Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 26
September 7, 2016
What About Those Verbs?
Subjects and adjectives are important parts of a sentence. So are the verbs.
Take a look at a paragraph in your latest book and make all the sentences simple past tense. That means no helping verbs allowed.
We do use past tense a lot in writing books but not all the time. When all the sentences are in simple past, they become choppy. Past tense locks events into the past.
Helping verbs modify that time frame in the sentence. Consider how they change this sentence:
Joe ran across the field.
Joe was running across the field.
Joe had run across the field.
Joe did run across the field.
Joe can run across the field.
Each sentence seems much the same until you think about it. Then each becomes a different story. Which one do you want to write? What new plot ideas does each open up?
Helping verbs can do the same for present and future tenses.
Grammar seems so boring in school. Taking another look at it as an author seems a waste of time once you've got a book or two done.
Then again, look at all those possible story ideas.
Take a look at a paragraph in your latest book and make all the sentences simple past tense. That means no helping verbs allowed.
We do use past tense a lot in writing books but not all the time. When all the sentences are in simple past, they become choppy. Past tense locks events into the past.
Helping verbs modify that time frame in the sentence. Consider how they change this sentence:
Joe ran across the field.
Joe was running across the field.
Joe had run across the field.
Joe did run across the field.
Joe can run across the field.
Each sentence seems much the same until you think about it. Then each becomes a different story. Which one do you want to write? What new plot ideas does each open up?
Helping verbs can do the same for present and future tenses.
Grammar seems so boring in school. Taking another look at it as an author seems a waste of time once you've got a book or two done.
Then again, look at all those possible story ideas.
August 31, 2016
Directions? What Directions?
Thanks to a GR friend and reading directions I may have a website problem solved.
I started a website because an author is supposed to have one. It grew into a multi-paged affair including a Shop. After all, the Site was supposed to be a way to sell some of my books.
In truth the Site is an end of itself now. In spite of the work and deadlines or maybe because of them, it keeps me engaged and active in marketing my books.
Unfortunately my Shop never worked correctly. I didn't know why and could never seem to track down the reasons.
But a friend wanted a copy of a book. Yes, I could email the pdf but she insisted on arguing with that Shop monster.
First was a problem with the set up so PayPal and the Shop refused to acknowledge each other's existence. That problem turned out to need some help from another friend to find and click on the necessary box.
Then came the problem wherein the Shop insisted a pdf was something I should mail instead of offering a link to the pdf. This was an old problem I had tried unsuccessfully to solve before. The set up page looked correct.
When all else fails, follow directions.
I went back to the basic tutorials about downloads. My pages were set up correctly.
What I had missed was on another page in another location. I had mislabeled the download method.
I love to write. I find marketing frustrating and time consuming. Someday I will learn directions help.
I started a website because an author is supposed to have one. It grew into a multi-paged affair including a Shop. After all, the Site was supposed to be a way to sell some of my books.
In truth the Site is an end of itself now. In spite of the work and deadlines or maybe because of them, it keeps me engaged and active in marketing my books.
Unfortunately my Shop never worked correctly. I didn't know why and could never seem to track down the reasons.
But a friend wanted a copy of a book. Yes, I could email the pdf but she insisted on arguing with that Shop monster.
First was a problem with the set up so PayPal and the Shop refused to acknowledge each other's existence. That problem turned out to need some help from another friend to find and click on the necessary box.
Then came the problem wherein the Shop insisted a pdf was something I should mail instead of offering a link to the pdf. This was an old problem I had tried unsuccessfully to solve before. The set up page looked correct.
When all else fails, follow directions.
I went back to the basic tutorials about downloads. My pages were set up correctly.
What I had missed was on another page in another location. I had mislabeled the download method.
I love to write. I find marketing frustrating and time consuming. Someday I will learn directions help.
August 24, 2016
Bullying
Bullying seems a part of human nature. Anyone who is different is a target. Anyone vulnerable can become a target.
This is the basic plot in my present novel draft.
It isn't that hard to come up with a way to bully another character. Ideas come from the news, real life and even, shudder, from inside.
The hard part is understanding why the bullying is happening. The bully must have a motive. This motive affects the kind of bullying, the intensity of it, the timing of it.
Equally hard is how the bullying victim reacts. This is my third Hazel Whitmore book so I thought I knew Hazel pretty well. She is tough. She gets angry and digs in her feet refusing to be pushed around.
Hazel has her mother and grandfather to lean on when things get rough. She can talk to them. They respect her opinions.
These things should make Hazel tough enough to face these bullying attacks. They aren't.
This is a surprise to me but not really. Only the outside is tough. Inside the victim hurts.
Since I know the bully and her reasons, I know she is hurting too.
This is turning into a difficult draft to write.
This is the basic plot in my present novel draft.
It isn't that hard to come up with a way to bully another character. Ideas come from the news, real life and even, shudder, from inside.
The hard part is understanding why the bullying is happening. The bully must have a motive. This motive affects the kind of bullying, the intensity of it, the timing of it.
Equally hard is how the bullying victim reacts. This is my third Hazel Whitmore book so I thought I knew Hazel pretty well. She is tough. She gets angry and digs in her feet refusing to be pushed around.
Hazel has her mother and grandfather to lean on when things get rough. She can talk to them. They respect her opinions.
These things should make Hazel tough enough to face these bullying attacks. They aren't.
This is a surprise to me but not really. Only the outside is tough. Inside the victim hurts.
Since I know the bully and her reasons, I know she is hurting too.
This is turning into a difficult draft to write.
August 17, 2016
I Give Up!
Free writing a first draft is so exhilarating. The words spread across the computer screen as characters and events take form racing head long to the climax.
The third book in the Hazel Whitmore series was supposed to do that. The first partial draft even tried to do that until the plot fell apart.
I regrouped. I made some decisions about the plot and characters. I was ready to race into that new draft.
Except I wasn't ready.
The plot is about bullying. Hazel is accused of cheating on her tests. So far, so good.
The test schedule for five classes is complex as I know from experience. There must be enough class time for instruction between the tests. This can't be done by guesswork, at least not by me.
It's January and the school will have snow days. The English class is doing a book of short stories and has deadlines.
I powered my way through five chapters. Ideas flowed. Words amassed. The schedule fell apart.
I give up! I can't fight it any longer!
No, I'm not giving up on the book. It will get written.
First I will write out a day by day schedule calendar so those pesky test dates and deadlines and snow days are easy to keep track of. This costs me some writing freedom but may save my draft from anarchy.
The third book in the Hazel Whitmore series was supposed to do that. The first partial draft even tried to do that until the plot fell apart.
I regrouped. I made some decisions about the plot and characters. I was ready to race into that new draft.
Except I wasn't ready.
The plot is about bullying. Hazel is accused of cheating on her tests. So far, so good.
The test schedule for five classes is complex as I know from experience. There must be enough class time for instruction between the tests. This can't be done by guesswork, at least not by me.
It's January and the school will have snow days. The English class is doing a book of short stories and has deadlines.
I powered my way through five chapters. Ideas flowed. Words amassed. The schedule fell apart.
I give up! I can't fight it any longer!
No, I'm not giving up on the book. It will get written.
First I will write out a day by day schedule calendar so those pesky test dates and deadlines and snow days are easy to keep track of. This costs me some writing freedom but may save my draft from anarchy.
August 10, 2016
Listening in Writing
So often in writing the author thinks of creating the visual scene but our world is much more than that. Sound is part of that world.
In One Writer's Beginnings Eudora Welty starts by describing the sounds of the clocks in the house she grew up in. Each of the three clocks has its own sound that spreads through the night reminding her of different things. More than that she learns chronology.
Time keeping is so important in writing. Every action must come after one set of actions and before actions it sets in motion. Confusing them confuses and loses the reader.
Another aspect is the amount of time an action takes. I make cheese. No matter how much I may try to get the cheese done a little sooner, milk heats at a certain speed unless I want to scorch it, rennet works at a certain speed. Each step has a timetable and, if I use this in a story, I must respect this or any reader who knows will spot the error.
In Red Dirt Jesse the sounds of night are frightening to Jesse. When she describes these sounds, it sets up her timidity. When she must face her fears, these sounds make her bravery greater.
Night sounds and day sounds are different. Rural, suburban and city sounds are different. When a vehicle approaches, its sound tells about the vehicle even before it comes into view.
Sounds can trigger memories introducing backstory. They can trigger emotions.
Another aspect Eudora Welty brought up was one I hadn't thought much about either. Like her I hear the words when I read and write. This isn't because I or someone else is saying them but because my mind is saying them. Do others hear their words too? I don't know.
The value of this is in hearing how my writing sounds. It helps me spot rhythm problems and grammar problems. It helps me write dialogue.
Listening is a skill writers would do well to cultivate. Truly listening to the world around us to what someone else is saying takes practice but can pay big dividends.
In One Writer's Beginnings Eudora Welty starts by describing the sounds of the clocks in the house she grew up in. Each of the three clocks has its own sound that spreads through the night reminding her of different things. More than that she learns chronology.
Time keeping is so important in writing. Every action must come after one set of actions and before actions it sets in motion. Confusing them confuses and loses the reader.
Another aspect is the amount of time an action takes. I make cheese. No matter how much I may try to get the cheese done a little sooner, milk heats at a certain speed unless I want to scorch it, rennet works at a certain speed. Each step has a timetable and, if I use this in a story, I must respect this or any reader who knows will spot the error.
In Red Dirt Jesse the sounds of night are frightening to Jesse. When she describes these sounds, it sets up her timidity. When she must face her fears, these sounds make her bravery greater.
Night sounds and day sounds are different. Rural, suburban and city sounds are different. When a vehicle approaches, its sound tells about the vehicle even before it comes into view.
Sounds can trigger memories introducing backstory. They can trigger emotions.
Another aspect Eudora Welty brought up was one I hadn't thought much about either. Like her I hear the words when I read and write. This isn't because I or someone else is saying them but because my mind is saying them. Do others hear their words too? I don't know.
The value of this is in hearing how my writing sounds. It helps me spot rhythm problems and grammar problems. It helps me write dialogue.
Listening is a skill writers would do well to cultivate. Truly listening to the world around us to what someone else is saying takes practice but can pay big dividends.
August 3, 2016
Placing Words and Phrases
I should be working on my novel draft but it is time to prepare for my writers group meeting. Procrastination? Maybe, but then again -
Last month my group worked on choosing more descriptive words in their writing. This can add nuances, description and foreshadowing with a single word choice.
Placement of a word can do the same. Take the phrase: If Joe had the courage to and add the word only.
Only if Joe had the courage to
If only Joe had the courage to
If Joe only had the courage to
If Joe had only the courage to
If Joe had the courage only to
Consider the implications of each new phrase. Some are obviously awkward. Others totally change the phrase's meaning opening up new avenues for plot twists and turns. Place that word in the wrong spot, create that reader anticipation then don't deliver and you lose a reader. Place it correctly and watch your novel take off.
My first two novel chapters stink. They are a mix of backstory as this is the third in a series with the present events and foreshadowing what is to come in the novel. Perhaps careful word choices and placement will help turn those chapters into something I, let alone a reader would enjoy.
Last month my group worked on choosing more descriptive words in their writing. This can add nuances, description and foreshadowing with a single word choice.
Placement of a word can do the same. Take the phrase: If Joe had the courage to and add the word only.
Only if Joe had the courage to
If only Joe had the courage to
If Joe only had the courage to
If Joe had only the courage to
If Joe had the courage only to
Consider the implications of each new phrase. Some are obviously awkward. Others totally change the phrase's meaning opening up new avenues for plot twists and turns. Place that word in the wrong spot, create that reader anticipation then don't deliver and you lose a reader. Place it correctly and watch your novel take off.
My first two novel chapters stink. They are a mix of backstory as this is the third in a series with the present events and foreshadowing what is to come in the novel. Perhaps careful word choices and placement will help turn those chapters into something I, let alone a reader would enjoy.
July 27, 2016
When a Draft Stinks
July is a difficult month for me as a writer. The garden needs work. The hay needs hauling and stacking. Kids are being sold.
Perhaps it was a mistake to sign up for CampNaNo even for a measly 20,000 words. Except I needed that challenge to sit down and get started on the new draft of my third Hazel Whitmore book.
