Next Noble Pen Meeting

July 2nd, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

What if Chaucer had Twitter?   Someone is writing with that premise.  It’s not exactly quotes from the past, as shown by phrases such as “thy portable xboxe CCCLX.”

Victories

Tyree’s Bombay Sapphire is out in print.  One of his stories was accepted for a Lovecraft-themed anthology.  He now has a smart phone and knows how to use several features.

Barbara has her computer set up in the new house and is ready to write again.

Laura submitted chapter 4 of the Avon contest, and then found ways to improve it before the revision cutoff.  She also submitted an optional cover artwork.

Education

Giving effective critiques is an art in itself, and is fraught with interpersonal complexities.  Melissa Donovan offers some advice on giving effective but diplomatic critiques.  Here’s a list of topics to think about in writing a critique.

Sometimes it is hard to accept critiques after you worked so hard on a piece.   Pia Padukone tells about how hard it was for her to accept criticism, and how she got over it.  Here are Melissa Donovan’s thoughts.

You need to consider that there are many opinions out there, and you are trying to write something that will hold the interest of as many readers as possible.  There is a rule of thumb that if one person says something, it’s just their opinion.  If two say it, you should expect that others may think the same thing.  If many people say it, you have to concede that they have a point.

In the end, after you consider all the opinions, you still can think about selected reviewers, “You’re not my target audience.”

Upcoming Schedule

Jul 2
Dylan
Eugenia

Jul 9
Laura
Tyree (?)

Jul 16
Nick
Open slot

Jul 23
Jed
Open slot

Jul 30
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 25th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Remember the old World Book or Britannica encyclopedias that ran thirty-some volumes?  Some guy estimates Wikipedia would take 7600 volumes.  The table of contents would be 91 volumes.  He is printing out a small part of it to add visual impact to a display and electronically formatting an illustration of what it would look like in the old print format.

–//–

Letters by Harper Lee, who was recently in the news over her long-shelved prequel for To Kill a Mockingbird, failed to sell with bidding of $90,000 failing to reach the reserve price.

Victories

Laura got constructive feedback on her Avon contest entry from two editors.

Dylan finished the draft of a 26k word commission.  He got a compliment on his dialog in Sand and Blood, and a positive review of another story.

Education

You may at some time get the opportunity to pitch your work in person to an agent or someone else who can help your chances of getting published.  Here are some questions you might not have thought to prepare answers for.

What questions should you ask an agent (or maybe research before any planned meeting)?  Here’s a large collection of links for dealing with agents.

Upcoming Schedule

Jun 25
Tyree
Aimee

Jul 2
Dylan
Open slot

Jul 9
Laura
Open slot

Jul 16
Nick
Open slot

Jul 23
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 18th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The European Union is now looking into Amazon’s ebook business practices.

Victories

Mark submitted another commissioned article.

Cassie wrote 5,000 words last week.  She got an email from an editor at Avon asking about her work in progress and inviting her to submit it when finished.  They like her writer’s voice as seen in the contest submissions.

Jo pulled out old material and improved it. Her husband likes the humor.

Education

You want your characters to seem real, so they need motivations, a little description, and individual characteristics.  Anne Leigh Parrish discusses  making characters plausible.  Characters need both good characteristics and flaws to seem real. Perfect saints are boring and not believable.  A “tough” character has appeal because they are able to handle what comes at them, but as Angela Ackerman points out, don’t go too far in making them insensitive, cynical, or otherwise nasty.   Even the old “hard boiled” detective usually had a soft spot to make them more relatable.  In another article, she categorizes character flaws.

Syndney Katt offers advice on creating flawed heroes and villains with redeeming characteristics and Anne Tyler talks about writing strong yet flawed characters.

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. ~Augusten Burroughs

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. ~Confucius

You see someone on the street, and essentially what you notice about them is the flaw. ~Diane Arbus

Upcoming Schedule

Jun 18
Eugenia
Jo

Jun 25
Tyree (?)
Aimee

Jul 2
Jo
Open slot

Jul 9
Open slots

Jul 16
Nick
Open slot

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 11th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Stephen King talks about what he reads and has liked in an interview.

Victories

Dylan gave a reading at WisCon.  He got a commission for a story.  His Sand and Blood got a review.

Nick wrote trip reports on his travels for the railfan mailing list.

Laura’s 2nd chapter in the Avon contest got comments from a well-known author and an Avon editor.

Jo found the group.  She has been reviewing much writing she had put on the shelf.

Ciuin sold a project for series of articles to City Revealed, and two stories for a small publisher.

Education

If you self-publish, you are responsible for the “cover” art, which you hope will have entice people to buy.  This site picks out ebook covers that they think don’t do a good job of selling.  Some of the titles could be improved, too.  See what you think.  And here’s another collection of questionable book covers.

Upcoming Schedule

Jun 11
Eugenia
Cassie

Jun 18
Eugenia
Jo

Jun 25
Tyree (?)
Aimee

Jul 2
Open slots

Jul 9
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill