Next Noble Pen Meeting

Oct 6th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Horror writer Stephen King is about to come out with a 1000 page book  in November that is a time travel story, wherein someone goes back to save John F.  Kennedy from assassination.   There is already a movie deal.

I can imagine “saving JFK” becoming a more popular topic than “killing Hitler”, which has been one of the stereotypical time travel plots.  Something always goes wrong, of course.

“And we’ve killed a dozen Hitlers already! We’re winning!”-Steve Irwin

Victories

Kate and a friend drafted the outline for a novel they will co-write.

Dylan has trimmed Flight down from 198 k words to 119 k words, where he felt like he had hit the wall.  He feels this is getting near a publishable size for an author who is not well known in the genre.  The original material may turn into three books.

Education

“Good prose is like a window pane.” – George Orwell

If you haven’t read Crawford Kilian’s Advice on Novel Writing, you really should.   I glazed over at some of the theory of literature, but still found a lot of good advice on a lot of topics in it.

Upcoming Schedule

October 6 th

Nick
Shanna
Dylan

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Shannon
Open slots

October 27 th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 29th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

There are several open review slots in the coming weeks.   Polish up some of your work and grab the opportunities.

Tyree will miss some meetings but promises to deliver critiques when he returns, so keep copying him on your submissions.

Victories

Dylan finished two more paid commission stories of significant length.

Ciuin did a major  rewrite of an existing history of Ushers Ferry.  She also learned that a document she wrote a while back for World Artists Initiative is now in ten languages and will be published in major newspapers in Europe.   Now she needs to get fluent in ten languages so she can read the articles.

Tony is making excellent progress on Tunnels of St. Lucy despite a very hectic schedule.  He hopes to make enough money from the story to buy a taxi company that will transport all his family members to their appointments and activities.

Education

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

This article uses that quote to begin talking about 31 ways to find writing inspiration.  The point seems to be that you just have to stop and look at what is going on around you in the right way, and lots of ideas will come.

Upcoming Schedule

September 29 th
Shannon
Kate
Dylan

October 6 th
Nick ?
Kris
Dylan ?

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Open slots

October 27 th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 22nd, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

There are several open review slots in the coming weeks.   Polish up some of your work and grab the opportunities.

Victories

Tyree’s submission “Dime in the Pennywell” to the anthology Bitten by Moonlight, a collection of four werewolf stories focusing on women rather than the typical male werewolf, has been published.  He has been paid, and the reviews appear favorable.

Kris got another tattoo. It tickled too much to write while she was on the table.

Education

This link offers some tips on writing effective dialog.

“and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversation?” — Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)

Upcoming Schedule

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
Dylan

September 29th

Shannon
Kate
Dylan ?

October 6 th
Nick ?
Kris
Open slot

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 15th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Amazon is offering a “Kindle with Special Offers” version.  Allowing Amazon to display sponsored messages on the home screen and sponsored screensavers will bring the price down to $114 from the standard Kindle at $139.
Amazon link

I can’t believe that anyone reads those ads, or the ones on Google, but the advertisers don’t know that and keep paying to put them there.

Victories

Kris cut 7,000 words out of Oblivion’s first four chapters, and wrote a chapter and a half of the sequel.  Somehow she managed this, tending kids, and still had time to hang out with her favorite band and get a promise that she could tattoo the lead singer next time he’s in town.

Dylan has been cutting Flight of the Scions severely to get it down to what he believes is a publishable length, and is working to repair the resulting plot holes.  He says it is painful, but we figure that painful experiences will help him write scenes where his characters experience pain.

Education

Tyree promised to distribute his notes on comma usage via the email list.

“My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.”
-Anton Chekhov

“The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.”
-Tom Clancy

Upcoming Schedule

September 15 th

Shannon
Dylan
Shanna

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
Dylan

September 29th

Shannon
Kate
Open slot

October 6 th

Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 8th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Welcome to Aimee, our newest member.

Victories

Nick contributed five thumbnail sketches of good railroad watching locations to a book for train watchers.  He also sent seven reports on sightings to a mailing list.  We hope he is writing while he waits for those trains to go by.

Tony finished chapter 7 of Tunnels of St. Lucy and now has a clear vision for the ending.  That’s pretty awesome, seeing visions.

Dylan submitted a story to a flash fiction contest.

Shannon heard from a New York agent who likes the idea of Fangs for Nothing, but seems to have different ideas on the writing style and still rejected it.   Since Vinny has connections in NY, that agent should watch out for vampires.

Bill’s short historical article was accepted by the hometown newspaper.  There’s no pay, but it will make him famous (at least among his mother’s friends).

Education

Shannon recommends a book, Immediate Fiction, as having much of the same information as the old favorite Techniques of the Selling Writer, and an improved presentation.  It’s available from Amazon in print or Kindle format, and from Barnes and Noble in print or Nook ebook.

In honor of this week’s lesson session:
I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.— Oscar Wilde

Upcoming Schedule

September 8 th

Tyree’s quick lesson on commas.
Kris
Kate
Dylan

September 15 th

Shannon
Dylan
Shanna

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
open slot

September 29th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill