Tuesdays with Story

“I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.” – Stephen King

Writing Friends . . .

A note about using reply in the yahoo groups email: Despite that you may have both a reply and a reply to all button on your own email screen (such as AOL), hitting either of those will carry your reply to everyone in the whole group. Instead, to reply to the individual person who you received an email from, look inside the text box of the email itself. It gives you two options: reply to sender or reply to group.

Also, when sending out your writing for critiques, in the email subject line, begin with 1/3 or 2/4 to indicate whether you meet with the 1^st & 3^rd group or 2^nd & 4^th group. Screen the emails you receive from the yahoo group. Delete those that do not relate to the group you attend.

Tuesday at the B&N . . .

Eleven 1^st & 3^rd-ers gathered around Julie Satkamp’s dining room table. John Schneller (Ch. 7 Broken) Pat Edwards suggested a Tolkein, Hobbit-like map would help readers understand the landscape. John intends to include sketches. Millie Mader and others admired the dialogue between the blind, Andon and Broken on the light, shadows, perception. Most agreed the writing needs more time period cues. Warm climate is clear. John explained mangoes and cedar trees are feasible in this place. Kane Walent noted that the “unknown” voice Broken hears must be explained by an omniscient narrator or Broken’s own thoughts.

Amber Boudreau (ch. 2 YA novel) Several praised clear voice of Moira. People felt it was unclear who the good guys are or whether her locker it a gateway to another world. Re: the principal and her enigmatic twinkling eye, Kane Walent said “It’s fun to think she might lose another day.” Julie Satkamp suggested deleting unnecessary “this/that” words. Jerry Peterson said “Three times, something almost happened. Just let it happen.” Most agreed the chapter needs more tension, less interior monologue and a tighter focus on the central question of the book/chapter.

Clayton Gill (Fishing Derby) asked for brainstorming on names, personalities and ideas for starting up the fishing derby in the river town and keeping it interesting. Most agreed the science class kids should drum up the idea instead of boring grownups downtown.

Kane Walent is reworking the names of existing characters and we discussed how to come up with them, how to gauge their effectiveness or lack thereof. Pat Edwards suggested “If you haven’t used a B name in awhile, put it in.” And someone said “stop being and editor, just write.”

Alicia Connolly-Lohr (ch. Lawyer Lincoln) Manacles and shackles are better words than handcuffs for 1800’s. Julie Satkamp suggested Jane would react with resignation, and quiet but not peaceful. The character’s personality like a battered woman, not feisty doesn’t come through well. “Chinaman’s rug” sounded offensive especially for the narrator. Kane Walent said pathos could be added by having the child try replace manacles which slipped off. Pat Edwards said the scene would have more dimension if seen from afar, getting the townspeople’s reactions as they watched it unfold.

Pat Edwards (poems) inspired rousing conversation. Some read Little Sister’s Adventure literally. Some expressed a safety/danger problem for a small girl dangling her legs from a roof. “That’s really dangerous!” said Danny Dhokarh. Millie Mader and others liked the lyrical qualities and cited grand poems of yore that suspended such interpretation. Several interpretations came out of the second poem. Pat was thinking of a depressed person taking drugs; she overheard “choice of blue” in Home Depot and adapted it.  

Julie Satkamp (Women Must endure) said it was difficult to fictionalize a true event. Consensus was it was beautifully written and effective. Danny Dhokarh said, “As a reader I thought this story was about Isabel and her conflicts.” Some suggested taking out or deemphasizing other characters. Simone is the central character. Kane Walent said the story needs tension about the possibility of divorce. Will Simone leave him and take the kids back to America? There was not universal agreement on whether the sleazy Ray character would actually cause Simone’s fear. Pat Edwards said Isobel and Simone are nicely paralled, “Isabel isn’t fleshed out but she is doing the same thing, wussing out.” Julie said the title is from old, not modern Senegalese quotation–“women must endure.”

Who’s Up Next. . .

November 24 Carol Hornung (scene, Asperger’s Sunset), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (?), Jack Freiberger (Path to Bray’s Head), Anne Allen (new piece), Bill Dries (something to review).

December 2 [This is a Wednesday evening]: John Schneller (chapter 8 rewrite, Broken), Amber Boudreau (chapter 3, YA novel), Pat Edwards (poems), Judith McNeil (???), Cathy Riddle (short story), and Danny Dhokarh (poem).  *The group meets at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library  (733 No. High Point Road, Madison 53717; phone 824-1780)

December 8 Meeting will be held at Jack’s house. He will distribute directions.

December 15 Clayton Gill (chapter 6, Fishing Derby), Amber Boudreau (chapter 3, YA novel), and Danny Dhokarh (???).

From our writers . . .

Pat Edwards sent in the article about plot below, which lead to several other sections on various issues in the writer’s craft.

Brandy D. sent in The Last Word. She also sent in lists of new words from the WaPo’s (Washington Post) Mensa Invitational. The new word creations began with a dictionary word. To that, writers altered it by adding, subtracting or changing one letter and supplying a new definition. Some winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time. 

2. Ignoranus: A person who is both stupid and an a__hole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

From a second contest the WaPo published alternate meanings for common words. Here’s a sampling:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate, v.. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

Writer’s Craft – short story . . .

There seems to be increasing interest in short stories, so some helpful discussion of this writing form appears in order. What is it and how do you write one? G.Wiehardt tries to summarize the elements in Short Story Rules to (Mostly) Live By in About.com. She says the “rules” are: 1) Use few characters and stick to one point of view; 2) limit the time frame; 3) be selective in words and characterization; 4) follow conventional story structure (exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and denouement); 5) Break the rules when you need to.

http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/shortstorywriting/a/shortstoryrules.htm

Another article by D.G. Jerz, Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers offers more elaboration and uses examples to illustrate contents of a short story.

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/shortstory/

Writer’s Craft – Plot . . .

There are really only seven basic plots in fiction, argues Bill Boyd in his article Sticking to the Plot, http://literacyadviser.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/sticking-to-the-plot/. He identifies these as: Overcoming the Monster; Rags to Riches; The Quest; Voyage and Return; Comedy; Tragedy and Rebirth. Within each category, Boyd illustrates sub-plot structures with familiar works of fiction and movies (e.g., Monster: Jaws; Rags/Riches: Jane Eyre; Quest: Lord of the Rings; Voyage: Back to the Future; Comedy: Marx Brothers movies; Tragedy: Romeo and Juliet; Rebirth: A Christmas Carol). Referring to these basic plot lines can help a writer begin writing or rework something in progress. While your story line, as a whole, may fit fairly well into one of the seven plot types, it seems apparent that you could use other plot lines in individual chapters, scenes or dialogue exchanges. Here’s Boyd’s discussion on Comedy, a category which we often disregard in our writing groups:

 “Comedy is a very special kind of story. It isn’t simply any kind of story which is funny. Some very funny stories have quite different kinds of plots….but what it is that shapes the plot of Comedy, that provides the common bond between say, a Marx Brothers film and a play by Shakespeare, an American musical and a novel by Jane Austen, a Mozart opera and a story by P G Wodehouse, requires a little unraveling…”

“What we are looking at when confronted by a fully developed Comedy is not unlike a jigsaw puzzle. By the time a jigsaw is complete, it seems obvious that there is only one way it could have ended up, with each piece in its proper place and fitting perfectly together with all the others. In Comedy, the key to bringing this to light is the process of ‘recognition’…”

 “The essence of Comedy is always that some redeeming truth has to be brought out of the shadows into the light.”

