Next Noble Pen Meeting

Oct 25th, 2018 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

An essay discusses H. P. Lovecraft (wikipedia), whose writing is fundamental to the horror genre, and finds his personal attitudes horrifying.

Victories

Randy is not getting a response about a signing he thought might happen in Decorah, but has a store in Dubuque interested in doing on in the spring.

Jesse submitted a very personal essay.

Ciuin evaluated alternatives for fight scenes.

Logan is rewriting a novella from years ago.

Education

Some authors start at the beginning of a story, without much of a plan, and see what develops.   They write “by the seat of their pants,” to use a metaphor that came from pilots who stay oriented by their senses instead of by instruments.  They let the story develop as it seems to need to go.

John Irving says he always knows where he’s headed, though it would appear from the interview that he doesn’t necessarily know how he will get there.  Still others know every step of the way before writing any scenes.  Each writer needs to try various advice to find what works for them.

Jan Ellison offers some tips.  I particularly like her point that you need to get to the end of the story before you spend time polishing parts of it.  That approach is consistent with the Snowflake Method.  It’s hard to bring yourself to tear up a beautiful chapter when you find later that the plot needed to go a different direction.  There are many ways or levels of detail to outline, from a strict structure to a loose summary of the story.

Which are you, or can you take a middle road?

Upcoming Schedule

Oct 25
Rebecca
Logan
Randy

Nov 1
Logan
Jesse
Ciuin

Nov 8
Nick
Logan
Aime

Nov 15
Open slots

Nov 22
Thanksgiving – no meeting

Keep Writing,
Bill