Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 27
June 22, 2016
Rewarding a 'Reformed' Book Hoarder
I survived two used book sales with only a dozen new books coming home. It was hard to do.
There was the bag sale. Fill a bag for a dollar. There were hundreds of books to choose from. I gritted my teeth, tried to shed no tears and choose carefully.
And the first book I chose to read is a reward of itself in a way.
There is a history to this. A young man suggested I read "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. It is an excellent book, one of my favorites now. And the first in a series.
The book I found is the fifth in that series I didn't know about. That sent me to the library to find "The River."
My reading time is short. Yet this book is difficult to put down. The pages fly by.
Perhaps having to choose with care the new books I bring home is a good thing. This one has been a rewarding surprise.
Does this mean a certain book hoarder is truly reformed? Not a chance.
There was the bag sale. Fill a bag for a dollar. There were hundreds of books to choose from. I gritted my teeth, tried to shed no tears and choose carefully.
And the first book I chose to read is a reward of itself in a way.
There is a history to this. A young man suggested I read "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen. It is an excellent book, one of my favorites now. And the first in a series.
The book I found is the fifth in that series I didn't know about. That sent me to the library to find "The River."
My reading time is short. Yet this book is difficult to put down. The pages fly by.
Perhaps having to choose with care the new books I bring home is a good thing. This one has been a rewarding surprise.
Does this mean a certain book hoarder is truly reformed? Not a chance.
June 8, 2016
Doomsday For a Book Hoarder
I love books and have since I first learned to read, maybe before. The library was a second home and still is.
Once I got an apartment then a house, I became a book hoarder. My present house has eight full four by six foot bookcases plus a couple of smaller ones filled. Maybe one doesn't count as it's full of reference books. There are six three foot stacks of books next to my computer space.
Some time back there was a blog post about hoarding books. It boiled down to every book sitting gathering dust on a shelf was one no one else could read.
My book hoarding soul took note. I looked over my shelves. I took piles sitting on top of bookcases down. Several boxes of books left.
Except I got these books to read. I do want to read them - someday soon. I wonder how long it will take me to read through a couple thousand books at even a hundred a year.
I am making progress.
That progress is in peril. My partially reformed book hoarder soul is doomed.
There are TWO library book sales this weekend!
I am determined. I will NOT bring home more than 15 new books from these sales.
Please note this means reading books only. Reference books are exempt from this limit. I did clear some shelf space off for botany reference books. Empty space on a book shelf begs for books.
My hoarder soul is trying to reform.
Once I got an apartment then a house, I became a book hoarder. My present house has eight full four by six foot bookcases plus a couple of smaller ones filled. Maybe one doesn't count as it's full of reference books. There are six three foot stacks of books next to my computer space.
Some time back there was a blog post about hoarding books. It boiled down to every book sitting gathering dust on a shelf was one no one else could read.
My book hoarding soul took note. I looked over my shelves. I took piles sitting on top of bookcases down. Several boxes of books left.
Except I got these books to read. I do want to read them - someday soon. I wonder how long it will take me to read through a couple thousand books at even a hundred a year.
I am making progress.
That progress is in peril. My partially reformed book hoarder soul is doomed.
There are TWO library book sales this weekend!
I am determined. I will NOT bring home more than 15 new books from these sales.
Please note this means reading books only. Reference books are exempt from this limit. I did clear some shelf space off for botany reference books. Empty space on a book shelf begs for books.
My hoarder soul is trying to reform.
June 1, 2016
Unsung Writers' Neccessity
Dictionaries, computers and other physical things are very necessary to the writer. Even a good imagination and vocabulary are necessary attributes.
There is one necessity no one really thinks about until it is missing.
Sleep.
Writers love to joke about staying up drinking strong coffee. Except it isn't a joke.
The mind feels like lead. The eyes stare, refuse to focus then go blank. Words become disjointed items signifying little or nothing.
The body is numb. Walking takes focus and determination. Fingers become clumsy or clumsier than usual.
Sitting at the computer gamely trying to complete just one more sentence suddenly becomes a jerking upright with the keyboard embedded in the forehead. Time has taken a sudden leap.
Maybe it is time to take a nap.
Writing requires an alert mind. An alert mind requires sleep, the unsung writers' necessity.
There is one necessity no one really thinks about until it is missing.
Sleep.
Writers love to joke about staying up drinking strong coffee. Except it isn't a joke.
The mind feels like lead. The eyes stare, refuse to focus then go blank. Words become disjointed items signifying little or nothing.
The body is numb. Walking takes focus and determination. Fingers become clumsy or clumsier than usual.
Sitting at the computer gamely trying to complete just one more sentence suddenly becomes a jerking upright with the keyboard embedded in the forehead. Time has taken a sudden leap.
Maybe it is time to take a nap.
Writing requires an alert mind. An alert mind requires sleep, the unsung writers' necessity.
May 25, 2016
Writer's Necessities
I normally get a late start on the next Missouri Writers, Ink topic. However the membership gave me some food for thought last time. They want to start at the beginning.
What does a writer need to write? Imagination goes without listing. What physical items should a writer have?
1) At one time pen or pencil and paper was the standard. Then the typewriter arrived. Both of these are still doable. I prefer a computer - mine is a desktop but laptop will work - and a printer. In other words, a way to physically write down the story.
2) A dictionary is essential to me. I keep a standard one beside my computer tower and an unabridged elsewhere. At the moment it is putting pressure on the plant press. (This does not mean I don't consult it only that the press needs its weight.)
3) Vocabulary is one of the special things about English. Yet most people use only a few of the huge range of possible words. I add a thesaurus, actually several versions, to my list of necessities.
4) Oh, those hated English textbooks! Yet a handbook of English grammar is one of the necessities for me. This needs to be up-to-date as rules do change. I also have a teacher's edition of a workbook and occasionally do some review work. Yes, a writer can hire an editor but the editor shouldn't have to rewrite a book for grammar.
5) A standard workplace and time makes sure a writer actually does some writing. At least they give a writer the opportunity to write.
That's as far as I've gotten so far. I'm sure there are more or other opinions as to the necessities for a writer. Perhaps readers would care to share some with me.
What does a writer need to write? Imagination goes without listing. What physical items should a writer have?
1) At one time pen or pencil and paper was the standard. Then the typewriter arrived. Both of these are still doable. I prefer a computer - mine is a desktop but laptop will work - and a printer. In other words, a way to physically write down the story.
2) A dictionary is essential to me. I keep a standard one beside my computer tower and an unabridged elsewhere. At the moment it is putting pressure on the plant press. (This does not mean I don't consult it only that the press needs its weight.)
3) Vocabulary is one of the special things about English. Yet most people use only a few of the huge range of possible words. I add a thesaurus, actually several versions, to my list of necessities.
4) Oh, those hated English textbooks! Yet a handbook of English grammar is one of the necessities for me. This needs to be up-to-date as rules do change. I also have a teacher's edition of a workbook and occasionally do some review work. Yes, a writer can hire an editor but the editor shouldn't have to rewrite a book for grammar.
5) A standard workplace and time makes sure a writer actually does some writing. At least they give a writer the opportunity to write.
That's as far as I've gotten so far. I'm sure there are more or other opinions as to the necessities for a writer. Perhaps readers would care to share some with me.
May 18, 2016
What Good Is a Survey?
I keep reading about websites with lots of comments. Those running them talk about keeping in touch with their visitors, the interactions they have.
I know people visit my website. The only comments I normally get are SPAM blocked and disposed of by Akismet.
For several years now I've written two blogs and done a science project almost every week for my site. Is anyone reading them? The page view listings don't indicate this but people do come back.
What do these people like? What would they like to read about? I haven't much of a clue.
Enter the survey. It's not too hard to make one out on SurveyMonkey. I even figured out how to put it on my webpage.
So, for the next two weeks I will hope someone fills it out.
The next project, according to these highly successful website owners, is to create an email list and newsletter. This assumes someone is out there visiting and reading the website and would like to know more.
Perhaps the survey will tell me someone is there.
I know people visit my website. The only comments I normally get are SPAM blocked and disposed of by Akismet.
