Next Noble Pen Meeting

Oct 6th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Horror writer Stephen King is about to come out with a 1000 page book  in November that is a time travel story, wherein someone goes back to save John F.  Kennedy from assassination.   There is already a movie deal.

I can imagine “saving JFK” becoming a more popular topic than “killing Hitler”, which has been one of the stereotypical time travel plots.  Something always goes wrong, of course.

“And we’ve killed a dozen Hitlers already! We’re winning!”-Steve Irwin

Victories

Kate and a friend drafted the outline for a novel they will co-write.

Dylan has trimmed Flight down from 198 k words to 119 k words, where he felt like he had hit the wall.  He feels this is getting near a publishable size for an author who is not well known in the genre.  The original material may turn into three books.

Education

“Good prose is like a window pane.” – George Orwell

If you haven’t read Crawford Kilian’s Advice on Novel Writing, you really should.   I glazed over at some of the theory of literature, but still found a lot of good advice on a lot of topics in it.

Upcoming Schedule

October 6 th

Nick
Shanna
Dylan

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Shannon
Open slots

October 27 th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 29th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

There are several open review slots in the coming weeks.   Polish up some of your work and grab the opportunities.

Tyree will miss some meetings but promises to deliver critiques when he returns, so keep copying him on your submissions.

Victories

Dylan finished two more paid commission stories of significant length.

Ciuin did a major  rewrite of an existing history of Ushers Ferry.  She also learned that a document she wrote a while back for World Artists Initiative is now in ten languages and will be published in major newspapers in Europe.   Now she needs to get fluent in ten languages so she can read the articles.

Tony is making excellent progress on Tunnels of St. Lucy despite a very hectic schedule.  He hopes to make enough money from the story to buy a taxi company that will transport all his family members to their appointments and activities.

Education

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” – Jack London

This article uses that quote to begin talking about 31 ways to find writing inspiration.  The point seems to be that you just have to stop and look at what is going on around you in the right way, and lots of ideas will come.

Upcoming Schedule

September 29 th
Shannon
Kate
Dylan

October 6 th
Nick ?
Kris
Dylan ?

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Open slots

October 27 th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 22nd, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

There are several open review slots in the coming weeks.   Polish up some of your work and grab the opportunities.

Victories

Tyree’s submission “Dime in the Pennywell” to the anthology Bitten by Moonlight, a collection of four werewolf stories focusing on women rather than the typical male werewolf, has been published.  He has been paid, and the reviews appear favorable.

Kris got another tattoo. It tickled too much to write while she was on the table.

Education

This link offers some tips on writing effective dialog.

“and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice, ‘without pictures or conversation?” — Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)

Upcoming Schedule

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
Dylan

September 29th

Shannon
Kate
Dylan ?

October 6 th
Nick ?
Kris
Open slot

October 13 th

Shannon
Aimee
open slot

October 20 th

Tyree
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 15th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Amazon is offering a “Kindle with Special Offers” version.  Allowing Amazon to display sponsored messages on the home screen and sponsored screensavers will bring the price down to $114 from the standard Kindle at $139.
Amazon link

I can’t believe that anyone reads those ads, or the ones on Google, but the advertisers don’t know that and keep paying to put them there.

Victories

Kris cut 7,000 words out of Oblivion’s first four chapters, and wrote a chapter and a half of the sequel.  Somehow she managed this, tending kids, and still had time to hang out with her favorite band and get a promise that she could tattoo the lead singer next time he’s in town.

Dylan has been cutting Flight of the Scions severely to get it down to what he believes is a publishable length, and is working to repair the resulting plot holes.  He says it is painful, but we figure that painful experiences will help him write scenes where his characters experience pain.

Education

Tyree promised to distribute his notes on comma usage via the email list.

“My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.”
-Anton Chekhov

“The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.”
-Tom Clancy

Upcoming Schedule

September 15 th

Shannon
Dylan
Shanna

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
Dylan

September 29th

Shannon
Kate
Open slot

October 6 th

Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 8th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Welcome to Aimee, our newest member.

Victories

Nick contributed five thumbnail sketches of good railroad watching locations to a book for train watchers.  He also sent seven reports on sightings to a mailing list.  We hope he is writing while he waits for those trains to go by.

Tony finished chapter 7 of Tunnels of St. Lucy and now has a clear vision for the ending.  That’s pretty awesome, seeing visions.

Dylan submitted a story to a flash fiction contest.

Shannon heard from a New York agent who likes the idea of Fangs for Nothing, but seems to have different ideas on the writing style and still rejected it.   Since Vinny has connections in NY, that agent should watch out for vampires.

Bill’s short historical article was accepted by the hometown newspaper.  There’s no pay, but it will make him famous (at least among his mother’s friends).

Education

Shannon recommends a book, Immediate Fiction, as having much of the same information as the old favorite Techniques of the Selling Writer, and an improved presentation.  It’s available from Amazon in print or Kindle format, and from Barnes and Noble in print or Nook ebook.

In honor of this week’s lesson session:
I have spent most of the day putting in a comma and the rest of the day taking it out.— Oscar Wilde

Upcoming Schedule

September 8 th

Tyree’s quick lesson on commas.
Kris
Kate
Dylan

September 15 th

Shannon
Dylan
Shanna

September 22 th

Kris
Tyree
open slot

September 29th

Shannon
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Sept 1st, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

A print-on-demand publisher called “Publish America” was making claims that for $49 they would present a sample of your work to Harry Potter’s author J. K. Rowling.   Rowling denies any connection to this organization and had her lawyer ask them to stop making the claim (link to a news story).  In return, they are suing Rowling (link to a blog with their letter) for some things said about them.

One might wonder if P.A. was telling the literal truth in their claims; they could present the material as promised without  expecting a response from Rowling, who they never actually said was cooperating.

You know who will win – the lawyers on both sides.

Victories

Tony heard that the publisher of  a new flash fiction publication likes his submission and will consider using it.

Kris has two readers for Oblivion.

Dylan finished a commission and has another underway.

Shannon moved his web site to the best address he could think of, http://weirdauthor.com .  He wrote nineteen thousand words in the last three weeks, so the excitement of the new name must have given him an adrenaline rush.

Kate wrote recipes.  She also filled in plot holes, we suppose in her novel not her recipes.  You never know, maybe there is a subplot in that minestrone.

Education

Editors and publishers, like any category of humans, have their good and bad examples.  Predators and Editors is a web site (http://pred-ed.com) that points out some of the ogres under the bridge to success in the business of writing and publishing.  They had a bulletin about the Publish America vs. Rowling dispute.

Upcoming Schedule

September 1 st

Nick
Kate
Tyree

September 8 th

Tyree’s quick lesson on commas.
Kris
Kate
Dylan

September 15 th

Shannon
Dylan ?
Shanna

September 22 th

Kris
open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Aug 25th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

After thinning the mailing list to those who have recently shown definite interest, we still have about 16, including some who are currently too busy with life in general to attend but intend to return, and two who moved away and still want to follow our activities.  Anyone can also follow us on the web page, http://noblepencr.org

Victories

Tony returned from the Ragged Edge conference, a gathering of 100 people in Kentucky to talk about writing.  He rubbed elbows with some favorite authors, and an established publisher starting a new flash fiction, to whom he submitted a piece.  His elbows are still sore.

Shanna finished a summer internship at Rockwell, and wrote a paper on how she helped them.  We’re not sure if she is calling that autobiography or fiction.

Dylan will beta read a new novel for an author he met at a Con, to be that author’s sixth self-published work.

Kate met her writing quota on her novel this week, besides editing the first two chapters in anticipation of submitting them for review.   She also got a library card so she can catch up on favorite authors.

Education

If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur. ~Doug Larson

Dylan recommends this summary of apostrophe use.  I think he just liked the funny illustrations:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe

I’ll add to what they said about “its”, which is one of my pet peeves.
it’s = it is, a contraction
its = is the possessive, like his and hers, which also don’t have apostrophes.

Upcoming Schedule

August 25 th

Tony
Dylan
Shanna

September 1 st

Nick
Kate
Tyree

September 8 th

Tyree’s quick lesson on commas.
Kris
Kate
Dylan

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Aug 18th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

In order to keep the mailing list down to those who are really interested, I will be dropping anyone who has not been to a meeting recently and who does not email saying they want to remain on the list.

Victories

Tyree has finished the overall plot plan and first chapter of Nyx 4.

Education

The only cure for writer’s block is insomnia.  ~Merit Antares

The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air.  All I must do is find it, and copy it.  ~Jules Renard, “Diary,” February 1895

Upcoming Schedule

August 18 th

Nick
Shanna
Tyree

August 25 th

Tony
Dylan
Shanna

September 1 st

Nick
Kate
Tyree ?

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Aug 11th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Welcome to Kate, who came to the last meeting and said she would be back again.

In order to keep the mailing list down to those who are really interested, I will be dropping anyone who has not been to a meeting recently and who does not reply to this week’s email saying they want to remain on the list.

Victories

Dylan has printed and bound copies of the current version of Flight, and is passing them out to beta readers.

Tyree returned from a round of conventions.  He has had two stories accepted, and he spent time talking endlessly about writing with a friend from England.

Shannon sent 35 query letters for his book Fangs for Nothing, and so far has received 11 form rejections and one that said it was good but not something they could market.  He also wrote 15,000 words on a new book and 7,000 on another.

Education

A writer is someone who can make a riddle out of an answer.  ~Karl Kraus

Tyree mentioned that some people would say our group has been too harsh on viewpoint changes between characters in a third person story.  He places readability as the criterion over all rules of thumb for separating viewpoints.

It is common, however, to find advice that each character’s viewpoint must be in a separate scene, or even chapter.  This article: http://www.novel-writing-help.com/multiple-viewpoint-novel.html  has some good advice on multiple character viewpoints, even if you choose to relax their rules.

Upcoming Schedule

August 11 th

Kris (the final chapter of Oblivion)
Tyree
Dylan

August 18 th

Nick
Shanna
Tyree ?

August 25 th

Tony
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill

Next Noble Pen Meeting

Aug 4th, 2011  7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

This company has a different approach to the author-reader relationship: you help fund a book project you want to see done and get credit in the book, as well getting a copy and maybe lunch with the author.  It’s sort of like commissioning a work, but you only need to put up a small part of the cost.
http://unbound.co.uk/

Victories

Dylan finished the redrafting of Flight.

Rachel has written the back history for the book she is working on.

Education

Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning:  I wanted to know what I was going to say.  ~Sharon O’Brien

Can you answer all the questions in this list about your novel?  That site says if not, you don’t have it fully planned and won’t have a winner.

Upcoming Schedule

August 4 th

Kris
Nick
Dylan

August 11 th

Kris (the final chapter of Oblivion?)
Ghish ?
Dylan?

August 18 th

Nick
Shanna
Open slot

August 25 th

Tony
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill