Next Noble Pen Meeting

May 4th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Author Robert M. Pirsig died recently at age 88.  He is known for his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  That book was rejected by 121 publishers before one accepted it and it became a best seller, a fact that might give aspiring authors some hope.

Victories

Randy’s book Sins of Intent is on presale at Amazon and he received the first shipment of print books.  His author web site is live.

Dylan has the proof copy of Sand and Bone, which completes the Rutejìmo series.

Education

Backstory can be problematic for authors.  The reader may need to know some facts about the characters and situations but will probably get bored if you start with the story of their lives.  It is usually better to start where the significant conflict, action, and tension begin.  That leaves the problem of getting the backstory facts into the narrative, but interrupting the flow for pages of history is also a way to lose readers.

Karen Dionne discusses how she approaches backstory, trying to time it and achieve a balance between flow and needed information.  Eleanor Henderson thinks it is crucial to have sufficient backstory, but agrees that it is important to present it carefully.  C.G. Blake considers how much backstory is too much and gives an example of how a little dialog can do as much as paragraphs of backstory.

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Look at Austen. In her novels, you get a dance, followed by an encounter, followed by a letter, then a period of solitude. No flashbacks and no backstory. Let’s have no more back story! ~Colm Toibin

Upcoming Schedule

May 4
Nick
Clay
Ian

May 11
Dakota
Open slots

May 18
Open slots

May 25
Open slots

Jun 1
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

April 27th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Here’s an article on how the dictionary evolves.

Victories

Randy has three sections done for his author web site.

Clay bought a printer to use for his writing.

Dakota has the final cover for her book that will release in June.

Education

Successful authors sometimes give advice.  Brain Pickings has collected this list from David Ogilvy, one from playwright Henry Miller, and several other authors.

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Writers are generally advised to avoid semicolons outside of academic work.  You can always get along without them.  Here’s an explanation of how they might be correctly used.  This forum discussion considers when a semicolon might be appropriate and where famous authors have used them.

Upcoming Schedule

Apr 27
Dakota
Randy
Exercise led by Riley (carried over)

May 4
Nick
Clay
Open slot

May 11
Open slots

May 18
Open slots

May 25
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

April 20th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The Pulitzer prizes for 2017 have been announced.

Victories

Randy’s novel proof arrived and it looks good.

Dylan has Sand and Bone typeset and ready to publish.

Riley’s publisher liked his short story.

Dakota wrote every day this past week.

Ciuin was asked to speak to school kids to encourage writing.

Education

Action and fight scenes are an important part of many stories.  There needs to be more to the story than the action, of course, with motivations, personalities, emotional conflict, interpersonal relations, and change in the characters often making important contributions to the story.  Linda Adams discusses some of the considerations.

But when the action goes down, how do you set it up and describe it?  Action usually is carried best by short sentences to imply a fast pace. This is not the time to give setting or character background.  Simple sensory detail without over-describing, no passive voice, few adverbs, and selected action verbs will convey the excitement.  Robert Wood tells how he approaches action scenes.

Make the battle(s) important to the plot, with high stakes, and not just the script of a video game with one unrelated fight after another.   Can you make the hero’s fate in doubt or does the reader know he will emerge unscathed?    Fonda Lee emphasizes that the fight scene must serve a plot purpose.

Upcoming Schedule

Apr 20
Uriah (prior submission plus more)
Riley
Exercise led by Riley

Apr 27
Open slots

May 4
Nick
Dakota
Open slot

May 11
Open slots

May 18
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

April 13th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The Philadelphia Writers Conference is in June, and the deadline for sign up is approaching.  Ciuin had a good experience there in a prior year.

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An author has tracked down the origin of many quotes wrongly attributed to more famous authors such as Twain.

Victories

Dakota went to a Writers House meeting.  She will do a signing in Des Moines in August.

Nick wrote a train spotting report.

Uriah started Part 2 of his book.

Education

How do you know if your story is finished?  Well, actually, nothing is ever as nearly perfect as it could be, but when you think it’s close you need to stop and examine it dispassionately.  Chris Robley offers a checklist to help you decide if it is good enough.  And here’s another list.  And another.  Stephanie Gayle talks about what her novel needed after she thought it was finished.

Upcoming Schedule

Apr 13
Dakota
Riley
Uriah

Apr 20
Uriah
Open slots

Apr 27
Open slots

May 4
Nick
Open slots

May 11
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

April 6th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

A recent book shows how Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables had an interesting history.

Victories

Dylan has completed the final edits for Sand and Bone.

Dakota sold 14 books at her last signing.

Cassie finished the first draft of a love scene she thought would kill her, as those usually take a lot of thought and go slowly.

Education

Baihley Grandison says writing about some topics is good for your health.  However, you still need to take care of yourself and not let long writing sessions, poor posture, sleep deficiency, or poor diet get you down.

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Interesting characters can be critical to a book’s success.  They need to be developed, but not necessarily all at once.  Don’t introduce the reader to everyone at a party in the first chapter.  Let us meet them one or a few at a time.  This article suggests giving each character some distinctive characteristic for people to remember them by, and has links to further explore the subject.  David Corbett offers some advice on developing characters as the story progresses.

A fiction writer must get to know all their characters.  Some writers may plan out everything ahead of time, including character sheets (or here) that record every detail.  Others will start writing and let the characters develop.  At some point you need to be sure the characters are self-consistent and sufficiently filled out to be interesting.  Many guides and questionnaires out there can help.

The full biographies and backstories of your characters don’t need to be included in your narrative, but references to prior events in their lives can explain motivations and keep the characters interesting.  Knowing their goals will help the story develop.

Upcoming Schedule

Apr 6
Nick
Laura
Uriah

Apr 13
Dakota
Open slots

Apr 20
Open slots

Apr 27
Open slots

May 4
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill