Next Noble Pen Meeting

June 28th, 2018 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

We are becoming dependent on software for more and more functions vital to our way of life, from the functioning of our cars to the delivery of electric power to homes and businesses.  A journalist looks at our vulnerability.  There’s probably a novel or a few in that idea.

Victories

Ciuin wrote more on Chessmaster.  She found two readers and at least one is a big fan.

Stacie found reader for her story.

Education

Sometimes a sentence can get a general idea across, but doesn’t precisely express what was in the writer’s mind, or is awkward to read.  Finding the right word can make for better communication.  K. M. Weiland has some advice on this.

When you are looking for that exact word, a thesaurus can be helpful, either as a book from your shelf, in your word processor, or as on-line tools.

But as Richard Nordquist warns, you have to be careful to choose that word.  Just grabbing one (or worse, more) out of the list of synonyms can leave you far off the mark if you don’t understand the nuances.  “Ann endured a tedious wait to be seen by the councilor” should not become “Ann permitted an irksome dally to be perceived by the assemblyman.”  Yet those substitutions are all synonyms in some sense.

Don’t inflate your sentences with bigger words. “Her brother brought the picnic party food in his car” could turn into “Her male sibling conveyed the outdoor celebratory comestibles in his automobile.”

Upcoming Schedule

Jun 28
Aime
Uriah
Randy

Jul 5
Nick
Stacie S.
Ciuin

Jul 12
Logan
Open slots

Jul 19
Open slots

Jul 26
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill