Next Noble Pen Meeting

July 10th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Watch your punctuation.  It could haunt your readers for a long time.  As I write this on Independence Day weekend, I noticed an article about a continuing dispute over a period in the Declaration of Independence.

Victories

Cassie finished two chapters, is working on the next, and has planned the following one.

Dylan submitted a short story and wrote 20 K words on another story.  A fan asked for a sequel and another said he had read everything he has published under that pen name.

Jed wrote three chapters.

Jen found the group, inspired to see what she could learn after getting a short story published in an anthology.

Education

Writers Digest has a good article on storytelling techniques.  While focused on science fiction and fantasy, there is a lot to be gained for other genres.  It is important to give the reader enough information to follow the story, without overloading them with too much disconnected data to remember.

An important method is giving information by implication.  If the characters know something, so they speak and act accordingly, then the reader can often pick up that information without being “told”.  I’m very fond of the example from Heinlein that I quoted a couple years ago, showing how a few lines of dialog paints the outline of the world the characters live in.  This technique helps a lot with finding words to leave out, while still giving the reader what they need.

The best artists know what to leave out. ~Charles de Lint

The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in. ~Henry Green

Upcoming Schedule

July 10th
Tyree
Cassie
Jed

July 17th
Nick
Tyree
Jed

July 24th
Laura
Ciuin
Jed

July 31st
Ciuin
Jen
Open slot

Keep Writing,
Bill