It’s been a few weeks since I began the great rewrite of my novel Marvin and Tige and I find I’m having a hard time of it. I’m only on chapter three. The first chapter was emotional and left me too rattled to continue for a couple of weeks. Beyond that are the basic changes from what was going on during that era compared to current times. The original story was written four decades ago and so much has changed since then, especially technology-wise. There were no cell phones or computers or flat screen TVs back then. The locations have also undergone a huge transformation. Based in and around downtown Atlanta, Georgia, much of the landscape no longer looks the same. Landmark buildings and businesses are gone, so I’m having to adapt my characters movements and activities to a different environment. Language has changed considerably as well. I was stumped coming up with an alternative for the phrase, “Jive turkey.”
I haven’t read the book since it was published and I don’t recall much of what happens in it. The book was marketed as a young adult novel, but I was shocked at some of the mature subject matter in the first chapter. Tige is an eleven-year-old boy who has to act as a pimp for his mother. Whoa! I didn’t remember any of that. I know I should probably go ahead and reread the book to see what other changes I’ll need to make further down the line but I decided to tackle things one chapter and paragraph at a time.
The thing that bothers me most so far is the fact that I used Ebonics while writing dialogue for Tige. I grew up speaking that way, not correctly pronouncing my words and leaving out letters saying things like, “dem” instead of “them,” and “thankin'” instead of “thinking.” At the time, I was heralded for having an ear for dialects, but now when I read it and see all those apostrophes where letters should be, I find it extremely annoying. It’s going to slow me down, but I’m dedicated to cleaning up Tige’s voice. He won’t become an instant scholar but he also won’t sound like he’s never set foot inside a classroom.