Next Noble Pen Meeting

August 27th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Attendance has hit both highs and lows recently.  We need your participation when you can make it.

Victories

Cassie has made good progress with her Christmas paranormal romance, by adding 2000 more words.  She found the certificate from a Young Writers conference she attended in 5th grade, and it gives her inspiration.

Dylan had a 10,000-word writing weekend.

Education

Should you use adverbs?  Most advice says yes, but in moderation.  Adverbs aren’t only words ending in -ly, but include any modifier of an adjective or verb, including adverbial phrases.

They are overdone if they are being used in place of active verbs, strong dialog, and good adjectives.   For the choice  (“Hurry,” he said loudly.),  or (“Hurry,” he yelled.)  the strong verb is better than the adverb. “Very” is an adverb that rarely adds anything to a sentence.

There are times when an adverb is the best choice.  “An overly long phone call upset her schedule,” “He entered silently,” and “He ate quickly” make good use of adverbs.

Here are some references about adverbs:
A summary sheet
Basic explanation of adjectives and adverbs
A list of 3732 adverbs (just in case you didn’t think they were numerous)
Use Carefully
What’s so Bad about Adverbs?

Upcoming Schedule

Aug 27
Tyree
Cassie

Sept 3
Dylan
Cassie
Dylan’s lesson on POV

Sept 10
Open slots

Sept 17
Open slots

Sept 24
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill