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