Clumsy Kitten, Monday Meeting

Jelly looking healthy again.

In celebration of my sick kitty Jelly's return to health, I thought I might talk a little more about our other kitten, Pip (yes, another cat--I'm feeling that sufficient evidence of my cat-lady nature might be out of the bag...).

Pip is a cuddly kitten, always in my lap and by my side. However, she is also a freak of nature, in that she is a clumsy cat. Every time she walks on the side of our bed, she falls right off. Sometimes she gets stuck in between the bed and the bed frame, shoulders wedged tight, legs squirreling madly to gain some sort of hold in order to climb out.

She then sits at the top of the stairs, and meows, as if to say, "Please carry me, I can't handle the embarrassment today." I have seen her tumble down a couple of stairs after tripping over her paws. 

Pip getting much love.

It makes me think about quirky characters. Is Pip more lovable because she is clumsy? You bet. It's endearing, if odd. She seems more real since she is supposed to be graceful, and is everything but. 

How do you make your characters three dimensional? Do you have any characters who are oxymorons? Clumsy cat? Gentle lion? Whatever the human equivalent of these might be? How do you keep your characters believable?

While you think about my clumsy kitten, tell us--how are you doing in your writing life--what are your goals for the week? If you are doing the Tour, what are your wordcount goals? Are you trying to steal the jersey off of anyone? Who do you most want to take down in a wordcount challenge?

I am just hoping to write something while on vacation. I'd be happy with 100 words. :)   

For those who might be popping over for the first time, it’s never too late to join the Tour de Writing. We’ll be keeping track of wordcount until August 12th, right before WriteOnCon begins. Please feel free to say hello, get to know some of your competition (their blogs are listed in the left side blogroll) and introduce yourself in the comments.

Last week was a rip-roaring time! I can't wait to see what this week brings for the TdW. I'll get the standings up as soon as possible--I'm shooting for Wednesday or Friday. If you don't see me in the comments, it's because I'm hanging out with wild horses, here.