Next Noble Pen Meeting

Nov 8th, 2018 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

You don’t often read a review that says a story about a murder on the moon got lost in info dumps and lectures and comes across as “a TED Talk being given in the middle of a car chase.”  It’s a lesson I have to keep reminding myself of.

Victories

Aime signed up for NaNoWriMo, where the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November, and also talked her sister into it.

Ciuin gave a lesson on clear writing to her museum class.

Education

Do you need a prologue for your novel?  They are somewhat controversial and usually avoidable.

The best use of one is hen it takes place in a different time or place than the rest of the story, and perhaps does not involve the main character.   The challenge is to make it interesting, since the real story hasn’t started yet, to avoid an info dump, and to transition easily into chapter 1.

The controversial nature is shown by the number of  discussions of them on writing forums.  Another thread suggests some people skip them, which could make the rest of the story confusing for them.  Often a prologue could just as well be chapter 1.  Other times they should be deleted and their information woven into the story as needed or used as a flashback.

Upcoming Schedule

Nov 8
Nick
Logan
Aime

Nov 15
Rebecca
Logan
Randy

Nov 22
Thanksgiving – no meeting

Nov 29
Aime
Ciuin
Open slot

Dec 6
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill