the herd moving from place to place to find food. Elephants are strictly herbivores, eating leaves, fruit, bamboo, ginger. But they eat about 200lbs per day. That's a lot of bananas. The matriarch knows where the fruit is going to be ripe, based on season, sunlight, elevation, etc. and leads the family to the best food.

Elephant's have the most amazing trunks. They are so articulate that they can pick up a single blade of grass but so strong they can lift a heavy log. At the Kansas City Zoo, our elephants have learned to paint. This is a form of enrichment that stimulates their minds and allows them to exercise their trunks.

If you have any questions about elephants, just ask.