Next Noble Pen Meeting

October 5th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

A court case explores the limits of copyright for characters and parodies.

Victories

Aime finished the beta read for Ciuin.

Stacie S. has 50k words on Garden, out of an estimated final of 60k.

Eric journalled.

Ciuin wrote a new scene for Chessmaster.

Stacy H. is blogging.

Education

Charlie Jane Anders discusses seven types of story opening.  While she focuses on short stories, those same types can apply to longer pieces.

Scene setting was once a popular beginning, but today’s audiences seem to expect a minimum of scene setting before things happen, conflict is established, or something grabs their curiosity.  An interesting blog contrasts ACTION openings with ACTIVE openings.  You can have something going on without it being a battle or chase.

A forum post by “Arathald” uses the terms differently but expresses a similar idea:

Note that “action” doesn’t mean a fight scene or a car chase, it just means that something is happening. Maybe your character’s mother is crying, or his boss tells him he’s fired, or her credit card is declined at the fashion mall.

When I start like this, it makes it really easy to get into a story, instead of trying to figure out how to set it all up. This is also a great way to draw your readers in. Why is his mother crying? Did he really deserve to get fired, or is his boss just a jerk? How is she going to respond to her card getting declined, and how is she going to pay for that dress that she needs for the party? As mundane as these situations sound, they have a strong element of conflict, and that’s what you need to have a compelling opening and story.

Upcoming Schedule

October 5
Nick
Uriah
Stacy H

October 12
Laura
Ciuin
Eric

October 19
Dakota
Aime
Ciuin

October 26
Stacie S.
Stacy H.
Eric

November 2
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

September 28th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Sept 21 set a record attendance for recent months, with 11 participants.

–//–

The National Book Awards list of nominees is released.

Victories

Randy’s book was featured with a big spread in the Bellevue hometown newspaper.

Aime wrote new material and made progress on a beta read for Ciuin.

Dylan finished a commission with only a small overage in length.

Ciuin finished a school paper.  She wrote two sections of Chessmaster. She has 3 of 4 beta responses for Petty Theft and is going through them.  One was a former teacher with whom she had a good and long discussion.

Cassie’s Skin Deep ebook is on Amazon.

Eric journalled this week.

Education

Can good fiction follow a formula? John Steinbeck said there isn’t a formula for making stories good.  Formula fiction has a bad name.

But this article says that even using a formula, the stories don’t necessarily come out all the same, so there can be a range of quality from the same formula.  A Huffington Post article discusses successes and failures that can arguably be formulaic.

This formula for a 6,000 word mystery story (but the ideas might apply for 60,000 words) comes from Lester Dent, who is best known for writing about ten Doc Savage novels per year for 16 years under the pen name Kenneth Robeson.  Some of his ideas apply to any fiction, particularly the one that says once you get your protagonist in a lot of trouble, you should next double their woes.

These authors discuss several formulas.

This blog argues that formula or not, it is very important to balance several aspects.

Upcoming Schedule

September 28
Ciuin
Eric
Aime

October 5
Nick
Uriah
(Dylan if needed)

October 12
Laura
Ciuin
Eric

October 19
Dakota
Aime
Ciuin

October 26
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

September 21st, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Not everyone approves of the New York Times best seller list: NPR interviews an unhappy publisher.  The Washington Post story sees it differently

Victories

Dylan wrote 27,000 words for a commissioned piece.

Ciuin had an informative discussion on teaching minority languages with representatives from Kosovo and U of I.

Education

Setting is important for a story.  Courtney Carpenter discusses ten components of setting.

Josh Pahigian gives some reasons for setting your story in a famous place.  You have to know your territory and time period well, however, and it can be limiting because your characters’ movements and public exposure are constrained by the real culture and geography (unless you’re a successful author we won’t name who rearranged Rome for a key plot point).

You have much more freedom if you make up your setting, whether it is “Anywhere, USA” or Sirius 5, but then you are responsible for making it consistent with the expectations you raise in the reader.  Moira Allen has some advice on bringing the setting to life without stopping the story.

Every story would be another story, and unrecognizable if it took up its characters and plot and happened somewhere else… Fiction depends for its life on place. Place is the crossroads of circumstance. ~Eudora Welty

Upcoming Schedule

September 21
Aime
Uriah
Deanna

September 28
Ciuin
Eric
Aime?

October 5
Nick
Open slots

October 12
Open slots

October 19
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

September 14th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

If you don’t have enough to argue about, consider how to spell Shakespear(e).  A controversy has arisen on a campus.

Victories

Ciuin started edits on Petty Theft using what beta reader response she has.  She reworked a lot of Chessmaster.

A store requested Randy to do a signing.

Nick did cleanup edits.

Education

Writers Digest has an old but good article on storytelling techniques.  While focused on science fiction and fantasy, there is a lot to be gained for other genres.  It is important to give the reader enough information to follow the story, without overloading them with too much disconnected data to remember.  It’s a balancing act.  Generally you should not give the reader information until shortly before they need it.

An important method is giving information by implication.  If the characters know something, so they speak and act accordingly, then the reader can often pick up that information without being “told” and that makes the story flow smoother.  I’m very fond of the example from the opening of Heinlein’s story Free Men that I’ve quoted before, showing how a few lines of dialog paints the outline of the world the characters live in. He was an expert at immersing his reader in the world of the story without stopping to describe it.

“That makes three provisional presidents so far,” the Leader said. “I wonder how many more there are?” He handed the flimsy sheet back to the runner, who placed it in his mouth and chewed it up like gum.

The third man shrugged. “No telling. What worries me-“ A mockingbird interrupted. “Doity, doity, doity,” he sang. “Terloo, terloo, terloo, purty-purtypurty-purty.”

The clearing was suddenly empty

“As I was saying,” came the voice of the third man in a whisper in the Leader’s ear, “it ain’t how many worries me, but how you tell a de Gaulle from a Laval. See anything?”

“Convoy. Stopped below us.” The Leader peered through bushes and down the side of a bluff.

Notice that he does not tell you we are hiding in the woods with a resistance group in a country where a breakdown or conquest has splintered the loyalties of the population, because that can be inferred from the dialog and action.

This technique helps a lot with finding words to leave out, while still giving the reader what they need.

The best artists know what to leave out. ~Charles de Lint

The more you leave out, the more you highlight what you leave in. ~Henry Green

Upcoming Schedule

September 14
Randy
Ciuin

September 21
Aime
Uriah
Open slot

September 28
Aime?
Open slots

October 5
Nick
Open slots

October 12
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

September 7th, 2017 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Barnes and Noble’s Nook division is purging books they consider to be promoting deviant sexual practices , hate, or excessive violence under new guidelines.  Some reports indicate 50,000 titles were taken down. Some of the books had  sold for years on Nook. (More discussion)  Authors have had accounts terminated without warning, although some have been restored.  Paradoxically, print editions of these books and e-books of some well-known works that would seem to violate those standards (e.g., 50 Shades and Lolita) seem to still be available.  It isn’t clear at this point what/who prompted Nook’s actions.

–//–

Someone attempted to game the best seller lists.  Makes you wonder how often anyone gets away with similar tactics.

Victories

Ciuin received the comments from a beta reader on Petty Theft.  She wrote on another fiction piece.

Dylan wrote 15k words on a serial.

Randy’s book was chosen for a Bellevue reading group and they ordered 15 copies.

Education

How do you write numbers, times, and money in your story?  A while back, Dylan found this excellent summary of rules.  There may be some variation in style guides, but it is a good starting point.

I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done. ~Stephen Wright

–//–

On a slightly related note, if your story is not set in our real world or its imagined future, what do you use for time, money, volumes, and distances?  This brief article summarizes the options.

A year and a day are natural to any planet with a single sun, but will differ in length from our own.  It’s unlikely a tavern on the planet Glurg will serve refreshments in pints or liters, so you need to use mugs or steins.

Distances present more problems, as chains, meters, kilometers, and miles are all culturally defined.   Astronomical units, parsecs, and light years are based on the earth and our solar system.  Feet and cubits are natural measures but depend on the anatomy of the possibly alien characters.

This discussion thread and this one don’t reach consensus, but offer some food for thought.

Upcoming Schedule

September 7
Nick (long)
Deanna (long)
Passive voice exercise

September 14
Randy
Aime
Ciuin

September 21
Uriah
Open slots

September 28
Open slots

September 35
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill