Category: GKP Writing News

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GKP Writing News

Read Widely

I came across another book about writing by an author I am unfamiliar with: “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott. Still, I checked it out of the library. Sure enough, one of the first things it has to say is that writers need to read widely and read lots of books.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
This book came about because we were watching old movie serials. I decided to write one with goats in it.

Fan Fiction

Lots of people love to write about their favorite characters in favorite series. Most of these never show up except, maybe, on a special fan fiction site for that series. This is one way for new writers to practice writing skills.

Sherlock Holmes still has fan fiction written about him. I recently read two. “The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” is an anthology by many authors. Most of them were not even close to the original flavor of the stories. “The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes” by Adrian Conan Doyle (the youngest son) had a dozen tales that captured the essence of the originals.

Getting Ideas

Many genres have a rigid formula all the books adhere to. Think cozy mystery or romance. The challenge for an author is to write something within this formula that is still different. If you read widely, you get exposed to many different styles of writing, some of which can be adapted.

True, the author may end up using a plotline from another book. I just finished a Cat in the Stacks mystery that did this. The plot seemed so familiar I knew who the murderer was and what the set up was almost before the murder took place. There were enough new aspects to rescue the book.

Expanding Horizons

Have you ever met someone who has only one subject to talk about? If you have no knowledge or interest in that subject, being stuck talking to this person is deadly.

If you read widely, you get a chance to see the world from many points of view, go lots of places, experience life in other times and do things you would never dare to do for real. Then you can widen your conversation topics.

For the Writer

Yes, some books may not get finished. There are lots of reasons for putting a book aside without finishing it.

On the other hand, you just might find a book that really resonates with you. One you would never have encountered if you didn’t read something new.

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GKP Writing News

What Plot?

Usually, when I write a novel, something is going on. There is a definite plot carrying the story along. As I write about Ship Nineteen, my problem is simple: What plot?

cover of "Running the Roads" by Karen GoatKeeper
The plot happened easily in this novel. Ridge gets his car and starts driving. He ends up in trouble, stranded and helping someone in trouble.

The Premise

This is a survival story of these nine Carduans learning to survive on an alien to them planet. The passengers range from ten years old to seventeen. The crew know little more than flying a space ship.

Marooned on a planet with no hope of going home and, as far as they know, alone, they must find a place to live, foods they can eat, a source of water and a way to defend themselves against the monstrous beings living on their new world.

What Plot Makes This Exciting?

That is my problem. As this is a sister novel to the one on Ship Eighteen and both take place over the same timeframe, both are written on a countdown of days. It is set up by weeks counting down from fifteen, each week split into the six days of the Carduan week.

Every day things happen. Some are dull and routine and short. Others are exciting and dangerous. All do feed into the whole of learning to survive, but each is a separate incident.

One Goal

Obviously the two ships will meet up. That is no spoiler. Sola, the main character on Ship Eighteen, dreams of meeting Tico, her son on Ship Nineteen. He remembers this dream. Does anyone, but them, really believe this dream?

Yet, this may be a glimmer of a plot or, at least, a goal for both stories. Is this enough? I don’t know.

Other Events

There is a bit of a romance. The Carduans are snake-sized snacks. Owls see them as dinner, not to speak of coyotes.

What is there to eat out in the wilds? How would you find out? After all, some plants are deadly poison.

What plot can I find? Perhaps learning to survive is one.

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GKP Writing News

Building a World

Any writing endeavor leaves an author building a world. This is true for nonfiction as well as fiction. It is true for any genre.

New England asters building a world
There are half a dozen lovely asters that bloom in the fall. As I put together pictures for “Exploring the Ozark Hills”, I chose this one as I built my world for the book.

Nonfiction Too?

Nonfiction is set in a real place. It is someplace you can see pictures of or visit. Except that isn’t the place you are writing about.

The author is writing about a place the author sees. It may be based on reality, but the author sees it according to the author’s point of view.

When I wrote “Exploring the Ozark Hills”, I chose the topics. I went out and took the pictures framing them to illustrate what I wanted to write about. It was the real world, but it was also the world I wanted to see.

Real World Fiction

Novels set in the real world, past or present, are like the ones for nonfiction. They may be based on real places, but they are written about as the author sees them.

Plot events influence what is most important in a setting description. Flower kinds and colors don’t matter much during a chase scene. During a romantic scene, these may help enhance the feeling the writer is trying for.

