Next Noble Pen Meeting

April 2nd, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Be sure to come and hear our guest speaker this week.  We have no critiques, so use the usual reading time for writing.

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Cleanreader (home page) is a recent program for e-reader devices that censors the material at one of three chosen levels.  It substitutes “nicer” words for profane, scatological, anatomical, and sexual terms that some people may not want to see or want their children to see.   They quickly learned that they could not re-distribute modified books, but their app to modify the reader’s display is apparently legal.  Google shows thousands of hits for the reaction to the app.

Some authors are quite graphic about being upset that their books will not be read as they were written, calling it censorship and modification without consent.  Some disagree  about the messages being sent to readers by someone else’s opinion of what should be included.  It has its defenders, even among those who think it is a stupid idea.

A problem with the app is that substitution of general words for many terms creates confusion.   What happens if a character in an entirely “clean” book is named Dick, orders chicken breast or wiener schnitzel for lunch, is a dog breeder with a favorite bitch, prays to Jesus, happens to prick his finger on something sharp, and has to check M or F sex on an application?  This article lists some of the substitutions.

Even reading the Bible might be a little strange if you forget to turn off the app as the sinners get darned to heck or saved by Geez.  There are problems in a few cases with the replacement word itself being sensitive for some.

They missed a lot of words similar to the ones they chose to redact, but have a link for readers to suggest additions to their list.

One could wonder what will happen in the future when it becomes practical to not only replace individual words, but to automatically paraphrase sentences or intentionally substitute not just blurred terminology, but entirely different meanings into what people read.

Victories

Dylan released an update of Sand and Blood as he moved to a different distributor.

Cassie has bound prints of Dreams in Red for her beta readers, and drafted a query letter.

Ciuin is writing for City Revealed again, beginning with an article in the April issue.  She got another perfect score on a school paper.

Education

“Show, don’t Tell” is a commonly stated maxim.  Wikipedia has a short article on it.  It certainly is good advice for most beginning writers, who usually tell too much.  Usually if it is important it should be shown.  Chuck Palahniuk is rather extreme on this point and suggests that even “thought” and “remembered” are too much tell.

Others say you need some balance.  To maintain pacing it is often necessary to tell the reader some things that would take too long to show, or are so trivial they would seem overemphasized by showing.  This article discusses balance.

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Upcoming Schedule

Apr 2
Stacy Green, author talk
If extra time, educational exercise.

Apr 9
Laura
Ciuin
Eugenia

Apr 16
Open slots

Apr 23
Open slots

Apr 30
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

March 26th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Some worried that Harper Lee was being manipulated, but a state agency says she was aware and approved of the publication of her tucked-away novel.

Victories

Dylan finished his Fictionary (see last week) and wrote backstory for every character in Sand and Blood.  He is moving S&B from Lulu to a new publisher which will improve his chances of getting into Barnes and Noble.

He also submitted it to Mark Lawrence, who has organized a group of reviewers to read self-published SFF books and select the best over the next few months.

We hear that Cassie is done editing Dreams in Red.

Education

Last week we saw opinions on how to create unique characters.  But after you get to know them, how do you describe your characters so that the reader can picture them?

Marg McAlister offers some hints on how to make the descriptions more effective.  Here are some sample descriptions from successful books.  Some descriptors are too general to be useful.

Les Edgerton says that you should give very minimal descriptions,  including any characteristics that are important to the story and perhaps some suggestive facts that give them individuality, but leaving out unnecessary detail.   Their actions can often better characterize them than pages of description.

Upcoming Schedule

Mar 26
Laura
Dylan
Eugenia

Apr 2
Stacy Green, author talk
If extra time, educational exercise.

Apr 9
Laura
Open slots

Apr 16
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

March 19th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Well-known author Terry Pratchett died recently after a decline over a few years with Alzheimer’s.

Victories

Dylan is working on a new file format to let him automate the creation of a dictionary for his books along the lines of thefictionary.net.

Nick submitted a piece for possible publication.

Education

The fiction writer needs to create characters that readers will understand and think of as real.  As we are sometimes reminded, stories are about people.  Readers don’t have to like the characters, who may not always be upstanding role models, but their motivations, feelings, and personalities need to come through.  This includes those in minor roles, too.

Here’s a brief list of things to ask about them.  You don’t want your character to be a cliche or stereotype, but it isn’t a bad practice to start with a stereotype and then develop and change them so they are more interesting.  There are countless web sites that offer character charts to help you invent the background and personality of the characters.  With combinations of these 447 traits, from able to zany, there is no excuse for having boring characters.

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. ~Hemingway

Upcoming Schedule

Mar 19
Dylan (double)
Aimee

Mar 26
Laura
Open slots

Apr 2
Stacy Green, author talk
If extra time, educational exercise.

Apr 9
Open slots

Apr 16
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

March 12th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

We have scheduled a talk by a local author on April 2.  Be thinking of what questions you might want to ask about her publishing experience and recommendations for aspiring authors.

Victories

Dylan sold a book to a VIP in his company.

Ciuin got an A on a school paper.

Nick submitted a piece to a publisher.

Education

The advice is often given to “write what you know.”  That works sometimes.  But maybe you are like me, and nobody else is interested in what you know.  Can you write what you don’t know?  Use your imagination?

If it is vampires, SF, or Fantasy, do you have to follow the lead of everyone else, and use the old tropes, or can you enlarge the genre with fresh ideas?

Of course, if the story is set in a real place and/or if it involves real professions or activities that you don’t know, some parts will have to be carefully researched.   But using real places and activities is ok if you draw something bigger out of them.  Bret Anthony Johnston says that you SHOULD draw on your experiences and knowledge, but not be limited by them.  Fiction can be stronger than a true story and you shouldn’t bind yourself to real events.

Upcoming Schedule

Mar 12
Laura
Dylan (double)

Mar 19
Dylan
Aimee
Ciuin

Mar 26
Dylan ?
Open slots

Apr 2
Stacy Green, author talk
If extra time, educational exercise.

Apr 9
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill