Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 29th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Here’s a dismal view of the future of publishing.

Victories

Tyree submitted Wolf to a publisher.

Ciuin wrote another protest letter.

Cassie addressed tension issues in a chapter and ended up doubling its length.  She asked someone to be a beta reader, and they said they’d rather do copy edits for her.

Education

If you as a writer are taking your reader back to historical times, you don’t need a sci-fi machine, but you do need a heavy dose of research.

The first problem is making the earlier times seem right to readers who may not have a lot of detailed knowledge of it.  For them, you need references that they will recognize.  Mention of horseless carriages will take most people back to the early 20th century.  Fallout shelters may bring the 1950’s to mind to older people, but younger ones may not have heard of them. Black and white TV might work better for them.  Party lines (that’s several houses on the same wired phone line) may be a foreign concept to younger folks.   Listening to Elvis and Buddy Holly might work for more people.

The second problem is avoiding anachronisms.  The people who do know the historical period will burn your book (and your ratings) if you get things wrong.    How silly would it look to have a detective in 1982 Google an address on his smart phone?  We all know that not only didn’t he have a cell phone, he is unlikely to have a home computer, and there was no internet.  Did they use forks at dinner in 1200 AD?  Research it.   Could the fur trapper back from the wilds take a train?  Not at the height of the fur trade era.  Could the Civil War soldier zip his coat?  Not by decades.

Names should be chosen from those in use at the time.  A World War II widow named Brittney or Aimee just wouldn’t be believed, any more than a 2005 graduate named Agnes, Mabel,  Mildred, or Archibald.

And the characters’ language must avoid more recent jargon, slang, and common expressions.  As this article says, a reference to a person who did not fit into 1850 society would not be “What planet is he from?” A medieval peasant would not say an easy job was a piece of cake.

Characters’ attitudes and world view (there’s a modern term) may be even harder to deal with than their words, particularly when dealing with the interaction of different social classes.

Tessa Arlen has recommendations for getting the time right.  Kate Nagy has good comments about what might be overlooked and what won’t.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 29
Tyree
Greg
Cassie

Feb 5
Aimee
Ciuin ?
Tyree ?

Feb 12
Open slots

Feb 19
Eugenia
Laura
Open slot

Feb 26
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 22nd, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Science Fiction News is available for Spring (Northern Hemisphere) 2015, although it seems to be a little early to be thinking of spring.

Victories

Cindy has an article in February’s St. Lukes Health Beat Magazine.

Dylan’s article on magical resonance is published.

Tyree submitted Bombay Sapphire II.

Nick got his western back from his editor.  His postman article was accepted for publication.

Education

Plot twists, including surprise endings, are an effective tool for keeping readers entertained.  However, they need to be carefully crafted so the reader accepts them as believable developments in the plot.  Ideally, no one should see it coming, but in hindsight everybody should say that the evidence was there to support it.   Wikipedia breaks them down into several types. Steven James discusses plot twists in more detail. Here is a longer list of types with examples.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 22
Aimee
Ciuin
Tyree

Jan 29
Tyree
Greg
Open slot

Feb 5
Open slots

Feb 12
Open slots

Feb 19
Eugenia
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 15th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

NPR offers their “best books of 2014″ list sorted by category.  They also have links for prior years.

Victories

Tyree finished Bombay Sapphire II and started III.  He also wrote another chapter of a different story.

Dylan’s article on magical resonance was accepted for the Alban Lake magazine Outposts of Beyond, and Victim of Love for Trysts of Fate.

Jed’s Castalia is being published at the beginning of February.

Barb (welcome back) sent a story to beta readers.

Cassie made a breakthrough on a scene that was giving her trouble for too long.

Ciuin wrote 2000 words on a story and continues to make progress editing Petty Theft.

Education

Writing isn’t easy.  This tutorial discusses some hurdles that frequently trip beginners.  Here’s a list of most common mistakes that lead to rejection.

The Immerse or Die critic (who reviewed Dylan’s Sand and Blood last fall) believes a good story doesn’t have anything that breaks the reader’s immersion.  He published a list of the things that most often took him out of stories.  Topping his list was weak mechanics, followed closely by unnatural actions by the characters and too-frequent repetition of words or phrases.  Those, along with illogical worlds and info dumps, accounted for half of the problems.  He found the issues fell about equally among world-building, storytelling, and editing problems.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 15
Tyree
Greg
Nick

Jan 22
Aimee
Ciuin
Open slot

Jan 29
Tyree
Greg
Open slot

Feb 5
Open slots

Feb 12
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 8th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Amazon’s all-you-want-to-read subscription is drawing complaints from authors who earn less because of it.

–//–

Never give up.  Edith Pearlman sold occasional short stories for 27 years before she was able to get a book published.

Victories

Most of us survived the holidays, and some did write.  I know that Ciuin has been working on Petty Theft edits.

Education

Word repetition is a common problem for writers.  In the early drafts you are working at getting the story told in any words that come to mind.  As you revise, you need to notice when you are overworking a word and find a way to rephrase, use a pronoun, or find a synonym.  Ben Yagoda has some tips.  The more common words can be repeated more often.

Repetition can also be used for desirable effects such as emphasis, rhythm, and mood.  More discussion here.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 8
Eugenia
Greg
Ciuin

Jan 15
Tyree
Greg
Nick

Jan 22
Cindy?
Aimee
Ciuin

Jan 29
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 8th, 2015 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The calendar has conspired to put two holidays on our meeting days.  See you in January.

–//–

New data gathered automatically from e-book devices suggests that a lot of books sold are not read to the end.  A British company reports that 44% of the people who purchased a Pulitzer winner as an e-book finished it, and one best-seller 28%.   Even the most-read genres averaged only a little over 60% .  Remember, Big Brother is watching you read.

Victories

Tyree wrote more on Bombay Sapphire II and on two short stories.

Ciuin got an A on the last essay of one class, but isn’t sure about the instructor’s checking methods.

Dylan made a book cover for the Journal stories.

Education

A fiction writer must get to know all their characters.  Some writers may plan out everything ahead of time, including character sheets (or here) that record every detail.  Others will start writing and let the characters develop.  At some point you need to be sure the characters are self-consistent and sufficiently filled out to be interesting.  Many guides and questionnaires out there can help.

The full biographies and backstories of your characters don’t need to be included in your narrative, but references to prior events in their lives can explain motivations and keep the characters interesting, and knowing their goals will help the story develop.

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 25
Christmas – no meeting

Jan 1
New Year’s Day – no meeting

Jan 8
Eugenia
Greg
Ciuin

Jan 15
Tyree
Nick
Greg

Jan 22
Cindy?
Aimee
Ciuin

Jan 29
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 18th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest will open soon.  Here’s the 2014 FAQ.  Winning, or even making it into the later rounds, is a huge achievement for an author.

Victories

Tyree finished writing Wolf, and has only minor tweaks left to do.

Ciuin wrote all night on a 3,000 word paper and visual presentation, but the instructor can’t open her file.  She got an A- on a paper.

Aimee is getting a lot of writing done in idle moments.

Education

Every story requires some world building.  Even those stories that take place in our present day world, or its history, have to select where it is placed, who is involved, and which cultural aspects are significant to the story.

Writing SF/F or alternate history does free you to have different elements (wikipedia-worldbuilding), but David Hair lists thirteen  basic principles that will usually apply in any world of people.  Using most of those rules will make the story more believable to readers.  Breaking one or more can make your story interesting.

Fiction Factor lists a bunch of resources for world builders.

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 18
Cindy
Cassie
Dylan
Mark (hold-over from Dec 11)

Dec 25
Christmas – no meeting

Jan 1
New Year’s Day – no meeting

Jan 8
Eugenia
Greg
Ciuin

Jan 15
Tyree
Cindy
Greg

Jan 22
Nick
Aimee
Ciuin

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 11th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

This week is our annual conflict with a large party at Scott’s.  We expect to grab any available space on the opposite side of the restaurant, so look for us there and be prepared to squeeze in.

Victories

Tyree has finished the draft of Wolf.

Dylan wrote on stories in eight (8) genres last week.

Ciuin wrote a thousand words on a short story.

Education

Prologues are somewhat controversial, as shown by the number of discussions that occur on writing forums.  See this thread.  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.

The best use for a prologue is when 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, keep it from being an info dump, and transition easily into chapter 1.

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 11 (opposite side of restaurant)
Aimee
Mark
Tyree

Dec 18
Cindy
Cassie
Dylan

Dec 25
Christmas – no meeting

Jan 1
New Year’s Day – no meeting

Jan 8
Eugenia
Greg
Open Slot

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 4th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The first “comprehensive and annotated” autobiography of Laura Ingalls Wilder will hit the stores soon.   Called Pioneer Girl, it is a project of the South Dakota Historical Society.  She wrote down much of the gritty detail of her life before writing the fiction series of Little House books, which draw on her life but are dramatized with made-up characters and events.  Now the autobiographical material has been published and supported by research.

Victories

I’m sure everyone got a lot of writing done.