Fantasy and Science Fiction

No matter how hard a writer tries to create an imaginary world, it will relate to what is familiar. We may write about being telepathic, but it is not based on experience. Instead we write about what we think it would be like.

Building a world with strange plants and animals is the same. We have a mental picture of what an animal is, what a plant is. The imaginary ones will conform to these ideas to some extent as we can’t relate to something totally out of our experience.

Melding Truth and Imagination

As I struggle with “The Carduan Chronicles: Ship Nineteen”, I must meld the reality of nature with my point of view of these places with the point of view of these small people. The plants and animals are those I am familiar with. I must see them differently to make my writing feel real.

Building a world for any writing project is challenging. It takes time and thought. In the end, this world begins to feel real and that lets it feel real for a reader.

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GKP Writing News

Photographic Illustrations

My first illustrated books used photographic illustrations. This seemed the easy way to do them. Reality set in quickly.

Page from "My Ozark Home"
Photographs were the best way to illustrate “My Ozark Home”. Chicory grows along the road. It is a favorite of the goats and groundhogs, so it doesn’t last long in the pastures.

Types of Books

My science activity books use photographic illustrations for the simple reason that these show what I am talking about. They show the steps of the Investigations.

In “The Pumpkin Project”, I have pictures of people with their prize winning pumpkins. A drawing wouldn’t work.

When I wrote “My Ozark Home”, I was showing the hills and pastures of my home. Drawings, no matter how good, wouldn’t be as good.

page from "For Love of Goats"
This illustrations is a blend of watercolor images and computer. There are four watercolor images in this illustration: the pen with hay bales and bedding; the kid; the doe: and the back wall. Using layers to create the final image takes a lot of time, but can be the best option.

Photograph or Drawing?

I am not the best photographer. Some of the pictures for my books took many, many tries before I got them right.

This is a problem with using photographic illustrations. Wind blows plants. Animals take off. Investigations need too many hands to do the work and take the pictures.

Drawings might be easier as the illustrator can plan them out. That raises the question of how good the artist is.

“For Love of Goats” had all the text done. So did “The Little Spider” and “Waiting for Fairies”. These books needed drawings, not photographs.

photographic illustrations for science investigations
I’ve had science experiment books with drawings. Photographs are often much better. This one is from “The City Water Project”, building and launching water rockets.

Desperation

I hated seeing these books sit there. Some books will never get done as they aren’t good enough. That wasn’t the case with these.

Armed with the knowledge I am a goat keeper, I decided to try doing the goat illustrations. Only those who know goats, can really draw goats.

Doing these illustrations gave me enough confidence to illustrate the two picture books. What I found out is that each book needed a different approach.

Melding Watercolor, Camera and Computer

All of my illustrations begin as photographs or watercolors. None of these is ready to put straight into a book.

Photographic illustrations must be cropped, maybe enhanced, definitely resized. Watercolors are also cropped, mistakes corrected and resized. The end result is a book illustration.

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GKP Writing News

Do You Read?

“Reading Is Fundamental” goes one slogan for one program. Accelerated Reading is another program. These are aimed to get young people to read. The important question is: Do You Read?

When I was growing up, there was an antismoking slogan: Do as I say, not as I do. Parents would smoke and lament when their children took up the habit.

It applies to reading as well. If a parent doesn’t read, why should their children? How do you convince a child reading is important, if it isn’t important to you?

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
This is a novel you can read for fun.

Why Does Literacy Matter?

Imagine you are going grocery shopping and can’t read the labels. You must depend on pictures on the labels. Sometimes there are no pictures. Other times there are several choices as in canned fruit: heavy syrup, light syrup, fruit juice. How do you know the difference? There are labels with pictures promoting scents, not what is in the containers.

There was a television program many, many years ago in which Johnny Cash played an illiterate man. He had many work arounds for filling out job applications and getting others to read directions for him. Ultimately, he was always found out.

Getting Information

There are many places purporting to give you the news. How do you know which ones are real news versus opinions about the news? If you can’t read, you can’t even read the headlines.

If you look up directions, you could find a podcast showing the directions. How do you know it’s right? Are there other methods that would work better for you?

Excuses, Excuses

There are learning disabilities making reading difficult. And there are other ways of reading such as audio books. A disability is not a good excuse.

“I don’t like to read.” Such a favorite excuse. There are books on all subjects, at all levels. Novels come in age levels and numerous genres. Some are graphic novels done mostly in pictures. Somewhere there are books to interest you.

Do You Read?

Literacy is the basis of a democracy. Reading lets people know what is going on. Finding out more about the many sides of an issue let’s people make good decisions.

Do you want to make our country great again? Read!

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GKP Writing News

Writing Drabbles

Most of my short written pieces are my posts for on the website and run 300 to 400 words. When I wrote “For Love of goats”, I wrote shorter pieces around 150 to 200 words. Now I am trying my hand at writing drabbles, one of them anyway.

cover of "For Love of Goats" by Karen GoatKeeper
Although I wrote the various letter stories in “For Love of Goats” primarily for alliteration, many of them are short stories in fifty words or so.

Writers Digest

No writer knows everything about writing, even if some of them think they do. And there are new ideas and reminders about writing. Where do you find them?

One place is by reading a wide range of books. My reading list runs from picture book concept books through juvenile, some young adult into adult. It includes fiction and nonfiction.

As I read, I decide what I like and what I don’t about the book. The things I don’t like are things to avoid in my own writing. Things I like might change how I write.

The other place to find out new things is in magazines. Writers Digest is one of them. It mentions new authors, writing advice, agents and more. One of the other things is a writing contest.

Writing Drabbles

First there is the question of what a drabble is. It is a story in 100 words, not counting the title.

When a word count is so limited, every word counts. It is a story, so something does happen and has a result.

The Contest

There is a picture. Writers are to write a first line or a story based on the picture. The latest one is to write a drabble.

Usually I look at this and turn the page. The pictures are of things I have no or little clue about. And there is the doubt I can do this to begin with.

Inspiration

I just finished a book called “Cowgirls”. And I have always loved horses. There was that picture of a girl up on a horse.

I do have a drabble draft. Actually it is the second or third one. No title yet. Is it a real drabble? I’m not sure.

Will I submit it? I’m not sure about that either.

Writing it is challenging and fun. That is a reward in itself.

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GKP Writing News

Making Setting Real

When I watch a movie, the scenery goes by like speeding by city blocks in a car. It isn’t real. Instead, it’s just scenery. Part of the challenge in writing is making setting real, not just scenery.

gravel county road in winter
What aspects of this road might fit into a novel’s setting? The trees are bare indicating winter or very early spring. Gravel covers the road making walking difficult except in the clear spaces left by passing vehicles. If the weather is cold or a cold wind is blowing, would this road be pleasant to walk along?

What About Setting?

Think about a walk through your home. If you only saw this in a video, it would only be scenery. Well, maybe a bit more because it is a place you are familiar with.

Now walk through you home. This is more than visual. There are sounds. Aromas drift by. Your attention might focus on a favorite item opening up memories. Your home is a real place.

Which experience would give you as a reader greater involvement in the story? Which one would make the story seem more real?

Making Setting Real

In writing a rough draft of a novel, setting usually is just scenery except for times when the plot depends on it. This is fine. The main foci for a rough draft are usually characters and plot.

Then comes the rewrite. This is where setting comes into its own. Perhaps your main character is making bread. The dough has a smell, a feel, a look both as it is mixed and as it is kneaded. Later comes the aroma of baking bread. This changes as the bread gets closer to done.

Perhaps you main character is going someplace. If it is a city street, there are city sounds of people, vehicles, activities, smells. If it is a walk in the country, there is the feel of the dirt, smells, sounds of wind and animals, weather.

Adding some descriptions about these or other aspects of your setting brings the reader into the story.

How Much?

Just as too much backstory can put the brakes on your story, too much description can do the same. The idea is to add just enough to enhance the story.

Going back to a road. Does the road meander down a valley? Perhaps it is a straight highway through a desert. Is heat shimmering above it? Just a mention of this influences your driver. Are they paying attention or looking out the window and getting into trouble?

Getting It Right

This is where actually being in a place really matters. How can you add the sensory details if you’ve never been there? You can’t. How can you know what details really catch attention if you’ve never been there.

Even if all you do is take a walk through a similar place, it let’s you get it right. The reader can tell.

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GKP Writing News

March Reading

Spring arrives in March along with gardening. That makes finding time for March reading challenging.

This month I am moving a bit out of my normal genres with a thriller “The Devil’s Punchbowl” by Greg Iles. It isn’t that I dislike reading thrillers, I do. The problem is when I read these books. Just before bedtime.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
This is a book for bedtime reading. It’s light reading and full or humor.

Setting Up March Reading Times

In truth, this is good for setting up reading times for all year. It has to do with the types of books that fit different times of day.

I read a lot of nonfiction. These are serious books on a variety of subjects, but they require paying attention. Bedtime, when I am half asleep, is not a good time to read these.

Tucking time into the daytime hours is best for reading these books. I tend to read them over meals. At the moment I am working on “American Psychosis” which is political, a genre I rarely read, but it was recommended to me by a friend.

Late Night Book Considerations

After a busy day, a good book can help relax me. I don’t want a book I have to think a lot about. That is when something light like a cozy mystery works well.

Cozy mysteries do follow a format and get boring after several in a row. And I needed another fiction book set in the South for the library book review. Hence I picked up the thriller. Thrillers have the same problem as cozy mysteries: they have a set format and, even though they are different, seem much alike. They are usually more intense and not as good for a relaxing read.

Finding Interesting Books

The real key to finding March reading times, any reading times is reading interesting books. Reviews are not always a good way to find a book you will enjoy simply because what interests you may not interest the reviewer.

I do read reviews and take note of books that sound good. However, I go on to read the synopsis of the book. Then I make a decision on whether or not to add the book to my reading list.

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GKP Writing News

Exploring New Perspectives

When I first began The Carduan Chronicles, there was only one ship that dropped out of a worm tunnel into a February ice storm forcing them to land in an Ozarks ravine. As the nine Carduans began to explore their new world, I began exploring new perspectives.

Exploring new perspectives in an Ozark ravine
That fallen log looks like a wall. It is only six inches high and easy to step over. Easy unless you are only four inches tall. Walking up a ravine takes an entirely different look when you are that small.

Ozark Ravines

My Ozark home has several ravines near it. I have walked up all of them at one time or another, some of them several times. Broad or narrow, the ravines have several things in common.

One thing is water. Although the ravine may be dry much of the time, it was formed by running water racing down between two hills. Some have water in them much of the time, usually as pools here and there.

Another thing are the trees. People often think of woods or forests as static populations of trees. They aren’t. Those trees are enemies in their quest for light, water and space in which to grow.

The weakest trees don’t survive. In a few years the dead trunks fall to the ground. Bigger trees are victims of storms.

Exploring New Perspectives

The Carduans are four inches tall. Fallen trees I can step over, are taller than they are. How can they deal with these?

Ice storms are not too uncommon in the Ozarks. The Carduans come from a planet where water never freezes. They have never seen ice or snow.

Arkosa, their home planet, is hot, dry and bathed with UV light. The plants are blue or red as a protection from the UV light. Their crops are mostly grasses – think wheat, oats or rice – and root tubers – think potatoes, carrots or turnips.

These people have never seen trees or birds or the many other creatures familiar to those who walk in the Ozarks. Blue jays are taller than they are.

As the Carduans go exploring their new world, I am exploring new perspectives in mine.

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GKP Writing News

Making Characters Real

Perhaps you have picked up a book like this, I certainly have. The main character is someone or something you just can’t relate to. Making characters real is not that easy.

Another problem is found in those books where all the characters seem to be clones. They think alike. They act alike. All of the characters might as well be talking to themselves.

Creating Characters

There are lots of ways for an author to create a character. One way is to have a list of characteristics. Another I came across has a series of questions to answer about the character.

Anyone who does some research on writing will find other methods of creating characters. These methods do work for some authors. Perhaps they would for you. These methods don’t work for me.

My Characters

I create the bare bones of a character in my head. As I have a vague notion of the plot, the character is based on how he or she will interact with the plot. Usually I come up with a name and a basic description.

At that point, I start writing my rough draft. As I write the novel, it starts making characters real to me. They get to the point they seem like someone I could go to the store and meet.

The drawback to creating characters this way, is that I do have to go back and rewrite the beginning of the draft. That way the characters consistent throughout.

Different Characters

Making characters real is easier for me if I base them on people I have known, even slightly. This matters because it gives each character a unique voice and behavior in the novel.

Even when writing a memoir, an author is creating, rather recreating their character from a previous time in their lives. People grow up and change with time so a younger version of you is not the modern one and is, therefore, a character in your memoir.

No matter how an author creates their characters, making characters real is important so readers can enjoy your books more.