Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
01-22-12

Quote of the Week
“Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshipping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces.” – Allegra Goodman

Tuesday at the B&N . . .
I don’t remember if I got any notes from last Tuesday, or if it was cancelled due to weather. This was the first week of classes, so I’ve been distracted. My apologies if someone sent me notes and I accidentally deleted them.

Who’s up next . . .
January 24: Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Great Tome) . . . To get on the reading list, contact Carol.
January 31: Fifth Tuesday at Booked for Murder
February 7: Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter 4, The Cheese Logue), Liam Wilbur (chapter 6, Scott & Rory), Lisa McDougal (chapter 3, Tebow Family Secret Recipe), Amber Boudreau (chapter 2 rewrite, Noble), Lisa McDougal (chapter 2, Tebow Secret Family Recipe), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 22-23, Thou Shalt Not Murder).
February 21: Kim Simmons (chapter 2, City of Autumn), Aaron Boehm (???), Jennifer Hansen (chapter, Shadows), Millie Mader (chapter 32, Life on Hold), Judith McNeil (more of “The Waldorf Hysteria”), and Clayton Gill (chapter, Fishing Derby).

Fifth Tuesday almost here . . .
It’s just a bit more than a week away when we all gather at Booked for Murder for an evening of good food, fun, fellowship, and opportunity . . . the opportunity to win a free critique of the first 50 pages of your novel, collection of poems, or film script from UW writing instructor Chris DeSmet.

But you can’t win if you don’t first take up our Fifth Tuesday writing challenge and whip out a short story, poem, film scene or essay with a two-word title . . . one of the words must be heart or hearts. Please keep your mini-masterpiece under 500 words. Deadline for getting it in to Jerry Peterson is Friday, January 27
There is a $5 fee to be a part of the competition. Clayton Gill will collect that at the door if you have not already paid him.
Now we need to know you’re coming to Fifth Tuesday, so, to guarantee that you have a chair, email Jerry with your reservation and tell him whether you’re bringing a guest. Guests – friends and spouses – are always welcome.

A Word From Our Writers. . .
Sadly, I have not had a whole lot of time to find anything really cool.

Newsletter editors . . .
Liam Wilbur is our editor for January. Please send all the good stuff you want in the newsletter to him.

Carol Hornung is our editor in February and Lisa McDougal in March.

The Last Word . . .
I’m in an acting class! – Liam Wilbur

Tuesdays with Story
01-10-12

Quote of the Week
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” – Mark Twain

Tuesday at the B&N . . .
A cozy group of writers gathered at Barnes & Noble for a quick round of critiques.

First up, Jennifer Hanson reworked the first two chapters of Shadows of Yesterday. Katelin enjoyed meeting Paige as a young girl. Liked how the child was concerned about things on a completely different level in interpreting the adults around her. Andrea wanted a more specific setting – where does the story actually take place? Jen pointed out that there is more description and detail of the setting, but the name of a town and a specific area/region would be nice. Can be fiction. Andrea felt the description of Solomon and his uniform and Paige and the soggy cereal were good details but in the wrong places. Carol said there was a lot of detail that could be used later in the story. She also felt very close, emotionally, to Paige and wants to know what happens to her.

Carol Hornung read a scene from Sapphire Lodge. Andrea caught a completely boneheaded typo – it’s the Sapphire Lodge on the Aurora River, not the Aurora Lodge… Jen felt the writing was a little awkward when Saffi gets colors off her own emotions. Katelin liked the new characters, felt that they were very clear. Andrea liked the choice of Lloyd Braxton to be the father’s name. Suggestive of Lord Braxton. She was, however, concerned that Simone was a “working girl” because the silky red dress brought on that image. Make it a different color. Continue Reading »

Tuesdays With Story
WRITER’S MAIL for December 24, 2011

Good Words from Way Back o’ the Head
“Just keep writing. Your perfect beginning is probably right ahead of you.” –Johanna Harness, “middle grade” and young adult novelist and blogger on the craft of writing. See for example, http://johannaharness.com/blog/2011/12/14/the-craft-of-writing-revision/. This quote comes from The Story Merchant at http://donmarquis.com/. Thanks again, Jerry!

December 20 Meeting: Five on a Ride
Meeting at Alicia Ashman Branch Library, five First-and-Thirders take the group for a spin around their stories. Our travelogue is courtesy of Amber Boudreau.

Greg Spry offers Chapter 16 of Beyond Cloud Nine. Getting straight to the action, John Schneller asks, Why are the doctor’s wrists crossed? From the text it isn’t clear that his hands are tied. Jerry Peterson suggests the removal of a speech tag. Pat Edwards wonders why the shuttle is analog, could it be digital instead? Millie Mader really worries for the main character, Brooke. John questions Brooke’s character: Is there anything else redeeming about her character besides her attractive/toughness? He’s looking for a sense of humor. Pat thinks Brooke’s reverence for flying attracts other characters. She finds Brooke’s flaws interesting.

Aaron Boehm shares some ideas for his new screenplay. Pat wonders, if instead of vampires in “Blood Feud,” the characters could be cannibals. She asks whether the big showdown would be too similar to the conclusion of “Hell Cage,” Aaron’s previous screenplay. Regarding another screenplay idea, “Exodus from Nazi Egypt,” a group member asks whether the scientist character is the protagonist or antagonist. Pat wonders whether the story would appeal to young people. John wonders if Aaron’s list of characters will include the major player, God. Lisa McDougal considers that “Thrice Bitten,” another screenplay idea, sounded better read out loud than it did in her head. Continue Reading »

Tuesdays with Story
WRITER’S MAIL for December 17, 2011

Good Words from Way Back
“One has to be just a little crazy to write a great novel.” –John Gardner (1933-1982), an American novelist, essayist, literary critic and university professor, not to be confused the British author who was the first of the James Bond spy novelists after Ian Fleming. Our Gardner wrote the novel Grendel, which retells the Beowulf legend from the monster’s point of view. This quote comes from The Story Merchant at http://donmarquis.com/. Thanks, Jerry!

December 13 Meeting: Driven to Drink
Meeting at Sundance, a hard-driving gang of Second-and-Fourth writers dodged holiday distractions to get to the meat of their stories.

Liam Wilbur led off with Fog-gotten, Chapter 3, combining parts of previous chapters. Our hero has awakened in a different century, a bit the worse for wear. The group liked the pace, flow, and humor. Most suggestions were word alterations and fairly minor. “Cubicle” carried the burden of referents and needed to be changed to a different term to describe a division of a hut. The Welsh may be clearer in italics.

Holly Bonnicksen-Jones presented a rewrite of the break-up scene in Coming Up for Air. The discussion was long. The group could see where she was developing the emotional hollowed-out center of the narrator’s affect, but there were continuity problems. The point and counter-point between the male who is leaving with anger and the narrators’ refusal to engage, even in this extreme circumstance, illustrated her self-defeating character. The work is mostly open and inner dialogue, so not easy to get just right. Applause for the subtlety of the portrait and the intricate plotting Continue Reading »

Tuesdays with Story
WRITER’S MAIL for December 10, 2011

Good Words from Way Back
“I never think at all when I write. Nobody can do two things at the same time and do them both well.” –Don Marquis (1878-1937), a New York newspaper columnist, humorist, playwright, short-story writer, and poet who published the opinions of a cockroach known as Archy. Archy had been a poet himself in a previous life and communicated with Marquis by scampering over the typewriter keys while the columnist slept. For more, see http://donmarquis.com/. Thanks, Jerry!

December 6 Meeting: Sex in the City (Library)
Ten First-and-Third members plus guest Lisa McDougal ambled into the Alicia Ashman Branch Library’s community room for an evening of readings replete with sex scenes and more, including holiday cookies, Millie Mader’s rewrite of the ending for Chapter 30 of her novel Life on Hold, Chapter 1 of Kim Simmons’ fantasy novel City of Autumn, and . . . well, here’s what we covered, courtesy of the meeting’s scribe, Amber Boudreau:

Rebecca Rettenmund starts us off with a chapter from her Cheese Logue. Kim thinks the escaped curds are “cute” and enjoys Rebecca’s descriptions, which also are “cute” – but not in a trite way as Rebecca tells the story in such a familiar fashion. Pat Edwards thinks when Rebecca goes back to edit, she’ll get rid of extra words. But Pat she really likes the piece and thinks the best memoirs are the ones where the author opens up and shows themselves “curds and all.”

Liam Wilbur shares Chapter 5 of his novel Scott & Rory. Rebecca suggests having the teacher push the students to say something about their religion. Pat wonders how the main character would mature over time emotionally, especially as he keeps dying over and over. She suggests that there should be some explanation, perhaps hormones getting in the way. Jen Wilcher reminds members, “It’s only Chapter 5….” But others note, “Yes, it’s Chapter 5 and we should know more by now.” Could the main character reveal some personal details specific to the history he’s lived? Kim and Pat think the character should be a little jaded, and that there should be some world-weariness there, too. Jerry Peterson asks whether the character is worried about getting killed off again. Pat thinks that without the fantasy aspect, the story would make a good YA (young adult) novel. Greg Spry has questions about “the big picture” – including what the main character strives for and why — because the story so far seems disjointed.

Millie Mader reads a one-page edit of her last chapter. Pat thinks the chapter now has a much better ending. Jerry thinks the male character would not use the term “pregnancy.” Some members question a line or two, but think Millie definitely improved the chapter. Continue Reading »