Category: GKP Writing News

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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.

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.

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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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.

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Very Unusual Book

The St. Louis Post dispatch Sunday has a page of book reviews. I took a page to my library and asked about one of them not realizing it was a very unusual book.

“Bunns Rabbit” by Alan Barillaro sounded like a typical middle grade quest book. Cute, relaxing, easy reading, reminiscent of “Watership Down”. The library bought a copy and I checked it out.

rabbit for very unusual book
Cottontail rabbits tend to have shorter ears as this cottontail shows. Yet, the domestic breeds developed from European rabbits have ears of many lengths. This is an important aspect in “Bunns Rabbit”.

Big Surprise

When I opened the book, I thought it was the beginning of a graphic novel. Each page was one picture with comments in bubbles.

It is not a graphic novel.

Ruby-throat Hummingbird
Bunns Rabbit rescues and makes friends with a hummingbird which breaks a taboo of her rabbit warren.

The first chapter looked like the beginning of a picture book. These pages were big pictures with text.

It is not a picture book for middle graders.

As the first hundred pages flew by, I found this very unusual book blended graphic novel with picture book with illustrated book. The illustrations remind me of a softer version of those from Peter Rabbit.

Gray Fox
Bunns Rabbit is searching for the Fox Spirit. In the book the fox is a red fox, but only gray ones live around me.

No Surprise

The short review I originally read was right. It is a middle grade fantasy quest book Bunns Rabbit is a young rabbit born into a warren of very conservative rabbits. She has short ears when the norm is longer ears.

The warren elders plan to banish Bunns and her family. Her only hope is to seek the Spirit Fox to get a wish so she can rescue her family. Along the way she meets many other animals who also have problems needing solutions.

Fire is terrifying sight
The Spirit Fox can bring fire to the land and is greatly feared by the rabbits in the warren.

Worth Reading

Many adults seem to feel reading books for younger ages beneath them. They are missing out on some lovely books. “Bunns Rabbit” is one of them.

The story is simple, cute and aimed for middle grade readers. That doesn’t make the questions it raises any the less valid or the solutions less important to consider.

Besides, this very unusual book has such wonderful illustrations.

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Cowgirls

Forget cartoons. I grew up watching westerns: The Lone Ranger; Broken Arrow; Wyatt Earp; Bat Masterson; Sky King; Roy Rogers; Gene Autry and more. One thing was missing in most of these: Cowgirls.

Westerns love to have cowboy heroes. Big, strong, brave cowboys protect the timid frontier women. They spend their time loading guns, hiding, watching the cowboys fight for them.

Are There Cowgirls?

According to “Cowgirls: Women of the American West” by Teresa Jordan, one of five pioneers was a woman homesteader. These were not wives, they were independent women who staked a homestead and proved it out. Some built up ranches. Other women became widows and decided to stay on the ranch to run it.

These women worked digging post poles and stringing fence, working cattle or horses or sheep, breaking horses, riding in rodeos, all the things cowboys did. Some of the heavier work was beyond them physically, but most of it wasn’t. It needed doing, so they did it.

What About Children?

Forget the pampered children of today. Frontier children worked as part of the family. Ranching was hard work, not that lucrative, so everyone had to help or all would fail.

“No Life for a Lady” by Agnes Morley Cleaveland tells of growing up in New Mexico territory. As soon as children were able to sit on a horse (six or seven years old), they were helping keep track of the cattle, riding tens of miles for the mail and other things.

More modern cowgirls often take their children out with them. Now babies can stay in a truck. Once they sat on the saddle behind a parent or in an insulated box on the wagon seat. As toddlers, they are on their own horses.

Today’s Cowgirls

There are still cowboys and cowgirls. Some things have changed as tractors, trucks and other vehicles have replaced many of the horses. But fencing still needs fixing. Cattle still need to be rounded up.

Find copies or this book and other books to find out more about cowgirls, women who deserve better than a footnote.

cover of "Old Promises" Hazel Whitmore #2 by Karen GoatKeeper
When Hazel and her mother arrive in Missouri, their new house has not been lived in or cleaned in a decade. As women all over, they did what needed doing: they cleaned up the cobwebs, dust and mouse nests.