Next Noble Pen Meeting

Mar 1st, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

No news is good news.

Victories

Lynda is writing a freelance piece that is to appear in the CR Gazette.

Ciuin was asked to do a 900 word essay for the Higher Education and Learning website on student cramming.  She doesn’t have a firm deadline, so she can’t cram for this one.   She submitted a question for discussion on a forum and generated a huge response, with her posts being overwhelmingly the highest rated on the forum.

Aimee found time to write another chapter.

Dylan has a story that is accepted for publication in an anthology of 24 stories,  subject to his cutting it down by 1,000 words.  He also found out that he only came in second in the last contest he wrote for.  Maybe the first place author was more famous.

Education

It’s been a while since anyone mentioned Query Tracker.  Check it out to see if you could benefit either from registering for its services or just from browsing its forum for information on agents, publishers, writing techniques, success stories, etc.  You could spend days on the site.

Upcoming Schedule

March 1st

Nick
Ciuin
Tyree

March 8th

Shannon
Aimee
Dylan

March 15th

Shannon
Open slots

March 22nd

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Feb 23rd, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The next meeting will be a little different.

Ciuin has requested that we read aloud her short play to help find the rough spots and to estimate playing time.

Then, if time permits, we will read aloud what we each have written from the following writing prompt, and discuss how the approaches differ and which ones might work well.

Each person should write a paragraph or a few paragraphs, preferably not much more than half a page, that could be the beginning of a story using the given characters and situation.  I chose generic characters rather than ones already created (sorry, Bob).

An elderly man, frail but mentally sharp, who seems to be in unfamiliar territory, is sitting at a bar near a young loudmouth who is bragging about how he is not afraid of something that has the neighborhood scared.  The bartender is a good-natured and middle-aged woman who would rather the loudmouth didn’t start anything.

Victories

Shannon did a final (fast) edit on Call of the Beast, which is being renamed Minion of Evil, and turned it in for publication.

Ciuin received a call from her hero, who had been impressed by her writing, to talk about important matters that may lead to a future dream job for her.  The bad news is that her editor for Petty Theft has had eye surgery and won’t be working for perhaps months.

Education

In keeping with our writing exercise for the week, here’s a pep talk on starting your story or getting un-stuck if you can’t seem to proceed.  This page has a bunch of links on how to name and develop characters.

Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin. The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with them.  ~Mel Brooks

Upcoming Schedule

February 23rd

Dylan
Ciuin (review and read aloud)
(Time permitting) All read their writing exercise
(see News above for details)

March 1st

Nick
Shannon
Tyree

March 8th

Open slots

March 15th

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Feb 16th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

With review slots still open for Feb 23rd, this would be a good time for someone to come up with an educational exercise in place of one of the reviews. Let me know if you have ideas you would like to present, or a topic you would especially like someone else to present.

Victories

Shannon submitted Fangs for Nothing to Sam’s Dot publishing.

Dylan submitted an entry to a story contest.

Tyree found 2 or 3 year old poem he had done and submitted it to Mad Magazine.

Education

A midpoint reversal or midpoint climax is often used to keep a story exciting.  It is an event that reverses the protagonist’s fortunes, or makes it impossible for him to turn back from his quest.  It may be the point where the clock he must beat starts ticking.   Here’s a discussion of midpoint reversal (if you want to read the entire series of articles use the dropdown menu in the gray bar).   Another article brings up the no-turning-back aspect.

“Come on, come on! And there’ll be no turning back! You were only killing time and it can kill you right back. Come on, come on! It’s time to burn up the fuse. You got nothing to do and even less to lose. ~ Jim Steinman

I better make the plot good. I wanted to make it grip people on the first page and have a big turning point in the middle, as there is, and construct the whole thing like a roller coaster ride. ~ Mark Haddon

Upcoming Schedule

February 16th

Tyree
Ciuin
Aimee

February 23rd

Dylan
Open slots

March 1st

Nick
Shannon
Tyree

March 8th

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Feb 9th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

Victories

Shanna got an A on the first paper in her composition class.

Dylan submitted two short stories, one of romance and another about werewolves, to anthologies.

Education

I think we usually do a decent job of critique at our meetings.  Just in case someone wants to brush up on ideas and methods, here’s a thorough checklist for critique (scroll down to the numbered sections).

Another take on critique has some similarities, and ends with a good point to keep in mind: You are the author and in charge of the story,  so you can choose which ideas from the critique you want to use.

Association with my pupils has kept me young in my work. Criticism of their work has kept my own point of view clear. ~ William Merritt Chase

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots. ! Frank Howard Clark

Be kind and considerate with your criticism… It’s just as hard to write a bad book as it is to write a good book. ~ Malcolm Cowley

Upcoming Schedule

February 9th

Shannon
Aimee
Shanna (story already mailed)

February 16th

Tyree
Ciuin
Open slot

February 23rd

Dylan
Open slots

March 1st

Nick (returning after vacation)
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill