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