 Plot

• We see a world where people have passed under a shadow of confusion, uncertainty and frustration, and are shut off from one another
• The confusion gets worse until the pressure of darkness is at its most acute
• Finally, with the coming to light of things not previously recognized, perceptions are dramatically changed. The shadows are dispelled, the situation is miraculously transformed and the little world is brought together in a state of joyful union.

Examples: Shakespeare’s Comedies (A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Twelfth Night; The Merchant of Venice etc); The Marriage of Figaro; Pride and Prejudice; Sense and Sensibility; War and Peace; The Importance of Being Earnest; Marx Brothers; Some Like it Hot; Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Writer’s Craft – Prologues . . .

This concept has come up in a few recent works in meetings and I plan to include one for my novel. Although, in the writing world, you may view this as just one person’s opinion, it seemed worthwhile to look at the advice on Anita Nolan’s blog at http://ow.ly/BkAG  about prologues, cut and pasted here:

A lot of editors and agents say they don’t like a prologue, but I think it’s because they see poor or unnecessary ones so frequently. There are a number of examples of popular books containing prologues. Prologues should be relatively short, no more than a few pages. The Book Thief’s is only a few words.

There are a few reasons to consider using a prologue. An example follows each.

• Show how desperate the character is that something not happen. Wringer, Jerry Spinelli
• Show the reader what a character is about to lose. Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan
• Give historical context. Ophelia, Lisa Klein (in this case, in the form of a letter)
• Set tone of the story. The Winter Room, Gary Paulson
• Introduce the story problem. Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr
• Demonstrates the book’s voice. The Book Thief. Marcus Zusak
• Hook the reader. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.
• Lets the reader know what the story is about and who the main character is. This might be used if the first chapter doesn’t contain the main character or the main conflict of the story. A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly also The Missing: Book 1 Found, Margaret Peterson Haddix
• A prologue can frame a story (when used with an epilogue.) Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli

So, if you’re considering a prologue, decide why you think one is needed. If it’s an easy way to dump backstory, stifle it.

Writer’s Craft – A Mentor . . .

Always on the lookout for new or particularly substantive writers’ web sites, I found Fiction Writers Mentor http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/, which offers information, resources, support and advice. This one is chocked full of basics on the writer’s craft. It includes a good primer of tools for the writer. Menu selections, include: plot, character creation, description, point of view, dialogue, writing mistakes and literary devices. For example, in the segment on character creation, there is a list of over 400 character traits, a personality chart checklist, a discussion of character arc and more.

In the News . . .

 The Madison City Council passed a measure authorizing a $37 million library to be built. The new facility will be six stories, with a lot of glass and stone, span one hundred and five thousand square feet, and have a rooftop patio. Alternate TWS meeting room location in the future? Slated to open in 2012. http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_29b120eb-cf1e-5e2d-9f71-671e66db6256.html

 Google has offered a new settlement in a major class action suit regarding its seven million (and more planned) digitalized books for sale. The agreement and explanation: http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/

 Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Kennedy spoke at a K-12 Manhattan school but required his pre-approval of any article about it in their school newspaper. Much Ado about Nothing? Or, something akin to that First Amendment no-no, “prior restraint”?  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/us/11dalton.html?emc=eta1

 A California company has sued Barnes & Nobles, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets in the design of Nook. The company claims B & N took design features from its Alex e-reader, after the company revealed it during discussions about working together on a new eBook reader. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10389217-56.html?tag=col1;post-26855

The Last Word . . .

 From Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac

On November 14, 1851, Herman Melville’s  Moby Dick was published and it was a total flop. He had pored his heart and soul into the novel and he thought it was his masterpiece, but neither the critics nor readers agreed with him. His readers wanted a swashbuckling adventure story, like Melville’s earlier novels, so Moby-Dick was too heavy and allegorical for most people. Only about 2,300 copies sold in the year and a half after it was published, and in the next 40 years after that, only about 1,000 more copies were sold. It wasn’t until the 20th century that reviewers dug it up and started to take it seriously.

— Alicia