Next Noble Pen Meeting

February 6th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Get your books published while people still know how to read.  A recent report shows “shocking levels” of illiteracy around the world.

Two poems have been identified as coming from ancient Greek poet Sappho (ca. 600 BC).  Despite her fame, very little of her work has survived.

Victories

Dylan received a rejection of Flight of the Scions from Harper Voyager, 15 months after submitting.  He also received three other rejections from various places on other work.  The real disappointment was that only one of them was personalized.

Cassie completely rearranged the scenes of Dreams In Red.

Education

You may come across the term “high concept story”.  This term doesn’t have a clear definition.  Brian Klems says it generally means the work embodies some original, imaginative ideas (what if …) and is easy enough to understand that it will attract a significant audience.  It must clearly tell a good story.  Steve Kaire mostly agrees with this. Nathan Bransford has a simpler, more negative view that focuses on the simple-to-understand aspect.

A high concept (in the positive sense) is a good start, but of course the story needs to be well-written and involve interesting characters in a good plot;  such a story is the essence of what an agent likes to see submitted.

–//–

I feel like the high-concept shows that have some kind of gimmick tend not to be the hit classic shows of all time.” ~Mindy Kaling

Right now it’s only a notion, but I think I can get the money to make it into a concept, and later turn it into an idea. ~Woody Allen

Sometimes a concept is baffling not because it is profound but because it is wrong. ~E. O. Wilson

Upcoming Schedule

Feb 6th
Aimee
Tyree
Nick

Feb 13th
Tyree (?)
Rachel
Cassie (?)

Feb 20th
More about commas
Barbara
Dylan (end of S&L)
Open slot

Feb 27th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 30th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

Victories

Rachel submitted a poem to the prestigious, literary publication The Iowa Review. Their current contest is open until January 31.

Janice’s story based on a song has been requested by the author of that song.

Tyree has done more writing on Aoife this week than any other week.

Ciuin is writing up a world-building exercise and story for a friend, who gets to decide after every scene what she would do next.

Education

It ain’t over until it’s over. ~Yogi Berra

Make sure your story has a good ending, so the reader won’t decide it’s over before finishing it.

The number one rule is: Don’t introduce any new characters or subplots in the last fifty pages of a novel.  The backstory should have been explained by now.  Anything there should at least been foreshadowed, or the reader may feel you’ve cheated them by not setting it up properly.

While much of the advice pertains to novels, even a short story needs an ending.

Make sure the protagonist is deeply involved in the resolution.  They need to be the catalyst for the resolution, and/or changed by the events.  It is not good for them to just watch the resolution or to be rescued; it is better if they are the rescuer but must overcome some personal obstacles to perform the rescue.

And it must have a resolution.  The reader should be satisfied that it is a logical (though unexpected) wrap up of the conflict.  A cliffhanger or obvious lead into a sequel is only acceptable if you have a multi-book contract in hand.

Try to have some unexpected (but foreshadowed) turns.  Don’t just have it wrap up like a column of falling dominoes.  Make the reader feel they need to know the outcome, but can’t predict it.  These are the books they will remember and recommend.

Make the ending a dash to the finish line, perhaps a zig-zag one, but no more complicated than necessary.  Emphasize conflict, not description.  Don’t complicate it with explanations or philosophizing.  Try not to need a lot of wrap-up after the climax.  This sentiment is echoed here.

The story can come full-circle, so the ending resembles the beginning except for the characters’ growth and solving a problem.  Or it can have a linear ending where the characters have moved on in place, maturity, etc.

It’s up to you, should it have a happy ending?

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. ~Lao Tzu

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be. ~Douglas Adams

This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time. ~Chuck Palahniuk

If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. ~Orson Welles

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 30th
More about commas
Dylan
Cassie
Barbara & Matt

Feb 6th
Aimee
Tyree
Nick

Feb 13th
Short grammar lesson
Tyree (?)
Rachel
Cassie (?)

Feb 20th
Barbara
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 23rd, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Alban Lake is accepting entries for a new Drabble contest.

Victories

Dylan found two beta readers for a novel and resubmitted a rejected story.

Rachel has been reading a lot.

Jed is reading very difficult material.

Cassie has been so involved with her novel that she wakes up at night and starts working on it.

Ciuin has made progress on incorporating suggestions from beta readers of Petty Theft.

Education

What’s a plot device and where can I buy one?  No, it isn’t a gadget sold at Big*Mart or on the TV shopping channel.  A plot device is  anything the author devises to move the plot along, although it is not itself central to the plot except for being a motivator or facilitator.

Here are several types.  They can be useful but also can be poor choices; for example, deus ex machina is typically a poor plot device.

A plot device could be the occurrence of an auto accident that brings together characters who need to meet in the plot.  It could be an accident that delays a character to miss a schedule.  A red herring may be classed as a plot device.  A language translator is a common scifi plot device (yes, here it is an actual device, but not available on the shopping channel) that overcomes a hindrance to the plot.

Another kind of device is the use of some background activity to mirror the main character’s development.  Alison Atlee discusses uses of the plot device. One of her example is a career ladder that parallels the character’s inner journey.

It may be some magical power, which motivates the characters, creates problems, or enables them to solve the problems they face.

It may be Hitchcock’s MacGuffin, which is some object or person the main characters are trying to find or protect, that gives them motivations and activity in the story, even though the characteristics of that object or person are not directly important.  Perhaps it is a stolen document, a deadline that must be met, a missing person, or the Lost Ark.  Any other would work as well if the characters believed it was so important.

Normally you read a screenplay – and I read a lot of them – and the characters don’t feel like people. They feel like plot devices or cliches or stereotypes.  ~Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I’ve always liked the idea of taking old dramatic ideas and devices and making them feel relevant or contemporary or whatever. ~Edward Norton

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 23rd
More about commas.
Tyree
Jed
Cassie

Jan 30th
Barbara & Matt
Dylan
Cassie

Feb 6th
Short grammar lesson
Aimee
Tyree
Nick

Feb 13th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 16th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The wikipedia idea spreads to biography.   Now a writer is asking for crowdsourced edits of his bio of Steve Jobs.  He says that since technology is often the result of collaboration, he thinks it appropriate to apply collaboration to this book.  He has gotten many useful suggestions.  He will still use conventional editors and fact checkers, however.

–//–

At the meeting, we heard a recommendation for Prophets of Science Fiction, available at various times on the Science Channel or on Netflix.  The series shows how many ideas in SF became reality.  Critics say the connections they make are sometimes farfetched.  Did Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein predict medical organ transplants?

Victories

Tyree reports that Breathless Stars sold well at a convention.  He is writing a superhero novella that a pulp publisher has repeatedly asked him to do.  A slightly larger publisher has asked for a collection of stories from his mid-size publishing operation.

Jed succeeded in editing the language used by Castalia in the earlier chapters to fit her character.

Nick finished reformatting his western and is starting to edit it.

Aimee started a short story.

Ciuin is planning a research trip to New Orleans to research for her mystery story, and got the approval of her spouse to spend that time on research.  Of course, the mystery involves restaurants …

Education

Writers Digest has posted a list of 62 articles on various writing subjects.  Everybody should be able to find something of interest in this list.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 16th
Tyree
Dylan
Nick

Jan 23rd
More about commas.
Riley ? (Tyree alternate)
Jed
Cassie

Jan 30th
Barbara & Matt
Tyree
Cassie (might cede)

Feb 6th
Aimee
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 9th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Danielle Steel, who has sold 800 million books to become the best selling author now alive and the fourth-best of all time, received France’s highest award, the Legion of Honor.

Victories

Ciuin got Petty Theft cleaned up and to beta readers before the end of 2013.  One reader is a Romany VIP and three are history professors.

Nick found a way at long last to convert his old western novel to his current word processor and has started revising.

Cassie spent the entire New Years Day writing, and produced 13,000 words of a 2nd draft plus ideas for scenes to add.

Riley made time to write 2,000 words.  He found the new CR library to be a good place to write.

Education

After a writer has decided they are done improving the novel, they need to find a publisher, which usually means finding an agent first.  Study each agent to make sure they represent your kind of material.  Query a few agents at a time, and use any information you get in rejections to improve your query.

The query letter must be finely crafted and contain zero mistakes, to avoid any hints of amateur writing. Read each agent’s guidelines and tailor your letter to each.  Send exactly what the agent wants-some want a few pages of your manuscript pasted into an email and others do not.  Never attach a file to a query email. If the agent gets ten or twenty queries a day, they will happily discard one for not following instructions.

The Query Tracker web site has a free forum for information on agents, publishers, writing techniques, success stories, etc.  You could spend days on the site.  AgentQuery also has useful information, a forum where query letters are critiqued. and examples of successful queries.  Nathan Bransford shows his favorite query letter. Creative Writing Forums has a critique section for queries.

This site has some tips on query letters and writing a synopsis.

Never mention anything about sequels when pushing your first book, even if you have another one planned or written.  The first book has to be a success before they will even think about another, and mentioning sequels will scare them that the first book may not stand alone.

More advice is listed in our newsletter for last June 13.