Education

Passive voice (wikipedia) is usually not the most effective way to express the exciting events of a story, but it can have its place.

Passive means that the object of the action is put in the place where you expect a subject, as in “The letter was written by me.”  The object – the thing written- starts the sentence where you expect a subject.  This changes the emphasis from who did it to what was done.

The passive sentence “The bank was approached by the stealthy conspirators” probably has the emphasis in the wrong place.  We need to pay more attention to the conspirators than the bank, which is just sitting there, and active voice helps us do that, as “The stealthy conspirators approached the bank.”

Sometimes passive voice is appropriate; “the letter” could be the most important to the idea being expressed rather than the writer.  “The letter was written by me, but the enclosed poem was not.”  Another use of passive voice, particularly in scholarly writing, is to talk about a result while avoiding the mention of who caused the action, which may be unimportant or unknown.  “A new cancer drug was developed that year.”  “The bank was robbed last week.”  The wikipedia article gives more discussion of when passive is appropriate.

Note that not every form of the verb “to be” is passive.  (Part 2) In particular, the progressive (also called continuous) tenses are active, as in “I was running.”  Also note that running is still an active verb in this case, not a gerund (noun form) as it would be in “Running makes me ache.”

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 4
Tyree
Ciuin
Cassie

Dec 11
Aimee
Mark
Eugenia

Dec 18
Cindy
Cassie
Dylan (?)

Dec 25
Christmas – no meeting

Jan 1
New Year’s Day – no meeting

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 4th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Most employers are giving their people Thursday off to work on their writing.  Consequently, we will not meet and interrupt that important work.

–//–

Fairy tales tend to have mild versions of the bad guys, but a new translation shows that wasn’t always so and they may have been rather Grimm, er… grim.

Victories

Dylan received two reviews of Sand and Blood.  Unfortunately they weren’t as positive as he hoped.

Ciuin made progress on edits of Petty Theft.

Cassie edited a lot on Dreams in Red.  She added two scenes to BMB, now renamed Kiss the Rain to fit with a scheme for a series.  She has also made plans to redo a short story as a novella.

Education

As we approach the end of the year, it is a good time to think about anything you might want to do that affects your taxes, and to be sure your records are organized.  Writers may wonder if they can deduct writing-related expenses.  Your tax preparer can assess your particular situation, but this article gives some general things to consider.

If you have have enough income from writing sales to qualify as a business, your directly related expenses are probably deductible, for example printer cartridges, paper, writing tutorial books, postage for submissions, and travel (solely) to promote a published book.   See Publication 535.  Your new computer or dedicating a home office to writing are trickier, and you should consult an expert.

Unfortunately, most of those expenses come before a new writer has significant sales.  It is risky to claim a loss from a sideline “business” activity.   See Publication 535.  The IRS may permit this at first, but if you don’t show a profit within a small number of years you will probably owe taxes and interest for back years as they disallow the loss as a hobby and probably conduct an audit.

You might think it only fair that you could deduct hobby expenses up the amount of hobby income.  Nope.  All hobby income is supposed to be reported, but the expenses are an itemized deduction (only useful if your deductions total more than standard deduction) and then only the part exceeding 2% of your total income

That means that if your writing is classified as a hobby, your $500 in sales is taxable income, but your $499 expenses probably won’t end up affecting your deductions.  Sucks, doesn’t it?

Upcoming Schedule

Nov 27
Thanksgiving – no meeting

Dec 4
Tyree
Ciuin
Cassie

Dec 11
Aimee
Mark
Eugenia

Dec 18
Cindy
Cassie
Dylan (?)

Dec 25
Christmas – no meeting

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

November 20th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Welcome to Cindy, who found the group.

–//–

A font intended to help dyslexics with their reading is getting new attention.  More information at www.dyslexiefont.com.

Victories

Cassie wrote for a whole day, editing five chapters and adding 1,625 words.

Mark wrote 4,000 words in one day.

Ciuin got another A on a paper.  Maybe we should just have her tell us when she doesn’t.

Nick wrote a 5,000 word report for the train spotters.

Dylan sold more books to coworkers.

Education

All writers can benefit from good beta readers.  An interesting essay discusses three types of beta readers and when you want each. Which are you, Generalist, Shredder, or SpaGster, or a combination?  Here’s another take on what makes a good beta reader.

Upcoming Schedule

Nov 20
Dylan
Mark
Eugenia

Nov 27
Thanksgiving – no meeting

Dec 4
Tyree
Ciuin
Cassie

Dec 11
Aimee
Mark
Eugenia

Dec 11
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill