Monthly Archives: May 2014

The Noble Pen for June 5, 2014

Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 5th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The battle for the book market continues, as Amazon is accused of selectively delaying or dropping books to punish some publishers.  (Another report.)   Amazon defends their position.

Victories

Tyree got a new computer and has (mostly) figured out how to use it.  He can now open .doc files.  He was annoyed, and worried about privacy, by its default of saving everything to the cloud and got that changed.

Ciuin has broken down the revisions needed to Petty Theft into a manageable list.  She has organized all critiques of the beta submission for efficient implementation, and has decided to fix a timeline discrepancy to match the historical information.

Education

Writing groups have proven helpful to many writers.   Cassie pointed out a recent article in Writers Digest that surveys several, and they feature several more in an on-line supplement, each having its own character, operating methods, and even purposes.

You can also find some on-line places (here or here, for example) to give and get critiques.  Practicing the giving of good critiques and comparing your analysis to others can be helpful in improving your own writing.  You need to be careful to not “publish” your material by making too much of it available to the world at large.

Noble Pen has evolved to our current Member Guide, which we follow in general, but frequently not with precision, and it seems to be working most of the time.

Here’s another discussion of writing groups.  I like to think we fall in the “Circle of Friends” category described there, but we need to keep alert that we don’t drift into another category.

Upcoming Schedule

June 5th
Nick
Jed
Tyree

June 12th
Aimee
Ciuin
Jed

June 19th
Open slots

June 26th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

The Noble Pen for May 29, 2014

Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 29th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Dictionary makers respond to changes in the language.  In an aggressive move, Merriam-Webster added 150 words this year, more than usual.

Victories

Dylan is proud to announce the publication of Sand and Blood.

Cassie worked on the plan for the sequel to Blue Moon Baby.

Tyree planned the last scene for Bombay Sapphire and has ideas for sequels.

Ciuin did some writing and is coming to terms with the revisions needed in Petty Theft.

Education

Do your characters have an easy time of it?  That’s not very interesting to readers, who usually expect to see tension and conflict before the resolution.  Brian Klems suggests ways to Push Your Characters to Their Limits.  Here he suggests some tools to spice up the tension.

One finds limits by pushing them. ~Herbert Simon

If you’ve ever found yourself pushed to the limits of your tolerance… you find yourself doing some things that, from the outside, can be seen as quite insane. ~Brandon Lee

The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless. ~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Upcoming Schedule

May 29th
Tyree
Ciuin
Jed

June 5th
Nick
Jed
Tyree (if no one else wants it)

June 12th
Open slots

June 19th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

The Noble Pen for May 22, 2014

Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 22nd, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

An author collected comments about publishing first novels.  It takes quality, luck, and perseverance.

Victories

Tyree got a royalty check for his steampunk story.  It was more than enough to buy dinner.

Ciuin is out of school for the summer, so will have lots of time to write.  She was asked to draft material for people to refer to when writing to the United Nations to encourage inclusion of Romany in the Holocaust remembrance.

Aimee has done lots of story planning.

Education

Ralan was mentioned at the meeting for providing a list of markets for SF authors.

–//–

What do you do with numbers, times, and money in your story?  Dylan found this excellent summary of rules.  There may be some variation in style guides, but it is a good starting point.

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. ~Steven Wright
I disliked numbers, and they didn’t think much of me either. ~R.J. Anderson

Upcoming Schedule

May 22nd
Ciuin
Tyree
Cassie

May 29th
Tyree
Ciuin
Jed

June 5th
Nick
Open slots

June 12th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

The Noble Pen for May 15, 2014

Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 15th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The summer (northern hemisphere) edition of Science Fiction News is available.

Victories

Ciuin took an on-line vocational test and it said she should be a writer.  She has finished reading a book.

Shannon did his reading at DemiCon and sold books to 33% of his audience.

Tyree now has 17k words done on Bombay Sapphire, which is about 60% of the intended length.

Education

Zachary Petit has a list of 15 things a writer should never do.  Chuck Wendig has 25 things. These guys list 40 (despite their title).

Okay, enough negatives.  Karen Ball has 10 things you SHOULD do and Chuck has 25 things you should do.

Upcoming Schedule

May 15th
Aimee
Nick
Tyree

May 22nd
Ciuin
Open slots

May 29th
Tyree
Open slots

June 5th
Nick
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

The Noble Pen for May 8, 2014

Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 8th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Tess Gerritsen, author of a book titled Gravity, sold movie rights to her book in 1999.  The recent hit movie of that name shares some settings and characteristics with that book (e.g.,  a woman doctor astronaut trying to get home from a space station), but the screenplay also has major differences (the cause of the disaster and other events).  She is suing Warner Brothers for breach of contract and a hefty sum because the movie does not say it was based on her book as required by her contract and she didn’t get a share. (A similar report)  It will be interesting to see how much effect her public quote, that the movie was so different it wasn’t based on her book, has on the case.  Authors, make sure your movie rights are clearly defined.

Victories

Tyree had good sales at two conventions.

Shannon will present a reading at DemiCon on Friday evening May 2.

Education

Mike Sager has twenty-five tips to make you a better writer.  He focuses on non-fiction writers, but most of his list also applies to fiction.  This is a modification of his list of fifty-one tips for reporters.

Upcoming Schedule

May 8th
Ciuin
Janice
Tyree ??

May 15th
Aimee
Nick
Tyree

May 22nd
Open slots

May 29th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill