Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 3rd, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Does anyone have an educational topic they want to present to fill the open slot this week?

The NY Times posts some readers reactions to the ebook price fixing suit.

This is a little late, but some may be interested in what one reviewer calls the top stories in literature of 2011.

Victories

Dylan has in hand a published copy of the humorous anthology of which he wrote about half.  He has organized his web site so it is easier to find his stories.  And he gave the last meeting an excellent presentation on creating eBooks.

Lynda got a job as head publisher for a new magazine.  It’s been a long time since she couldn’t do her work from home, and pajamas probably won’t do for this job.

Aimee got a printer to help with her writing (and marking up everybody else’s, too).

Shannon is on seven panels and a doing a reading (that’s right 7 – see the list) at the science fiction CONvergence in Minneapolis in July (schedule here).   Its theme is women in SF.  Trivia question for Shannon: Who was the first female science fiction protagonist? He may have to do some homework for some of the panels, like re-watching every Star Trek episode to see how women are involved.

Education

Shannon suggests we consider this article on grammar rules that aren’t real.  It is mainly about Internet postings, however, so you might want to maintain some restraint if you are submitting to an agent or publisher.  Everybody says the slush pile readers use any excuse to reject a manuscript.

While we are shaking up assumptions, you might want to see if these five gender stereotypes that have changed affect the way your historical characters think.  I haven’t checked their research, but a lot of sites are linking to the article.

Upcoming Schedule

May 3rd

Tyree
Nick
Open slot

May 10th

Dylan
Open slots

May 17th

Shannon
Lynda
Open slot

May 24th

Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Apr 26th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Welcome to Stacie, who found the group.

International mystery authors (such as Steig Larsson of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) seem to be currently popular in the US according to this article.

Victories

Dylan got another commission to write.  His older novel is now on Kindle.

Lynda is recovering from surgery after a hand injury and expects to be able to type next week.

Education

Dylan found this interesting list of 25 ways to make an unlikable character.  Not everyone will agree with all of them, but it’s a pretty good list of things to avoid when inventing your own protagonist.

At the April 19 meeting, we discussed run-on sentences and comma splices.  Wikipedia has a pretty good summary, and someone has some partly contrary views.

Caution – the following article is not for those who have a problem reading about vulgarity.  It is an etymological discussion of British and American vulgar terms, including some that are more offensive, or have different meanings, on one side of the ocean than the other.

Henry Miller had 11 commandments for writing.  Two of the best are:
– When you can’t create you can work.
– Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

Upcoming Schedule

April 26th

Shannon
Dylan
Presentation: How to make ebooks (Dylan)

May 3rd

Tyree
Nick
Open slot

May 10th

Dylan
Open slots

May 17th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,

Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Apr 19th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

We are planning to have a discussion on comma splices at the next meeting.  If anyone wants to contribute tutorial material, let the moderator know.

The US Department of Justice is continuing their lawsuit over the claimed price-fixing of ebooks, saying Steve Jobs and others at his level were involved. (page 1,  page 2).

Victories

Dylan has passed the half-year mark in his quest to write a weekly serial that runs for a year.  It is about 6-8,000 words a week.  He rejected a commission to write something that was too distasteful.

Bill, in a rare move, spent several hours organizing the plot of his novella.

Ciuin was asked by a very respected leader to be the paid educational director for a new Romani group that is starting up, and will be writing history material for home-schooling.

Shannon has sold a few copies of his book.

Education

This article shares some good advice on writing dialog, as does this one.

Inner monolog, putting in a character’s thoughts, is a specialized form of dialog for which the rules perhaps aren’t as clear.  One published author makes a good point about how clumsy italicized inner monologue (or quote marks around thinking, for that matter) can be, and gives an outstanding example of how much better third person sounds while effectively conveying that the character is thinking.

The use and treatment of inner monologue are somewhat debated and you may not find agreement.  Publishers may have individual style guidelines.

This article doesn’t condemn inner monologue entirely, but says that it should be done sparingly and carefully because it treads a line.  The way people actually think is in fragments.  Grammatical sentences won’t sound like thinking and actual thinking won’t be easy to read.

Another consideration is the narrator distance.  If you are writing in omniscient third person, i.e. the narrator may know things the main character does not, then first person inner monologue will stand out as a point of view change.

If you are writing close third person, i.e. all from the character’s POV but told as third person, then a first-person inner thought will be only a subtle change.  Used sparingly, it can emphasize the thoughts without quotes or italics.

Upcoming Schedule

April 19th

Nick
Dylan
Educational

April 26th

Shannon
Dylan
Open slot

May 3rd

Tyree
Nick
Open slot

May 10th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Apr 12th, 2012 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

It’s National Library Week.  Do something to enjoy or advance the written word.

I’d be happy if I could think that the role of the library was sustained and even enhanced in the age of the computer.—Bill Gates

Recently published letters show a different side of Ernest Hemingway.

James Bond with a beer?  The newest movie forgoes his famed shaken, not stirred martini for a brew.  Here’s a summary of his tastes in alcoholic beverages in the movies.

The Wizard of Oz was mentioned in discussions at the last meeting.  Here’s a recent book exploring the history and  symbolism of the Oz books.

Victories

Dylan got paid (but no extra) for his over-long commission.

Education

Writers aspiring to place their characters in England might want to review this short list of current terminology.  A detailed article in  Wikipedia  categorizes the differences and indicates some of the historical influences, and gives a nice table relating to educational grade terminology.  Google will find many more helpful discussions.

You know, I do speak the Queens English. It’s just the wrong Queens that’s all. It’s over the 59th Street Bridge.  It’s not over the Atlantic Ocean. ~Cyndi Lauper

Upcoming Schedule

April 12th

Shannon
Ciuin
Nick

April 19th

Nick
Lynda ?
Dylan

April 26th

Shannon
Dylan (unless someone wants it)
Open slot

May 3rd

Tyree
Nick
Open slot

Keep Writing,
Bill