For several years now I've written two blogs and done a science project almost every week for my site. Is anyone reading them? The page view listings don't indicate this but people do come back.
What do these people like? What would they like to read about? I haven't much of a clue.
Enter the survey. It's not too hard to make one out on SurveyMonkey. I even figured out how to put it on my webpage.
So, for the next two weeks I will hope someone fills it out.
The next project, according to these highly successful website owners, is to create an email list and newsletter. This assumes someone is out there visiting and reading the website and would like to know more.
Perhaps the survey will tell me someone is there.
May 11, 2016
Starting a Book
No, this is not a new project. It is one started and abandoned due to a major plot glitch. The glitch is solved so now the project is on track, maybe.
Perhaps I am odd but the most important part of writing a book or paper for me is coming up with that first sentence. I jot down plot ideas. I make out character sketches. I map out settings. [And I didn't know I was a plotter? A bit dense perhaps.]
From these I can write a first rough draft but it feels flat. It struggles. Something is missing.
But my reading is that way too. The first paragraph is critical. It sets the tone for the entire book for me. If I like it, if it fits, I slide into the book and roll on through it.
This third book in the Hazel Whitmore series has the first half of a draft written. The opening is flat, dull. It's interesting and eventful but doesn't grab me, it doesn't fit.
Where do good first lines come from? I don't know exactly. Perhaps that is why they are so hard for me to come up with.
My first lines seem to require me knowing the plot outline, the characters and the settings. Somehow these meld together becoming a story. And there is the first line.
The one for the third Hazel book? "You will pay." Hazel held the note she found in her locker in her hand reading and rereading it.
Perhaps I am odd but the most important part of writing a book or paper for me is coming up with that first sentence. I jot down plot ideas. I make out character sketches. I map out settings. [And I didn't know I was a plotter? A bit dense perhaps.]
From these I can write a first rough draft but it feels flat. It struggles. Something is missing.
But my reading is that way too. The first paragraph is critical. It sets the tone for the entire book for me. If I like it, if it fits, I slide into the book and roll on through it.
This third book in the Hazel Whitmore series has the first half of a draft written. The opening is flat, dull. It's interesting and eventful but doesn't grab me, it doesn't fit.
Where do good first lines come from? I don't know exactly. Perhaps that is why they are so hard for me to come up with.
My first lines seem to require me knowing the plot outline, the characters and the settings. Somehow these meld together becoming a story. And there is the first line.
The one for the third Hazel book? "You will pay." Hazel held the note she found in her locker in her hand reading and rereading it.
May 4, 2016
Plotting a Book
I am again studying up on a writing skill for my writers' group meeting. Plotting: a simple step by step action plan the main character follows to get from the beginning of a novel to the end of the novel.
Is plotting really so simple? Where does that set of steps come from?
This brings up the plotter vs. pantser debate again. But there is a new twist for me.
A recent Writers' Digest has an article on this aspect of plotting. It includes a set of questions so you can rate yourself on the plotter/pantser continuum. Of course I took the survey.
Now, I love NaNo. That 50,000 words in 30 days is so liberating. It is a pantser's paradise. I would throw down a few plot ideas and be off and writing as fast as my clumsy fingers could make their hopefully coherent way across the keyboard.
But, according to that survey, I am mostly a plotter.
I can't be. My life is chaos. My house is a disaster zone. My garden is a weed's Eden. I am always trying to do too many things in too little time.
Except the survey is right.
My day is organized around a list of projects. Under the clutter everything in my house has a place it is supposed to be and eventually returns to. The weeds may outrun me but my guerrilla warfare takes its toll on them.
And my writing has a plot series of bullet points and character sheets.
All is not lost. NaNo gives me a month of freedom to throw all the organization - well, most of it - to the winds. Maybe that is the real reason I look forward to November madness. It's a break in the work of writing, a time to have fun.
Interestingly enough, that is a point made in the Writers' Digest article. Even the most organized plotter can use a time of pantsing to get the stodginess out of their writing.
Is plotting really so simple? Where does that set of steps come from?
This brings up the plotter vs. pantser debate again. But there is a new twist for me.
A recent Writers' Digest has an article on this aspect of plotting. It includes a set of questions so you can rate yourself on the plotter/pantser continuum. Of course I took the survey.
Now, I love NaNo. That 50,000 words in 30 days is so liberating. It is a pantser's paradise. I would throw down a few plot ideas and be off and writing as fast as my clumsy fingers could make their hopefully coherent way across the keyboard.
But, according to that survey, I am mostly a plotter.
I can't be. My life is chaos. My house is a disaster zone. My garden is a weed's Eden. I am always trying to do too many things in too little time.
Except the survey is right.
My day is organized around a list of projects. Under the clutter everything in my house has a place it is supposed to be and eventually returns to. The weeds may outrun me but my guerrilla warfare takes its toll on them.
And my writing has a plot series of bullet points and character sheets.
All is not lost. NaNo gives me a month of freedom to throw all the organization - well, most of it - to the winds. Maybe that is the real reason I look forward to November madness. It's a break in the work of writing, a time to have fun.
Interestingly enough, that is a point made in the Writers' Digest article. Even the most organized plotter can use a time of pantsing to get the stodginess out of their writing.
April 27, 2016
Website Webs
Authors are supposed to have a website so readers can find out more about them and their books. I wanted to be an author so I started a website.
Seven books later I still have my website. More accurately, my website has me.
Almost every week I dutifully post a country living and a nature commentary. Most weeks I post a science project. Post them into this void called the ethernet never to be seen or heard from again.
There is a lot of advice out there on the Internet, in magazines and from friends and acquaintances on how to build a good website and attract lots of visitors. I have tried to build a good website. Now I am waiting for visitors.
In truth I do have quite a few people drop by. Even though I put in Google Analytics as advised, I'm not too sure what they do there. They never seem to visit my new posts only ones years old.
But the Analytics is confusing to me so I may be wrong.
The latest set of advice has come out in Writers' Digest. According to them I have several problems with my website posts.
First, I should plan them out ahead of time so they are related to each other. Usually the topics occur to me from some incident the week before making such planning difficult.
Second, I should be linking my posts. This one may be doable. I tried it out and successfully put one link into this week's post to a previous one.
Third, I need to visit and comment on other blogs on similar subjects. Perhaps I will find the time to go looking for these other blogs another day. It is on the list.
A website is valuable for an author. I like mine. One step at a time I will keep trying to improve it.
This week internal links. Next week a survey for most wanted topics. Maybe someday my site will finally sell some books.
Seven books later I still have my website. More accurately, my website has me.
Almost every week I dutifully post a country living and a nature commentary. Most weeks I post a science project. Post them into this void called the ethernet never to be seen or heard from again.
There is a lot of advice out there on the Internet, in magazines and from friends and acquaintances on how to build a good website and attract lots of visitors. I have tried to build a good website. Now I am waiting for visitors.
In truth I do have quite a few people drop by. Even though I put in Google Analytics as advised, I'm not too sure what they do there. They never seem to visit my new posts only ones years old.
But the Analytics is confusing to me so I may be wrong.
The latest set of advice has come out in Writers' Digest. According to them I have several problems with my website posts.
First, I should plan them out ahead of time so they are related to each other. Usually the topics occur to me from some incident the week before making such planning difficult.
Second, I should be linking my posts. This one may be doable. I tried it out and successfully put one link into this week's post to a previous one.
Third, I need to visit and comment on other blogs on similar subjects. Perhaps I will find the time to go looking for these other blogs another day. It is on the list.
A website is valuable for an author. I like mine. One step at a time I will keep trying to improve it.
This week internal links. Next week a survey for most wanted topics. Maybe someday my site will finally sell some books.
April 20, 2016
Time Management
Supposedly I am hard at work on my road rally novel. Time makes such a difference.
Time matters in a novel. I had the family buy Ridge's car on a Saturday then go to register the car and put insurance on it that day. Those offices are not open on Saturday in Missouri.
Personally I am always on the run trying to do far more activities than can fit into the available time. All that really results in are half finished projects and frustration.
The same is true in a novel. Unless you have created a world with longer days, there are only 24 of them. Some are necessary for eating and sleeping.
I've read novels where the main character manages to stay awake for over 36 hours and remain sharp and active. Who are they kidding?
Try it sometime and you will find out this is fiction only. Real people might stay on their feet but their minds will cut out on them.
The mind does not have a signal to tell you it is in sleep mode. Decision making is bad to worse when the brain is on off.
Only in fantasy can people be in two places doing two different things at the same time.
Ridge's car will get registered, licensed and insured - on Monday after school.
Me? I never seem to learn. My "To Do" list is always too long. But I have learned only the top four are feasible in a day, barring emergencies when all bets are off.
Time matters in a novel. I had the family buy Ridge's car on a Saturday then go to register the car and put insurance on it that day. Those offices are not open on Saturday in Missouri.
Personally I am always on the run trying to do far more activities than can fit into the available time. All that really results in are half finished projects and frustration.
The same is true in a novel. Unless you have created a world with longer days, there are only 24 of them. Some are necessary for eating and sleeping.
I've read novels where the main character manages to stay awake for over 36 hours and remain sharp and active. Who are they kidding?
Try it sometime and you will find out this is fiction only. Real people might stay on their feet but their minds will cut out on them.
The mind does not have a signal to tell you it is in sleep mode. Decision making is bad to worse when the brain is on off.
Only in fantasy can people be in two places doing two different things at the same time.
Ridge's car will get registered, licensed and insured - on Monday after school.
Me? I never seem to learn. My "To Do" list is always too long. But I have learned only the top four are feasible in a day, barring emergencies when all bets are off.
April 13, 2016
Book Characters
Every once in a while I steal a few minutes to research writing topics. This last month I tackled characters.
The temptation is to put characters down as strictly human, only in novels. How wrong this is.
Characters are as or maybe more important in nonfiction writing. Non human characters are not only possible but can upstage the people. Even setting can become a character.
A memoir is a way to pass down your memories to other family members. If your family is like mine, some of those people haven't seen you in years if at all. To them you are the main character in your story set at a time and in a place they will never know.
A nature story may have no people in it at all. The plants or animals or the setting itself must become the main character.
Novels of course have main characters. And minor characters who are not supposed to steal the limelight too much.
The same rules apply for all of these characters. They must be likable or someone the reader loves to hate. They must seem real. They must do something and change in the process.
Before any of these can occur, the writer must know their characters well. This can be advance planning listing traits and personal data. I find it works better for me to have a basic idea of who a character is then write a rough draft letting the characters develop themselves. This method does require rewriting so the characters at the beginning and ending of the story have much the same definition except for how they have changed as the plot unfolds.
Now that I have scratched the surface of how to better develop my characters, I will try to steal a little more time to learn more.
In the meantime I will try to apply what I have found out to Ridge, his family and friends. Of course, there is that car. Perhaps it should join the list of characters. I wonder how that would change the story.
The temptation is to put characters down as strictly human, only in novels. How wrong this is.
Characters are as or maybe more important in nonfiction writing. Non human characters are not only possible but can upstage the people. Even setting can become a character.
A memoir is a way to pass down your memories to other family members. If your family is like mine, some of those people haven't seen you in years if at all. To them you are the main character in your story set at a time and in a place they will never know.
A nature story may have no people in it at all. The plants or animals or the setting itself must become the main character.
Novels of course have main characters. And minor characters who are not supposed to steal the limelight too much.
The same rules apply for all of these characters. They must be likable or someone the reader loves to hate. They must seem real. They must do something and change in the process.
Before any of these can occur, the writer must know their characters well. This can be advance planning listing traits and personal data. I find it works better for me to have a basic idea of who a character is then write a rough draft letting the characters develop themselves. This method does require rewriting so the characters at the beginning and ending of the story have much the same definition except for how they have changed as the plot unfolds.
Now that I have scratched the surface of how to better develop my characters, I will try to steal a little more time to learn more.
In the meantime I will try to apply what I have found out to Ridge, his family and friends. Of course, there is that car. Perhaps it should join the list of characters. I wonder how that would change the story.
