Tag: novel writing

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GKP Writing News

Ending NaNo

I’ve participated in NaNo (National Novel Writing Month) every year since 2008. Many of my novels began as those mad November dashes. Now I hear they are ending NaNo.

The Challenge

Every November the goal was to write 50,000 words of a new novel before the end of the month. This is 1,670 words a day.

At the beginning this sounded like a huge undertaking. And it was. The result was a rough draft novel mostly done.

The purpose was to goad and urge the writer to write straight through the novel idea. There was no time to rethink or edit, only time to keep writing. The self doubts, the little voice saying the writing is no good, had no chance to make much headway as there was that 1,670 word goal to reach.

cover for "Broken Promises" by Karen GoatKeeper
This was my first NaNo novel back in 2008. The first year the novel fell apart. It did get me started and I completed the challenge every year after that.

Ending NaNo

I didn’t interact with the forums very much as I have little internet time each week. Rumors started up about people abusing the forum spaces and how NaNo was run.

How much of this was true? I don’t know and really don’t care. All that matters is that my November challenge is now gone.

Over the summer, my time gets split up in so many directions. There is supposed to be a couple of hours each morning to write, but hot weather pushes me outside. When I get in, I’m tired, too tired to write.

NaNo gave me a push to get my writing time back on track again. Somehow, it’s easier to have an outside push than to make the effort myself.

cover for "Dora's Story" by Karen GoatKeeper
This novel turned out to be much longer and more complicated than any I had done previously. I started doing CampNaNo to finish this book and later used Camp to work on picture books and other novels.

What Now?

Can I find another writing group to work with? Surely there are some out there, mostly on Facebook which I am not. And searching takes time I don’t have.

So, for now, I’m on my own. It’s easy to pretend to do NaNo in November or Camp NaNo in April and July. It’s also easy to let it slide as there is no set deadline looming.

And I have a history of missing deadlines so I will miss NaNo. Still, there are those books to finish this year.

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GKP Writing News

Writing Unknowns

One of the big annoyances in reading is looking through a book about a familiar subject only to find the author didn’t really know the subject. The book, often part of a series, was written by a freelance writer from research. They were writing unknowns.

Two Nubian goats are loud
Dairy goats have their horns disbudded so they don’t grow. This is safer for the goats and the goat owner. Rose and Drucilla aren’t show goats, but they don’t look like the common caricatures many people draw of goats.

Examples

The library shelved a picture book on goats. Of course, I checked it out. The text was suitable for a picture book. The pictures were sharp and clear. Except the goats.- dairy goats! -in the pictures had horns.

Anyone familiar with dairy goats knows breeders disbud their kids. Horned dairy goats aren’t shown or, if they are, have lots of lost points because of the horns. This goes back decades as dairy goat owners wanted a positive picture of their beautiful goats, not a billy goat gruff caricature.

My friend owned an old John Deere tractor for years. Reading through a book on such tractors no mention was made of a quirk of such tractors. The writer had never owned a tractor and it showed.

Writing Unknowns in Life’s Rules

I have no Facebook account for several reasons. I’m not online at home and don’t have a cell phone. Rural Missouri has reception issues and the hills surrounding my house compound them.

In Life’s Rules, the main character Stephanie must get an email account, a Facebook account, a credit card. She goes to places I’ve never been. She speaks languages I have little familiarity with. I am writing unknowns.

This is when a writer must depend on others to look over the draft. Is the description right? Are the conversations right? Should the names be changed?

In the meantime, I am writing unknowns trying to sound like I know what I’m writing about. After all, I need a draft for others to look over.

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GKP Writing News

Setting Writing Deadlines

This year has been very disappointing for my writing. No new books were finished. This isn’t because I didn’t have books to work on – there are six of them. Perhaps setting writing deadlines will get some of these finished.

Word Counts Won’t Work

Out of the six books, three have rough drafts mostly done, two are picture books with the text done leaving only one needing a draft written. Rewriting isn’t new writing with word counts. Setting writing deadlines will entail chapters, not words.

Even more, setting writing deadlines can be publishing times. I want to finish Life’s Rules by mid March for personal reasons. It needs rewriting, translations, ruthless cutting as it is far too long. It will be the primary focus now.

Once this book is done, I will return to “The Carduan Chronicles”. March is a good time to get back to Ship Nineteen as all the spring plants will be growing. Which are edible? Which would be easy for the crew to find and use? The draft may be written, but it needs a lot of setting work included in the rewrite.

“The Carduan Chronicles: Ship Eighteen” only needs the rewrite done. Even the current draft is close to final. The rewrite will be mostly an edit.

doing digital and print versions requires a title page
Several more chemistry teaching units are written. Some of the investigations need redoing. The stories aren’t written yet. Writing takes so much time.

Setting Writing Deadlines

I would like the first two books of “The Carduan Chronicles” ready to publish this fall. They do have one problem: the third book. It is little more than a list of bullet points right now.

There are other writing projects to slip into any free moment. There are two website posts to write every week. Goodreads gets at least four picture book reviews every week. There should be three book reviews every two weeks to reach my goal of 70 books read over the year. And there is a book review for my local public library every month.

If I want to stress out, I can add illustrations for the two picture books and chemistry teaching units. There is the picture book writing workshop planned for the summer.

The New Year will be busy.

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Latest From High Reaches

Disappointed Goats

Just the other side of the creek grow two female persimmon trees, both loaded with persimmons this year. When the clouds left, I let the goats out and they ran off to go across the bridge to eat fallen persimmons. Except the bridge is not there now leaving disappointed goats standing on the creek bank staring across the raging flood.

bridge under water
When we first saw the bridge we built across out Ozark creek, the damage was obvious, but not the full extent. The grass shows how it was flattened by flood water now receded.

The Bridge

Over thirty years ago, when we moved here, getting across the creek meant wading through the water. This wasn’t much of a problem during the summer when we didn’t mind wet feet or wore boots when we did.

Half the pastures are across that creek. There was no easy ford to take the tractor across. If we wanted to cut firewood or brushhog, we had to inch the tractor down to the creek and almost pull or push it up the other side.

We bought two I-beams, put in cement footings, cut thick planks. And the bridge was built. It was big enough for foot traffic – us and the goats – and the tractor.

Five years ago a derecho hit damaging the bridge and the creek banks it was attached to. It became only a foot bridge. This storm has shifted and broken one pillar making the bridge unrepairable.

disappointed goats
My Nubian goats herd has used the bridge across the creek for thirty years. Now they stand looking at where the bridge should be, but isn’t. I finally found a place about 70 feet upstream where the banks are low enough and the creek shallow enough for the herd to wade across. They do expect me to lead them across in the morning and back across in the afternoon.

Now What?

Once the flood recedes the goats will wade across the creek. Today’s disappointed goats will be glad to check for all those fallen persimmons.

Spring kids will be left on the barn side of the creek whenever their mothers wade across. These disappointed goats will grow and learn to cross the creek too.

We will be back to wearing rubber boots whenever we want to cross the creek. The easy access for the tractor is washed out too, so the tractor will stay on the barn side.

The Solution?

Build a new bridge. That will end the disappointed goats problem and ours too.

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GKP Writing News

Major Flood!

While considering which book to offer in November, nature made the decision for me. The big event setting the “Hopes, Dreams and Reality” story in motion is a major flood and nature decided we needed just that this month.

Hopes, Dreams and Reality cover
The flood I made up in this novel tried hard to become reality this week.

In the Novel

My hypothetical flood is the result of a large hurricane turned tropical storm slowly moving north. It drops unbelievable amounts of rain over four days resulting in widespread flooding.

Such a flood, in rural areas, destroys roads isolating rural homes. It usually takes down the electric lines. In the novel it takes out the phone line as well and Mindy’s place has no cell service.

After talking to my road grader operator, I found out many of these people live out of town. If their roads are washed out, they can’t get into town to take the graders out to fix the roads. It would take weeks to clear the roads of fallen trees and grade the gravel roads.

creek in major flood
The water level had already dropped three feet when this picture was taken. The creek bank had moved over about four feet washing out pasture. Once the water dropped to closer to normal, the creek bank had changed from a gradual drop from the pasture to the bed to a sheer drop of four feet or more.

This November’s Major Flood

The Ozarks has been in drought for several months. Rain had just started back when this storm came in. After 30 years living here, a big rainfall total is six or seven inches.

This storm dropped six inches over one day. Then it kept on raining all night. Water filled a five-gallon bucket, seventeen inches tall, and flowed over the top.

By the time we walked out in the morning, the water level in the creek had already dropped two or three feet. Debris out in the pastures marked the high water extent over the creek roaring past.

One end of the bridge over the creek had shifted several feet downstream. This was anchored with a cement pillar two feet by four feet with a cement footing and large rocks. Two I-beams topped this. The top, we saw later, was cracked.

It will take weeks to fix the damage left by this major flood. The novel shortens that time as the drudgery of fixing fence and cleaning up debris does not make interesting reading.

For the month of November, you can get a free digital copy of “Hopes, Dreams and Reality” from Smashwords using coupon code BSPJ7.

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GKP Writing News

Cheating With AI

AI seems to be everywhere lately. Search engines, word platforms and more beg you to use it. There are legitimate uses for it, but some I consider to be cheating with AI.

Writing and research are two of these. There are many who will disagree, but I stand firm.

AI and Writing

At home I am not online. In town every time I try to write an email, a search entry, check over a blog post, this AI pops up trying to tell me what I should write. This is very annoying as the stupid program starts guessing at what the word is by the time I have two letters typed.

Admittedly my spelling is not always right. However, spell check catches mistakes most of the time. And that doesn’t keep covering over my document or page with lists of words and phrases.

cover for "Capri Capers" by Karen GoatKeeper
This wild romp let my imagination fly. Every chapter ended with a cliffhanger. Every name was devised for fun and fit into the character. For me, this is what makes writing special.

Then, too, my novels come from my imagination. If AI writes my novel for me to edit, it is no longer my novel. It is AI’s novel and probably far from my idea of what it should be.

My present novel looks at getting old, relationships to family and friends, immigration and reinventing oneself. The main character has been a recluse for decades for medical reasons, has an abusive background. I have come to know her and those around her. AI would only guess at these pulling from whatever learning material it used.

Stephanie comes from a lifetime of people and experiences. I know what is happening and will happen to a large extent. AI won’t know ant of this and might well distort it if I explained.

If I were to use AI to write my novel, edit the result and publish it, I would consider it cheating with AI.

Research

When I start doing research, I have an idea what to look for. Often it is a bit vague. As I go exploring the topic, I can check out different parameters, fine tune, go off on tangents.

By cheating with AI, I end up looking at only what the program thinks I am looking for. It’s something like the difference between browsing the shelves at a bookstore or library and searching on Amazon. You miss so much.

Perhaps I am just old-fashioned, but I will continue to use my own imagination for my writing.

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GKP Writing News

Finding Writing Time

Normally I reserve mornings after milking as my writing time. This summer has made that time unavailable and left me finding writing time at odd times.

Heat

Many places have had temperatures in the triple digits. Not in the Ozarks. What we’ve had are nineties and humidity almost as high. The sun has seemed to bore through me any time I go out in it.

Before noon has been the only time of day cool enough to get any outside work done. My morning typing time gave way to outside work.

Orange Cat keeping cool
My cats are trying to keep cool in the heat. Usually they spend the day outside. Now they stay indoors much of the day.

Weariness

Working outside in the heat drains energy. By the time I do one or two things, I am tired.

Warm nights with high humidity make sleeping difficult. I go to bed tired and wake up tired.

Finding writing time in the afternoons is possible. But too often I find my head down on the desk and the screen gone blank.

Writers Block

My Life’s Rules wasn’t just on hiatus. I was stymied. Somehow I needed to advance the storyline several months. Sounds easy?

The story has been going on a day by day basis which works very well for the beginning month or so. This can’t continue for several months without killing the story with trivia and boredom.

Now I know how to break and continue the story without sacrificing the storyline. Finding writing time to get it down on the computer is frustrating.

finding writing time comes after researching Dwarf Hackberry Fruits as wild edibles
Before finding writing time for The Carduan Chronicles: Ship Nineteen I need to find time to read the book on wild edible plants. The number and variety of them is amazing. This picture is from a previous year. My favorite hackberry tree has no fruits on it now. I’m checking out more of them. However, the pawpaws and elderberries are ripe now.

Carduan Chronicles

Even if I find time, it’s hard to keep going on this right now. I need to get the story another two weeks or so, but I know that it needs a major rewrite again. I’m also doing lots of wild plant research needed for the rewrite. What’s the point of continuing?

The point is getting this second in the trilogy to the same point as for Ship Eighteen. Then I can write the final book for the trilogy.

In the meantime, finding writing time is getting easier as fall temperatures make it possible to write mornings and work afternoons again.

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GKP Writing News

Foraging Wild Edibles

It’s getting hard to keep going on my Ship Nineteen draft as I know it needs major work again. The plus side of continuing is having a better draft of what the Carduans are doing. The negative side is how much is missing, like foraging wild edibles.

What the Carduans Accomplish

There are several major problems these survivors face. One is the need for shelter. For now, since there are so few of them, they can live in the ship and use the ledge they discovered.

Another is defense against the numerous large predators. The Carduans are snack size for coyotes, foxes, bobcats and large snakes. They are edibles for smaller creatures like raccoons, hawks and owls.

These predators are avoided as much as possible. When necessary, the Carduans have discovered a defensive weapon.

Food is another issue. For now they can hunt, fish and forage. Winter will return. They must be ready with stored food.

Red Clover flowers
I know someone who likes red clover flower tea. He gathers the flower heads, dries them and then brews tea. I’ve tasted a few flowers. They have a quick bit of sweet followed by a bit of spice. The Carduans love their morning coffee, but must find a new drink. Will this work?

Foraging Wild Edibles

Over the years I’ve learned about a number of wild plants good to eat. They include lamb’s quarters, dock, plantains, chicory, dandelions and chickweed. Some are more palatable than others.

These can’t be the wild foods the Carduans eat. Why not? Because these are mostly introduced plants that grow near human habitations, not out in the ravines and abandoned pastures.

