SHE WROTE: How We Write 2

Well, this has been a helluva week. But the good news for me (and Bob) is that Agnes is finally moving in my head, and it's because I started the collage. That part makes Bob twitch, but basically, anything that gets me to put words on the screen is good by him.

The things that make the partnership so electric are the same things that make the partnership so fraught with conflict: We are complete opposites, right down to Bob being left-handed and me being right-handed. And Bob being left-brained and me being right-brained. Bob plans the plot out and then writes it. I dream the characters and then write them. The two processes are not what you'd call a close fit. Once Bob's plan is in place--and he gives me a lot of input into it so it's not like he's controlling--he sits down and writes his scenes. Except he can only write until he gets to my scene. Then he has to wait for me. And I can't write until I've got the dream down, until the characters are running around in my head, and they just weren't there.

So today I turned off the computer and worked on the collage. I gathered up the big box of stuff I'd been collecting for Agnes and started to put it together, at least the basics. Some stuff I glued on for keeps and a lot of it is just straight-pinned on for the moment . . . Well, here; look at it:



So the glasses are both Agnes's eyes and Agnes's symbol; they're the logo at the top of her food column, Cranky Agnes. And the letters of the title are supposed to look a little like dark curly hair. And the two pot racks are her earrings. And the hearts are pinned in there because of Shane, she's going to be looking at him with her heart in her eyes although he's not on the collage yet (Bob says he's like George Clooney in The Peacemaker, so I have to go find images of that). The "Let's Eat" is an old diner sign, and one of the secondary characters owns a diner, plus Agnes cooks and feeds people all the way through the book. The fancy wood at the bottom is Agnes's porch rail and the wicker chairs pinned into the magic marker grass are for the wedding reception she's working toward for the whole week of the book.

But here's what surprised me: There are two big photos and a 3D figure of Maria on there, with another 3D one to go up on top. Who's Maria? She's the bride in the wedding that Agnes has to put on in a week. I thought she was just The Bride, but it turns out she's key to Agnes's motivations and fears and all kinds of good, deep, rich character stuff. So now, having spent most of the day cutting things out and moving things around and coloring things with markers, I think I've got what I need to write.

And somewhere in South Carolina, Bob is banging his head on his desk. Yeah, we have a few kinks in the process to work out. But we will. Nothing but good times ahead.