For three weeks I have struggled to get the draft started. There isn't really time to do rewrites but I did them anyway. After three rewrites, the first page still doesn't work.
The first two chapters are mired in mud, deep sticky mud.
The entire project is anchored to a millstone of previous work.
Only the challenge kept me struggling onward.
Then Amaya Hypocrite arrived on the scene. The skulduggery has begun. The chains are loosening.
The question now comes up: Can the fingers type fast enough to do another 9,000 words in three days?
The best part is finding the draft finally taking shape on its own. Maybe I will get it written this summer after all.
Perhaps it was a mistake to sign up for CampNaNo even for a measly 20,000 words. Except I needed that challenge to sit down and get started on the new draft of my third Hazel Whitmore book.
For three weeks I have struggled to get the draft started. There isn't really time to do rewrites but I did them anyway. After three rewrites, the first page still doesn't work.
The first two chapters are mired in mud, deep sticky mud.
The entire project is anchored to a millstone of previous work.
Only the challenge kept me struggling onward.
Then Amaya Hypocrite arrived on the scene. The skulduggery has begun. The chains are loosening.
The question now comes up: Can the fingers type fast enough to do another 9,000 words in three days?
The best part is finding the draft finally taking shape on its own. Maybe I will get it written this summer after all.
July 20, 2016
Words Are Made of Letters
I'd never really thought about the alphabet letters other than playing the alphabet game. They seemed so timeless, so part of the cosmos. Yet they weren't always there.
As I have dealt with words in a training for my writers group, It occurred to me those words were composed of letters. And somewhere I had a book about letters.
My mother had a pile of books left in her apartment when she went into long term care. The books moved along with her cats to my house. One of them, The 26 Letters, moved up to the top of my "To Read' list.
Ogg is a typographer at heart. He loves the looks of letters and it shows all the way through the book.
I find it interesting to know only capital letters existed until the Middle Ages. Small letters came about when literacy rates improved and overworked scribes started streamlining their capitals. This was only possible because directions for making paper arrived from China yet the printing press we know about was invented in Europe because paper was abundant and convenient.
Will knowing the history of our alphabet make me a better writer? Probably not. Will knowing this make me appreciate writing more? Yes.
Writing is truly a gift for all people made possible because those 26 letters came into existence. It's nice to know they have a noble pedigree.
As I have dealt with words in a training for my writers group, It occurred to me those words were composed of letters. And somewhere I had a book about letters.
My mother had a pile of books left in her apartment when she went into long term care. The books moved along with her cats to my house. One of them, The 26 Letters, moved up to the top of my "To Read' list.
Ogg is a typographer at heart. He loves the looks of letters and it shows all the way through the book.
I find it interesting to know only capital letters existed until the Middle Ages. Small letters came about when literacy rates improved and overworked scribes started streamlining their capitals. This was only possible because directions for making paper arrived from China yet the printing press we know about was invented in Europe because paper was abundant and convenient.
Will knowing the history of our alphabet make me a better writer? Probably not. Will knowing this make me appreciate writing more? Yes.
Writing is truly a gift for all people made possible because those 26 letters came into existence. It's nice to know they have a noble pedigree.
July 13, 2016
Book Reports -er- Reviews
I love to read, a necessary adjunct to being a book hoarder in my opinion. I have no idea how many books I've read over my life. They definitely are not all listed on Goodreads as it would take far too long.
Choosing a book is a personal matter to me. I rarely read reviews. Why not? Book reviews are supposed to be so important!
The reason is the same I never liked literature classes. The teacher wanted the class to read the book and determine what the author had to say.
The author's theme does make a difference. But the theme is not why I read a book. I normally don't know the author who may well be long dead and from a time I know little about.
I read a book for what the book says to me. This may well be what the author had in mind. But it may not be even close.
My family is tall. I am not. It was the source of ridicule until I hated and resented who I was. Then I read this silly little adventure series by Isaac Asimov.
Each was an adventure on another planet in the solar system, totally outdated even when I read the books. What mattered was one of the main characters who was short and ridiculed yet defied the remarks, even used them to become stronger in his own identity.
The books were silly. They wouldn't rate very highly. Yet what they said to me was far more important and not anything Asimov had in mind when he wrote them.
If I had read the book reviews, I would have missed them.
I choose a book for what the description of the book says. Sometimes I choose a book based on what a friend tells me. Sometimes I even choose one from a review. I read the book for me.
This presents a problem for writing a review. Yes, I do write reviews as I know other people choose books differently than I do.
My reviews are not reports, not literary comments on what the author meant. They are a reflection of what I found in the book.
This puts me in a dilemma when I know the author. The pressure is to write a good review and enhance the standing of the author's book. This is a deception for those who may use my review to choose a book.
My solution is to start the book before listing it on my read shelf. If I don't feel I can honestly give it a good review, it is never listed. This is a rare occurrence as there are so many good books written by people I have the privilege to know. I wish I could read more of their books.
All I need is a decade or so to do nothing but read.
Choosing a book is a personal matter to me. I rarely read reviews. Why not? Book reviews are supposed to be so important!
The reason is the same I never liked literature classes. The teacher wanted the class to read the book and determine what the author had to say.
The author's theme does make a difference. But the theme is not why I read a book. I normally don't know the author who may well be long dead and from a time I know little about.
I read a book for what the book says to me. This may well be what the author had in mind. But it may not be even close.
My family is tall. I am not. It was the source of ridicule until I hated and resented who I was. Then I read this silly little adventure series by Isaac Asimov.
Each was an adventure on another planet in the solar system, totally outdated even when I read the books. What mattered was one of the main characters who was short and ridiculed yet defied the remarks, even used them to become stronger in his own identity.
The books were silly. They wouldn't rate very highly. Yet what they said to me was far more important and not anything Asimov had in mind when he wrote them.
If I had read the book reviews, I would have missed them.
I choose a book for what the description of the book says. Sometimes I choose a book based on what a friend tells me. Sometimes I even choose one from a review. I read the book for me.
This presents a problem for writing a review. Yes, I do write reviews as I know other people choose books differently than I do.
My reviews are not reports, not literary comments on what the author meant. They are a reflection of what I found in the book.
This puts me in a dilemma when I know the author. The pressure is to write a good review and enhance the standing of the author's book. This is a deception for those who may use my review to choose a book.
My solution is to start the book before listing it on my read shelf. If I don't feel I can honestly give it a good review, it is never listed. This is a rare occurrence as there are so many good books written by people I have the privilege to know. I wish I could read more of their books.
All I need is a decade or so to do nothing but read.
July 6, 2016
Plotter's Nightmare
Supposedly I am rewriting a draft I started a year ago and stopped when the plot hit a brick wall. Much of that draft is interesting. The main plot line is good. The brick wall now has a door in it.
The nightmare?
I like to write a draft freely with only a list of bullet point plot points. The plotter outline is swirling in the brain flowing through currents, eddies and backwaters carrying my draft along.
This time the bullet points are pages of writing. Events, people, dialog form dams blocking my new draft leaving me treading water. Even though the new draft begins months earlier with new events setting the action up and blowing it into being, my mind trips over those pages of words.
I am a plotter at heart. Those pages are security. Somehow they must work into the new draft.
My first draft is a pantser paradise. This one has soured worse than curdled milk. I need to find the paradise part again, unspoiled.
The solution?
Somehow I must close all those pages. The outline must return to bullet points. Then a good night's sleep may open up my pantser draft paradise again and the new draft will make the fingers fly once more.
The nightmare?
I like to write a draft freely with only a list of bullet point plot points. The plotter outline is swirling in the brain flowing through currents, eddies and backwaters carrying my draft along.
This time the bullet points are pages of writing. Events, people, dialog form dams blocking my new draft leaving me treading water. Even though the new draft begins months earlier with new events setting the action up and blowing it into being, my mind trips over those pages of words.
I am a plotter at heart. Those pages are security. Somehow they must work into the new draft.
My first draft is a pantser paradise. This one has soured worse than curdled milk. I need to find the paradise part again, unspoiled.
The solution?
Somehow I must close all those pages. The outline must return to bullet points. Then a good night's sleep may open up my pantser draft paradise again and the new draft will make the fingers fly once more.