What does grow out there? I’ve photographed lots of plants growing out in the wilder areas, but don’t know which are edible or what they can be used for.

spicebush flowers
Wild plant foraging begins early in the spring. Spicebush blooms early with spicy flowers. Later the leaves are spicy eating too. The Carduans do discover these flowers and enjoy eating them, the ones they can reach.

Doing Research

Samuel Thayer lives foraging wild edibles and has several books out about foraging. The biggest drawback is his location, far north of the Ozarks. Some of the plants, like wild rice, just won’t be found where the Carduans are.

Even so, “Forager’s Harvest” has many useful items in it. One is preparing wild grains. And some of the plants are found here too.

That leaves two items. One is finding plants accessible to the Carduans who are very small. The other is finding some of these plants and tasting them so I can give descriptions in the novel.

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GKP Writing News

Plotting Goat Shows

People seem to love showing off things and animals. Goats are no exception which means there are goat shows.

These events occur in Dora’s Story. Emily’s mother wants the recognition of winning them. The girls want to take part as members of their 4-H club. There are two big shows close to them and they attend both.

using goat shows for plotting goat shows
This is an old picture from the first Arkansas state goat show in 1981. The class is for Nubian doelings. Note the whites then the official wear for those showing goats.

Why Have Goat Shows?

I only took my goats to the local county shows. I led a couple of 4-H goat Projects and the shows were part of this.

We held the shows for several reasons. One was for the members to show off their goats. More importantly the judges could help them recognize the strong and weak points of their goats.

The public was the other big reason for holding these little shows. Many people know little about goats and many times what they know is wrong.

This isn’t their fault. Goats are fun to make fun of. Brush goats do tend to have long goatees and big horns. Goats do butt each other and other things. Horns are a great way to tear delicious bark off of trees.

Buck goats (male goats in the dairy goat world) do reek during mating season. Does (female goats in the dairy goat world) do not.

If produced properly, goat milk tastes good. It is also better balanced for human consumption than cow’s milk.

Phelps County Fair goat show
Phelps County Fair has a goat show. Back around 2006 most of the goats shown were dairy goats. This is an Oberhasli sometimes called a Swiss Alpine. Note the show clip and how the goat is set up with front feet across from each other, back feet set directly under the tail and the collar used to keep the goat’s head up, but not straining.

Dora’s Story Goat Shows

The shows in this novel are much bigger shows. I have attended several of these bigger shows as a spectator.

These shows have several goat breeds and several classes for each breed. There are showmanship classes for young goat owners.

In plotting these shows for the novel, I had to list all of the classes, all of the goats in each of the classes and the names and ages of the owners of these goats. This took at least a page of notes.

To complicate this, the same shows occur annually. They show up more than once in the novel. That meant aging the owners and their goats, adding some new owners and goats.

Much of this material was not used in the novel. Emily and her sister showed Nubians and grades only. But they did talk to many of the other owners.

Novel background notes are like that. The notes make writing the novel easier and the result better. But that doesn’t mean all of the notes appear in the novel.

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GKP Writing News

Dora’s Story Characters

It was September and I wanted a story line to write in November when the idea came. The plot would revolve around a dairy goat moving between several different owners. Then I began creating the Dora’s Story characters.

cover for "Dora's Story" by Karen GoatKeeper
After writing a number of straight plotline novels, this was very different. There was the novel plotline. Yet each of the six parts had a plotline for itself and as part of the novel one. It involved several goat shows and each of these changed as the participants got older. It took over a year to get all of it right.

Who Are They?

From the time my first goat, Jennifer, was born, I’ve met many people with goats. Others I’ve heard of. These were the beginnings of my Dora’s Story characters.

The goat would come from a small time breeder. Her first owner would be Emily. Why would this young girl get a goat? Why would she give up her goat?

This brought in her mother and sister. For the girls, the goats were 4-H projects and pets. The mother wanted the prestige of purebred goats and Dora was a grade goat.

Once sold, Dora went through several owners. Each was a composite of people. One was a bad owner. Another was ill. Finally Dora ends up with a young boy.

Going In Circles

Emily was devastated when Dora was sold. Her dream was to find Dora again. In the original draft, she does.

As years pass, people change. Emily grew up. So did Dora.

Emily wanted to get Dora back as though this would make everything like it was. Long ago I learned you can’t go back except in memories. Such an ending would not be at all realistic.

Yet, Emily did need to find Dora again. But she needed to find her beloved goat in a new time, under the new conditions.

Dora’s Story Characters

Each step of the way, Dora is a possible way to the future for each owner. Some take advantage of this. Some don’t.

We are often blind to or afraid of opportunities that come our way. They pass us by. When it is too late, we realize we went past them, now regretting it.

Carpe Diem.