Upcoming Schedule

Jan 9th
More about commas
Ciuin
Jed
Riley

Jan 16th
Tyree
Dylan
Nick

Jan 23rd
Riley
Jed
Cassie

Jan 30th
Barbara
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

January 2nd, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

We will not be meeting the day after Christmas.  Use some of that time off to work on your writing.  We will meet on January 2nd, on the theory that people should be recovered from the party days by then.

–//–

Although I have some requests for review slots, I plan to wait until the next meeting to assign them for Jan 16th.  I think we should give some weight to how long it has been since someone got a slot, and negative weight to how many slots a person has used recently, rather than giving them to the first who speaks up.  Your comments?

–//–

At this time of year, everyone seems to do lists.  Here are lists of the best books of 2013 from NPR’s book department, The New Yorker, and Amazon.

Victories

Jed set a goal to produce a 2nd draft of Castalia and spent several hours working toward it.

Tyree found 15 old story beginnings in his files that need to be finished and worked on one.

Ciuin is making good progress on her (almost) final cleanup of Petty Theft.

Education

Belonging to a writers critique group is perhaps the best thing a person can do to improve their writing (wide reading is another), and has several benefits.

Giving good critiques tends to improve one’s own writing as you learn to identify what it is you don’t like in a piece of writing.  Listening to or reading good critique also helps.  How should you critique?  Here are some ideas and a source or another.

1. Critique the writing, not the writer.  Even if you disagree with their opinion and attitude, you should be able to concentrate objectively on what they did and did not do to present an understandable, engaging piece of writing.

2. Find something positive to say, as well as negatives.  The writer needs confirmation of what is working well.

3. If the author gave an indication of what they want comments on, please focus on those aspects.  Also, if they have a target audience, make your comments appropriate to improving the piece for that audience, even if that wouldn’t be the way you would want it yourself.

4. Be as specific as you can about what needs improvement.  Offer suggestions, don’t just say you don’t like it.

5. Don’t into a long discussion or try to get the author to concede your point.  Just make the point and move on.

6. Don’t belabor points that others have made.  A ditto is sufficient.

7. Unless there is a major trend, don’t discuss simple grammar, punctuation, and spelling when speaking at a meeting.  Just mark the copy editing stuff on the paper you give the author.

8. Remember that often you will be reviewing a portion of a work, and things that you think are missing could be in other chapters.

9. Remember that your work may be critiqued by this group and make your comments in a manner you would like to receive.

–//–

 I critique myself way harder than anybody else could critique me. ~Wiz Khalifa

I’m honest about expressing my opinions. At the same time, I’m diplomatic in how I do critique things if I have a negative response. ~Tim Gunn

One of the hardest things for me, now that I’m famous, is finding people who can read my stuff and give me an honest critique. ~Ken Follett

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 26th
No meeting.

Jan 2nd
Cassie
Nick
Jed

Jan 9th
More about commas
Ciuin
Jed
Riley

Jan 16th
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 19th, 2013 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

We are considering a weekly posting to Facebook.  Would it be worthwhile, and if we do, what content should be posted?  Someone suggested it be a “summary” and link to the full text.  How would we summarize the disjointed sections of a typical newsletter?

–//–

A survey finds that Americans still love their public libraries.

Victories

Dylan got a rejection on a short story.  He has, however, qualified for the final round of an unrelated short story contest and his current submission is up for voting.

Tyree wrote 7,000 words on Aoife’s Kiss.

Barbara’s homonym article has been accepted for publication in FrostFire Worlds magazine.

Ciuin wrote a nine page story about her broken arm.  She has promised to spend the next week getting Petty Theft ready for beta readers.

Aimee started co-writing anew story.

Cassie’s story has been accepted, subject to corrections, for the new paranormal romance magazine Trysts of Fate.

Education

Emma Coats assembled a list of 22 rules of storytelling as applied to Pixar movies.  The ideas are widely applicable to much writing, not just kids’ movies, and many others have discussed her list such as here,  or here.  Not everyone is enthralled with the list – see this analysis to see if you agree that slavish application leads to formulaic stories.

Storytelling is about two things; it’s about character and plot. ~George Lucas

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. ~Hannah Arendt

The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell. ~Ben Okri

There’s no formula. ~J. K. Rowling

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 19th
Nick
Jed
Tyree

Dec 26th
No meeting.

Jan 2nd
Cassie
Nick
Jed

Jan 9th
More about commas
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 12th, 2013 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Some very old and rare books and manuscripts at Oxford and the Vatican are being digitized and will be available free for scholars.

Three stories by J.D. Salinger that were never published have been leaked to the world.

Victories

Dylan wrote a 65k word pulp scifi novel in two weeks.

Janice is meeting with a writing mentor at the U of I Writing Center.

