Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 4th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

In a group discussion, most agreed that when the author wants to ask specific questions about voice, plot, character development, etc. putting those questions in the submission file rather than the email will probably produce a better response.

Also, it would be advantageous for submissions on stories that haven’t been up recently to contain a brief summary of where we are in the story before the actual submission, just to get readers back on track.

Victories

Mark’s second commissioned article on gaming was submitted, edited, and quickly published.

Cassie wrote 1800 words toward Chapter 2 of the Avon contest.

Laura submitted her Chapter 2.

Ciuin wrote nearly 2K words on Vampire House, rewrote 4 chapters of Stories of Paris, and worked on cleanups and a plot hole in Petty Theft.  She was tempted to write another school paper just out of habit, but since the semester is over, it wouldn’t get her another A.

Education

A surprising number of stories fit well into the structure of The Hero’s Journey (wikipedia) and they aren’t all epic fantasies.   Vladimir Propp was one of the pioneers of the idea as applied to folk tales.  Elizabeth Sims discusses the structure and how a Sherlock Holmes story fits it.   Here’s another comparison using Star Wars and The Matrix.

Upcoming Schedule

Jun 4
Dylan
Ciuin

Jun 11
Eugenia
Cassie

Jun 18
Open slots

Jun 25
Tyree (?)
Aimee

Jul 2
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill