Purpose in writing

 

In a book's first pages is the ground on which all the rest is built. Who was this person? Why should I care about them and read their story? From where have they come? Why would a reader believe they might have something interesting ahead? As a writer, I ask myself the same questions. I will be putting a lot more time into these characters than it takes for a reader to read the book. I need to care and believe in them.

If the writer jumps right into the action, will the reader believe in the character’s abilities or reasons? There are, of course, books, with no real plot-- just a constant stream of thinking or talking with no seeming direction. Some people love such books. For me though, I want meaningful action in mind for what I read or write.

I also like hidden motives, characters who realize what they really want through time, based on what they experience; for me, this goes along with some fast action, and yes discovered love. My books are romances, but that alone wouldn't interest me. I want a reason for what is about to happen-- a reason I believe is possible. It's not always easy, but that kind of writing is the most rewarding-- the hidden purposes.

When writing about writing, it has to be from my perspective including some from how-to books that I have read. I often have ideas germinating for a long time before I begin writing. Writing leads to more ideas. I try to give that time to happen.

Although I never say the story takes over, I do discover things along the way, things I hadn't seen until the story begins unwinding. I never outline but do have a clear idea of where the story will end up. What I see to begin is not always what is real. All of my stories are fiction, sometimes with a real character or so inserted, but fiction has to feel like it could happen to make it powerful-- at least for me.

Look at the bougainvillea flower below. Most would assume it's the bright red, but it's not. It's that tiny white flower in the middle. The red is leaves. Discovering the unexpected is the joy of creating.

Step by step

 

When I thought about how to write about writing, my mind went blank. We are getting ready to head north to the farm, we dealt with the loss of a cat, and there's all the cultural stuff going on. Plus, I am trying to get all eight of the Arizona historicals improved, edited, and making them all I want them to be. Mentally, I am not even sure what's going on in my head.

I dream a lot and sometimes, I have to wonder from where did that come!. An example is a recent dream in what I call a movie type dream-- where I am not in them; but I am watching the story unfold. In that one, there is a young woman, who has a crush on a man probably 20 years older than her. She follows him and his woman friend through a door with no idea that it will bring her into a parallel world. Supposedly, the parallel world is alongside her world except you can't go back without finding that or another portal. 

In that dream, she begins to find that the parallel world looks to be great, except it's not. That world is dystopian with the way everything is controlled; with death sometimes the price people pay if they get in the way of the supposed perfect new world order.

From where do such events in a dream like that come as it got more and more violent. I have never watched any of those movies. When I woke up, I knew it was no book I'd ever want to write. How do I get such dreams??? It wasn't really a nightmare, because I wasn't caught up in the bad stuff, but still had to wonder as I know such ideas are out there.

So, back to writing and how a person puts together a book. I have had a few come from dreams but mostly just small scenes. I don't use dreams for overall plots. I can't really say from where my stories have come. Yes, they are all romances, but there is always a lot more I need to find to make a story worth spending time writing.

The first book I ever wrote was set on the Oregon Trail. The second was a contemporary rodeo story. The third was set in Arizona, again historical, but very different than the Oregon series. 

This is a  marketing mistake not to write in consistent genres that will draw readers to follow the stories. Genres are a big part of successful selling of books. I had one series where I called them paranormals. I got the idea for them while driving through one of Tucson's old neighborhoods and thought-- what if these interesting looking ordinary people had extraordinary powers-- what if they saw what the rest of us do not. Seemed like a fun idea for me but what genre is that? It went nowhere with readers as paranormals...maybe a sub-genre of fantasy.

So, I guess the essence of what I believe is find a genre you as the writer like. Select characters in which to believe. Then, come up with a meaningful and interesting plot-- ideally related to those characters. For me, books take a good setting that the writer knows well enough to describe and give the feel to the reader. Finally, some strong secondary characters-- a few might get a book of their own and some might be animals. 

For what I know of these issues, it'll come next in between driving north and trying to not feel all stressed by travel. I can only use my own stories to illustrate what I think, as right now not reading a lot of fiction.

When it's Time

 

I was undecided about writing about this because why make others sad about our loss. Whenever we lose a pet, the beloved ones, it's tough and we get reminders of that loss whenever others speak about their losses. Still, there was something about this one that seemed to me should be shared and so here goes.

 We knew Tigger had a serious disease with cat FIV, which is like human aids. But the information was that they can live a normal lifetime if symptoms are treated. We were doing that. When my brother visited, Tigger was on his lap every time he sat down. He seemed okay.

Right after Dan left, things changed. I won't go into details as they're not what this is about. We saw the end was coming. We called our veterinarian to ask if they gave euthanasia house calls. They did not. They recommended a mobile veterinary unit, which we had already found online. The unit no longer took calls for general health care for new pets, but they still did euthanasia calls.

Desert Paws

One thing we had learned in 2013, that if we had to have a pet put to sleep, we wanted it to be in our home. We waited though to see if he could cross over by himself. When we heard him crying in pain, we made the call. It was with great relief that they said they could be there within an hour and a half. Nobody wants a beloved pet to suffer when nothing can be done for them. 

The doctor arrived, we put Tigger on the sofa where he relaxed. She gave him first a shot to relax him and take away pain. Then after she saw it took effect, she gave him the one to stop his heart. It might have taken half an hour or less, but he was gone. We felt sad but also grateful that he didn't have to continue to suffer.

No photos of him here as I don't want others to feel bad. In a way, this was a victory. I don't know how old he was as we got him as a stray that had been around the farms for years, but not sure how many. We had had him since 2017 and he leaves a big hole in our life, as well as the little female that had followed him to our farm, who I believe was one of his offspring, but who can prove it. We left his body in the living room a day for her to understand he's dead, if they understand such things.

The stones at the top of the page are where he and our other male cat are buried here on our piece of desert. 

The photo below is from a card Desert Paws, here in Tucson, sent us sympathizing with our loss. We appreciated the care the doctor had given him and also her handwritten note about our loss. She added what he had gained for our love of him. That was sweet as is the image. We won't replace him right away as we have to travel north soon, and it would be hard on an adopted cat to deal with that kind of change. We will though when we return to the desert. Two cats is not enough *s*

I am writing this because I believe that sometimes we do have to let our beloved pets go and when we do, if we can afford it, it's very nice to have it done in the house where they live. We still cry, of course, but it helps to know we didn't have them die in fear as happens when they go to the veterinarian's office. We have done it twice now and would let go of them no other way. 

If there is a rainbow bridge for our beloved animals, I hope he traveled over it, maybe with the other one buried here, Blackie, who died without needing euthanasia but also was much missed. They all are.

 

Backlists

This time I have a question for readers. I know that most of you don't comment here (sad as I used to get a lot of comments but thus goes the times), but I'd very much appreciate it if you'd think about the question below for yourself and then share your answer for the benefit of other readers here, including me.

Here's the question: If you like an author, I don't care what genre, will you look for older books by that author or is it all about the newest books, perhaps even by that, author?  Along with it-- if you like an author and they change genres, say had been sci fi but now want to write mystery, will you give the new direction a chance if your favorite has always been where they had always written?

There is not a right or wrong answer, but I am curious how many readers do follow all the work by a favorite author-- even from years gone by. Should a writer consider pulling those older books or let them set with the hope someday they will be discovered? 

An adjunct to that question is for writers-- how do you deal with your own backlist? Most of us have one. One possibility is pull them and rewrite them with our current skills. I've seen writers do that, before working on new ideas.