Writing Realistic Farm Life
*inhales*
*long sigh*
*opens eyes*
I need you to understand something. Not all farms are Old Macdonald.
I've lived on farms for a good part of my fairly short life. The first one was a much more active farm, with a lot more animals (which I lived on from probably around age 7 to age 9, but I remember it clearly), and the other is the one I still live on and have for all five of my teenage years. I've had a variety of experiences from these two farms and other ones I've visited, and I feel like I should tell people what it's like so that they can represent us the way we deserve.
So, just like my post on writing realistic moving, I'm going to make a pretty little numbered list with some things to remember if your character lives on a farm.
1. Farms are not all the same.
Farm people in books and movies are all the same: They get up at four in the morning, put on their denim overalls and brown boots, and go milk the cow. Then it's weed the fields, gather the eggs, blah blah blah. And that's what it's like, yes, if you have a fully functioning farm and your parents have put you in charge of that many chores. But if you only have some of the components of the stereotypical farm, it won't be as much work or as time-consuming. Even when my family had our farm in full swing, keeping things running wasn't quite an all-day task. Not to mention, there are a variety of different kinds of farms. Some are all cow farms (called dairy farms if it's specifically for dairy, but there are also the ones that raise meat cows), or some people are almost completely self-sufficient because they make everything on their farms and recycle or reuse everything.
2. All creatures must serve a purpose.
If you've got bunnies, you're probably going to eat them. Sorry.
The internet really hates on people who raise animals for the purpose of eating them, but where else are you going to get meat? Hate to break it to you, but that chicken nugget on your plate might have been alive at some point in its life, too. If an animal's not for eating, it's probably to produce animal skins, eggs, milk, or more animals. Animals are expensive; your character probably won't just have an animal to have it, unless it's a cat or a dog or something. Even horses are super impractical unless you have a lot of money or need them to herd sheep.
3. You don't have to have all the animals.
This is sort of an extension of #1, but that one was getting too long already. What you have on a farm is totally up to you, and no one's making you buy horses and cows and chickens and goats and sheep and bunnies and pheasants and everything else you might think are required for a farm. You get to pick for yourself what you feel like raising. If that's just cows, sheep, and chickens, go ahead. If it's just pigs and chickens, knock yourself out. If you only want bunnies, that's not really a farm, but sure, you do that.
4. Animals come in a lot of different types.
What kind of cows does your character have? The Chick-Fil-A cow isn't the only kind. Just google 'cows' and see what comes up. You'll realize there's a lot more variety than you thought. Same goes for pigs and chickens and everything else you can think of. (word to the wise, the best chickens are Bantams. They're small and so pretty and they lay tiny eggs that are green and blue, and if you're lucky, pink, too.)
5. Farm food is just better.
Bet you knew this one already, but it mustn't be forgotten. If you raise your animals right and let them run around enough, your food is going to be better. The milk will taste better, the yolks will be yellower, and the meat will taste AMAZING!!! If another character who hasn't had farm food is coming to eat at the farm character's house, they'll notice the difference, trust me.
6. Saved the best for last: Drop the nieveté.
I've been saving this one for last because this is the stereotype I find the most hurtful. Anyone steps foot off a farm, and it's like they've never left their house before. What, have these people never had a look at the internet? Why don't they know anything about the world?? Look, just because the character's spent their entire life on a farm, even if they were homeschooled (which I was), heck, even if they didn't have a car, I don't think anyone could possibly be that much in the dark. For real, Luke.
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| Kid, you make me sad. |
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And that's it! Have you ever written a farm? What was a point I made that you hadn't thought of? Let me know in the comments!
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