Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 32
May 20, 2015
Writing Science Investigations
I taught science. Every chapter was reduced to a list of topics covered, labs to include, worksheets and a test. This sounds so dry and some of it was. Too many science classes are only boring book learning.
Science is often maligned but most of us wouldn't be alive today without it. All of our technology, medicine, clothing, food, housing, transportation and communications were once no more than scientific ideas.
The problem for me is: I love science. I love teaching science. I believe science is fun and interesting and not buried in a book somewhere. It is there in front of you if you will only look and think about it.
"The Pumpkin Project" is based in this. That is why it is more than just the Investigations. The Investigations are the foundation on which the book is built. They have to be well thought out, written plainly and work.
There are 19 Investigations in the book. I am now working on number 17 although I have rewritten 18. The mind is filled with cotton. It's hard to concentrate. That lure of being done is overwhelming.
Except I'm not done. Several need pictures so I will be doing these over the summer. Then I will know for sure if the directions are easy to follow.
Fall looms closer. Will "The Pumpkin Project" be done? Today I wonder. But underneath I know it will.
Science is often maligned but most of us wouldn't be alive today without it. All of our technology, medicine, clothing, food, housing, transportation and communications were once no more than scientific ideas.
The problem for me is: I love science. I love teaching science. I believe science is fun and interesting and not buried in a book somewhere. It is there in front of you if you will only look and think about it.
"The Pumpkin Project" is based in this. That is why it is more than just the Investigations. The Investigations are the foundation on which the book is built. They have to be well thought out, written plainly and work.
There are 19 Investigations in the book. I am now working on number 17 although I have rewritten 18. The mind is filled with cotton. It's hard to concentrate. That lure of being done is overwhelming.
Except I'm not done. Several need pictures so I will be doing these over the summer. Then I will know for sure if the directions are easy to follow.
Fall looms closer. Will "The Pumpkin Project" be done? Today I wonder. But underneath I know it will.
May 13, 2015
Opinions
Usually I write about writing. Not today. Today I write about reading.
The book is "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. The book's style is challenging in his wordiness bordering on convolution. His defiant attitude can be off-putting. But the information is worth the effort.
Even before beginning the main part of the book Paine brings up something important: Every man (He was writing in the 1700's.) has the right to have an opinion. Others, whether they agree or not, should not take that right away.
As writers and readers, this is important. How many governments jail or even execute citizens for their opinions? Why are these governments afraid of their citizens?
How many people ban books because they don't like the opinions in them? Or are they afraid of challenging their own beliefs?
"The Age of Reason" is about religion, really why Paine is a Deist and not religious. Many of the founding fathers of the United States were Deists yet this is not often explained or is assumed to be Christian.
Some of his information is very out of date (Again, he was writing in the 1700s.). But his arguments are often worth considering whether you agree with him or not.
After all, our brains are for thinking. And what are we afraid of?
The book is "The Age of Reason" by Thomas Paine. The book's style is challenging in his wordiness bordering on convolution. His defiant attitude can be off-putting. But the information is worth the effort.
Even before beginning the main part of the book Paine brings up something important: Every man (He was writing in the 1700's.) has the right to have an opinion. Others, whether they agree or not, should not take that right away.
As writers and readers, this is important. How many governments jail or even execute citizens for their opinions? Why are these governments afraid of their citizens?
How many people ban books because they don't like the opinions in them? Or are they afraid of challenging their own beliefs?
"The Age of Reason" is about religion, really why Paine is a Deist and not religious. Many of the founding fathers of the United States were Deists yet this is not often explained or is assumed to be Christian.
Some of his information is very out of date (Again, he was writing in the 1700s.). But his arguments are often worth considering whether you agree with him or not.
After all, our brains are for thinking. And what are we afraid of?
May 6, 2015
Is Editing Writing?
Page by page I am again going through "The Pumpkin Project" even though the writing has been gone over several times. This time the pictures, tables and page numbers are the targets. Each page is listed so I will have a list of those pictures and other items I need to complete the book. The list will also correct the Table of Contents.
Such editing is essential to complete a book. Mistakes do slip by from time to time but most get caught by a careful edit. A sloppy edit can sink a new book for potential readers.
But is editing writing?
Rewrites can be. A piece can look entirely different, a new piece entirely other than the subject when a rewrite is done. So a rewrite can be writing.
But what about editing?
I tweak a word here and there. I may add a sentence or change one. But I am not writing anything new.
So I don't think editing is writing, only a necessary adjunct to writing.
Perhaps that is why editing can feel so stifling and plodding.
I long for the freedom to write. A story is distracting my brain. Yet, if I start writing, can I continue to plod faithfully along on "The Pumpkin Project" edit?
Such editing is essential to complete a book. Mistakes do slip by from time to time but most get caught by a careful edit. A sloppy edit can sink a new book for potential readers.
But is editing writing?
Rewrites can be. A piece can look entirely different, a new piece entirely other than the subject when a rewrite is done. So a rewrite can be writing.
But what about editing?
I tweak a word here and there. I may add a sentence or change one. But I am not writing anything new.
So I don't think editing is writing, only a necessary adjunct to writing.
Perhaps that is why editing can feel so stifling and plodding.
I long for the freedom to write. A story is distracting my brain. Yet, if I start writing, can I continue to plod faithfully along on "The Pumpkin Project" edit?
April 29, 2015
Blackmailing Myself
I started "The Pumpkin Project" ten years ago. It was fun. It was challenging. I roared ahead on it.
Then my mother became ill. Work stopped.
For me it is much harder to return to a writing project than it is to start a new one. Perhaps the new one has that aura of excitement the older project wore through. Perhaps the vision of what the older project was to be has slipped away. Perhaps there is a difficult part in that older project and a new one lacks those snags for now.
Bit by bit I am working my way through "The Pumpkin Project" as I must get it done this year. Every year I tell myself: This is the year I will finish it. And each year slips away.
This year I'm doing some personal blackmail.
First I'm posting the Investigations on my website over the summer as my Outside Project. (This has the added benefit of having most of the projects already done instead of needing to be done.)
Secondly I signed up for CampNaNo to do an edit of the book.
I did make it all the way through all the written parts, the stories, the Projects and the Investigations. They are now formatted the same way. The stories sound good and are rearranged to fit into the book better. The main Project is split into more doable pieces and enlarged so anyone, even apartment dwellers, can do it.
Now I get to go through the book again. All the Investigation tables will become images and look nicer. All the pictures will be resized and will look more uniform throughout the book.
Just in time warmer weather is arriving here in the Ozarks. Time to plant my pumpkins: giant, sugar pie and miniature (in a container). There are those missing pictures to take. I even arranged with other people to grow some pumpkins and take pictures in case the squash bugs attack my vines.
Will this year be the year "The Pumpkin Project" gets done? Determination, persistence and blackmail say yes.
Then my mother became ill. Work stopped.
For me it is much harder to return to a writing project than it is to start a new one. Perhaps the new one has that aura of excitement the older project wore through. Perhaps the vision of what the older project was to be has slipped away. Perhaps there is a difficult part in that older project and a new one lacks those snags for now.
Bit by bit I am working my way through "The Pumpkin Project" as I must get it done this year. Every year I tell myself: This is the year I will finish it. And each year slips away.
This year I'm doing some personal blackmail.
First I'm posting the Investigations on my website over the summer as my Outside Project. (This has the added benefit of having most of the projects already done instead of needing to be done.)
Secondly I signed up for CampNaNo to do an edit of the book.
I did make it all the way through all the written parts, the stories, the Projects and the Investigations. They are now formatted the same way. The stories sound good and are rearranged to fit into the book better. The main Project is split into more doable pieces and enlarged so anyone, even apartment dwellers, can do it.
Now I get to go through the book again. All the Investigation tables will become images and look nicer. All the pictures will be resized and will look more uniform throughout the book.
Just in time warmer weather is arriving here in the Ozarks. Time to plant my pumpkins: giant, sugar pie and miniature (in a container). There are those missing pictures to take. I even arranged with other people to grow some pumpkins and take pictures in case the squash bugs attack my vines.
Will this year be the year "The Pumpkin Project" gets done? Determination, persistence and blackmail say yes.
April 22, 2015
Staying Focused
Spring is such a busy time. Baby goat kids. Gardens. Wildflowers. Distractions galore.
And the book sits there on the computer screen. Nineteen Investigations to go over and edit.
Do they have the same format? Where are all the pictures? Are the pictures resized? What about the tables? Do the conclusion questions make sense? Are the directions complete?
Details, infinite details, mind-bending details, boring details, important details.
The initial flush of excitement over the book has passed. The main draft is done. Now the hard work is at hand.
The goal is worth it. As the book nears completion, some of that original excitement comes back. Now it is tinged with accomplishment.
Distractions 0 Book 1.
And the book sits there on the computer screen. Nineteen Investigations to go over and edit.
Do they have the same format? Where are all the pictures? Are the pictures resized? What about the tables? Do the conclusion questions make sense? Are the directions complete?
Details, infinite details, mind-bending details, boring details, important details.
The initial flush of excitement over the book has passed. The main draft is done. Now the hard work is at hand.
The goal is worth it. As the book nears completion, some of that original excitement comes back. Now it is tinged with accomplishment.
Distractions 0 Book 1.
April 15, 2015
Just Wondering
Whenever I read or hear an author interview, the comment seems to come up about sitting down and writing every day. I do see the wisdom of this and try to practice it. This last week I have come upon a question about exceptions.
My friend brought home a cold, a most unwelcome visitor. Being unimpressed by its reception, this cold spread itself around.
Now, a cold does not impress the goats. They must be milked and fed anyway. So I show up even when crawling and miserable.
Is writing the same? Writing when hot and cold flushes roll by? Writing when the nose uses the tissue box as an extension? Writing when coughing doubles the writer over? Writing when putting a subject and verb together is difficult let alone making them agree?
I decided not and crawled back in bed. Writing time was cancelled for the day.
My friend brought home a cold, a most unwelcome visitor. Being unimpressed by its reception, this cold spread itself around.
Now, a cold does not impress the goats. They must be milked and fed anyway. So I show up even when crawling and miserable.
Is writing the same? Writing when hot and cold flushes roll by? Writing when the nose uses the tissue box as an extension? Writing when coughing doubles the writer over? Writing when putting a subject and verb together is difficult let alone making them agree?
I decided not and crawled back in bed. Writing time was cancelled for the day.
April 8, 2015
Too Busy But...
I suppose everyone busy doing something has the same complaint. There never seem to be enough hours in a day. Actually there are. We just try to over schedule. Or waste some of the time we do have.
My website is normally lots of fun to do. I write a couple of fast commentaries and set up (and do) a science project each week.
This week I am putting the first part of "The Pumpkin Project" up for subscription so time is tight. So why did I set up a long science project? And whatever possessed me to do a poem for one of the commentaries?
I must be mad!
The science project really took only a couple of hours to set up when I finally got up the nerve to start it. Part of that was time to clean up the stove. The project included making rock candy and the sugar syrup boiled over when I looked away for five seconds.
After that it was a matter of waiting, watching and hoping the rock candy would form. I should know by now, having tried this a couple of other times, that I am doomed. The rock candy forms anywhere but on the dangled string.
I'm expecting the first hummingbirds any day. They can eat the remains of rock candy after I dissolve it off the bottom of the jar.
And the poem? The pictures are ready. The poem is two or three stanzas from done. It will need rewriting eventually as the meter isn't quite right yet.
"The Pumpkin Project?" It's ready to debut, I think. The PDF is done after arguing with the computer about margins. The Introduction and Project 1 with pictures are ready.
There really was enough time. Things did get almost done. I even finished up the two new Investigations in Part 2 of "The Pumpkin Project" due out in a couple of weeks.
Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time. Maybe the problem is stressing out about the time which is itself a waste of time. Maybe someday I will learn this and quit stressing. Maybe.
My website is normally lots of fun to do. I write a couple of fast commentaries and set up (and do) a science project each week.
This week I am putting the first part of "The Pumpkin Project" up for subscription so time is tight. So why did I set up a long science project? And whatever possessed me to do a poem for one of the commentaries?
I must be mad!
The science project really took only a couple of hours to set up when I finally got up the nerve to start it. Part of that was time to clean up the stove. The project included making rock candy and the sugar syrup boiled over when I looked away for five seconds.
After that it was a matter of waiting, watching and hoping the rock candy would form. I should know by now, having tried this a couple of other times, that I am doomed. The rock candy forms anywhere but on the dangled string.
I'm expecting the first hummingbirds any day. They can eat the remains of rock candy after I dissolve it off the bottom of the jar.
And the poem? The pictures are ready. The poem is two or three stanzas from done. It will need rewriting eventually as the meter isn't quite right yet.
"The Pumpkin Project?" It's ready to debut, I think. The PDF is done after arguing with the computer about margins. The Introduction and Project 1 with pictures are ready.
There really was enough time. Things did get almost done. I even finished up the two new Investigations in Part 2 of "The Pumpkin Project" due out in a couple of weeks.
Maybe the problem isn't the amount of time. Maybe the problem is stressing out about the time which is itself a waste of time. Maybe someday I will learn this and quit stressing. Maybe.
April 1, 2015
Being a Writer
I met an interesting woman at my last Missouri Writers, Ink meeting. She had taught English, helped students publish award winning annuals and dreamed of writing her own books. And she has yet to put a word on paper or computer screen.
A writer writes because writing is as much a part of their being as living and breathing. But that doesn't put a word down on paper or up on a computer screen.
Every story about a successful author has one thing in common. The author sits down and writes. Some write a certain number of pages. Others do a word count. Some have time frames. But words in a story, even ones ultimately cut or totally rewritten, appear on that paper or screen.
This habit is what divides writers from those who dream of being writers. This habit takes ambition and stubborn persistence.
Spring with all its distractions make it so hard for me to keep sitting down and writing every morning. New baby kid goats, warm weather, the garden and the wildflowers on the hills lure me away.
But I am a writer. I will persevere. I will work faithfully every day. Maybe a deadline will help keep me inside yet another day.
A writer writes because writing is as much a part of their being as living and breathing. But that doesn't put a word down on paper or up on a computer screen.
Every story about a successful author has one thing in common. The author sits down and writes. Some write a certain number of pages. Others do a word count. Some have time frames. But words in a story, even ones ultimately cut or totally rewritten, appear on that paper or screen.
This habit is what divides writers from those who dream of being writers. This habit takes ambition and stubborn persistence.
Spring with all its distractions make it so hard for me to keep sitting down and writing every morning. New baby kid goats, warm weather, the garden and the wildflowers on the hills lure me away.
But I am a writer. I will persevere. I will work faithfully every day. Maybe a deadline will help keep me inside yet another day.
March 25, 2015
Asking Permission
At present I am creating a few new pencil puzzles for "The Pumpkin Project." These are always a challenge to do but rather fun too.
The selection already includes plenty of word searches and kriss krosses. There are three or four logic problems. So the new ones are pumpkin sayings.
Making such a puzzle involves first finding a sentence about pumpkins. Then all the letters are used to create a list of words with definitions.
The puzzle has the definitions with blanks for the answers, each letter over a number. The letter is put in the correct space to spell out the sentence.
The hard part is finding sentences about pumpkins other than in gardening books. An easy choice is "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I picked out a nice sentence and created the puzzle.
But I can't use it without permission from the publisher.
The temptation is to put it in believing the publisher will never notice. Considering my normal book sales records this is reasonable.
But I'm trying to increase the circulation of my books. Is the chance worth it? Is the guilty feeling worth it?
I suppose not. So I will put together a request to the publisher.
And I will keep looking for more pumpkin sentences.
The selection already includes plenty of word searches and kriss krosses. There are three or four logic problems. So the new ones are pumpkin sayings.
Making such a puzzle involves first finding a sentence about pumpkins. Then all the letters are used to create a list of words with definitions.
The puzzle has the definitions with blanks for the answers, each letter over a number. The letter is put in the correct space to spell out the sentence.
The hard part is finding sentences about pumpkins other than in gardening books. An easy choice is "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." I picked out a nice sentence and created the puzzle.
But I can't use it without permission from the publisher.
The temptation is to put it in believing the publisher will never notice. Considering my normal book sales records this is reasonable.
But I'm trying to increase the circulation of my books. Is the chance worth it? Is the guilty feeling worth it?
I suppose not. So I will put together a request to the publisher.
And I will keep looking for more pumpkin sentences.
March 18, 2015
The Giveaways Are Over
My experiment in giveaways is now over. Now is time to assess the results.
First is how to send the books out. GR hasn't let me know who the winners are yet. I plan to find out on Friday and send the books out then. Congratulations to the winners whoever they are.
Watching the giveaway numbers has been interesting. For the first couple of weeks only a few people signed up. Last Saturday the list finally made 84. Since I am not that well known as an author, I was happy.
Then the number exploded to over 300! I am floored.
Why all these people signed up, I don't know. I am glad they did. I hope they will be interested enough to find out more about me and my books.
I wish I could thank each one personally but simply don't have the time. So I now thank them as a group.
Will I try another giveaway? I'm tempted. For now I'm still assessing this one.
First is how to send the books out. GR hasn't let me know who the winners are yet. I plan to find out on Friday and send the books out then. Congratulations to the winners whoever they are.
Watching the giveaway numbers has been interesting. For the first couple of weeks only a few people signed up. Last Saturday the list finally made 84. Since I am not that well known as an author, I was happy.
Then the number exploded to over 300! I am floored.
Why all these people signed up, I don't know. I am glad they did. I hope they will be interested enough to find out more about me and my books.
I wish I could thank each one personally but simply don't have the time. So I now thank them as a group.
Will I try another giveaway? I'm tempted. For now I'm still assessing this one.