Cassie has almost finished a short story at 4k words.

Education

Past perfect tense sometimes confuses writers.  Basically, it is used to show that something happened before another past event or a particular time, as in “Joe said he had called home.”  In this example, “said” is past tense and we need to show that the call was prior to his statement.  The word “perfect” refers to something completed or as in older usage “perfected”.

The use of past perfect is optional in cases where some other word shows the time relationship: “Joe [had] called home before he left work.”

Here’s a tutorial, some examples, and another version of the explanation.

As soon as you have a language that has a past tense and a future tense you’re going to say, ‘Where did we come from, what happens next?’ The ability to remember the past helps us plan the future. ~Margaret Atwood

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 5th, 2013 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

The 2013 National Book Award winners were announced recently.

–//–

Nobel winning author Doris Lessing  (or see wikipedia)(pen name Jane Somers) died at age 94.

Education

If you didn’t read the linked articles last week, you might want to see what they say about commas as a supplement to the lessons at the meetings.

–//–

It’s always hard to accept a critique that tells you it wasn’t as good as you thought.  Here’s some advice on dealing with it, and more.  Many articles on the subject say similar things:
–Every critic will consciously or unconsciously try to give it their own styling, which may not be right for you.
–They are criticizing the written piece, not you.  Don’t get offended by someone who is trying to help.  You DID offer it for critique.
–If some people don’t “get it” then you may need to clarify it to broaden the appeal to more readers.
–It may help to restate a criticism in a positive way.  “Your stories are boring because they’re always about the same things” can be turned into “I can generate more reader interest by writing about my other related interests.”
–Even if their suggestions don’t seem right, don’t defend the piece.   Think about it again later.  Their comment may indicate that you need to polish that part.  Readers often find spots that don’t feel right, even if they don’t know how to fix it.
–The more people who say something needs to be improved, the greater chance that an editor or other readers will also think so.
–You’re the artist.  It’s your vision.  It’s okay to sometimes say to yourself “they’re not my target audience.”  Just not too often.

To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. ~Elbert Hubbard

The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots. ~Frank A. Clark

Upcoming Schedule

Dec 5th
More about commas
Barbara
Tyree
Dylan

Dec 12th
Cassie
Nick
Riley

Dec 19th
Nick
Jed
Tyree (?)

Dec 26th
Does anyone think we should meet?

Jan 2nd
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

December 5th, 2013 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Since most employers are giving their people the 28th off to work on their writing, we will not be meeting.

–//–

The Marion library is offering support for NaNoWriMo, and also held a kickoff for a new writers group.  Unfortunately, it looks like their meetings may conflict with Noble Pen.

Victories

Dylan received a critique at ICON from a popular author.

Tyree’s steampunk story has been nominated for a Tiptree award.

Education

Relating to our education series about comma usage at the meetings, here is a repeat of some past advice on commas that may be useful.

Commas are often a sore subject for writers.  There are grammatical rules to dictate some of their uses, but they may also be used for effect, such as pauses .  Fortunately, the rules are somewhat flexible and you have leeway.  Unfortunately, the rules are somewhat flexible and you never are sure what is right or wrong or will fit an editor’s styling preferences.

Wikipedia summarizes the uses of the comma.  They may be used for lists, separation of dependent clauses, setting off non-essential interrupting phrases, setting off initial adverbs (therefore, however, and so), between multiple adjectives, and several other ways.

An optional comma can be used to indicate where the writer wants the reader to pause in a sentence. This changes the emphasis of the parts of the sentence, and can help in parsing a complicated sentence or suggest which of multiple interpretations is intended.  It is not necessary to put a comma everywhere you pause, however.

A frequent problem is running two sentences (independent clauses) together into one using a comma instead of a conjunction.   Wikipedia and Tina Blue explain comma splice problems, but she also has some partly contrary examples showing how comma splices can be used artistically.  Wikipedia also

The Most Comma Mistakes shows us what we probably most need to watch out for.

Most writers paragraph for effect, punctuate on impulse, and let split infinitives and comma splices fall where they may.  Omnivorous reading substitutes for systematic study.  Syntactic nomenclature is a thing they learn only if, somehow trapped into teaching others the craft, they find themselves in need of terms to describe the errors of their students. ~Dwight Swain

I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out. ~Oscar Wilde

And finally, a slightly risque cartoon, the Comma Sutra.

Upcoming Schedule

Nov 28th
Thanksgiving – no meeting

Dec 5th
More about commas
Barbara
Tyree
Dylan

Dec 12th
Cassie
Nick
Riley

Dec 19th
Nick
Jed
Tyree (?)

Dec 26th
Does anyone think we should meet?

Jan 2nd
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill