By accident and completely without meaning to, I started to work out a basic geneological map of the characters at hand, which won't really be important, for the most part, until after I've finished Draft #1 and start in on #2, which probably won't be for another month but some of this stuff will crop up in the second half or so of the first draft. There will be more emphasis with the second draft, though, because I'm already thinking about the flaws in the version at hand and how I might want to change the structure (& characters & plot & pacing) to encourage the whole thing not to suck.
Don't worry, I haven't crossed over into Grady Tripp Land with detailed descriptions of everybody's brother's dental records and the geneologies of their horses, none of that, but maiden names have cropped up and certainly the deceased relatives which will be referenced at various points and who knew that the Shackle boys had a sister, and finally Luanne gets a surname which is particularly important given the significance of names in the story. Working out some consistent physical details in case I forget, as well as ages and particular events is worth doing.
I've still got about four hundred words to write in -- oh -- the next twenty minutes or so, but I'm feeling a lot more inspired right now and driven so I can't be begrudged a bit of planning and background work. It feels like it's about halfway through the story at this point in the first draft.