Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
March 26, 2012

“I’m the hero of this story, I don’t need to be saved…” -Regina Specktor, “Hero”

First and Second Recap
Rebecca, The Cheese Logue.
• Jen suggested she change ballpark to stadium because we’re talking about football.
• Pat wonders if the part with Sophie should be in another chapter.
• Greg didn’t think it moved the story forward either.
• Millie liked the poem.
• Greg asks about who the target audience is; Rebecca imagines it for women between the ages of 18 and dead.
• Alicia thought the character, Rebecca, didn’t really react to being in the bar, though she didn’t enjoy it.
• Pat points out that if it’s an honest reaction, even if it’s bad, people will empathize with it.
• Amber wanted more trivia about how many Superbowl games the Packers have one.

Millie, Life On Hold.
• Just a note: in dialogue we speak the numbers, but in narrative we can leave the number as a number, like 1957. The key is to be consistent. (Ah-ha)
• Pat points out a section that could be cut because nothing really happens and we get to the debate faster. She also doesn’t think a serious debater would lose her cool.
• Alicia thought the argument was way too short and doesn’t think it got to the core issues; perhaps she could insert some additional points so you get the feeling that the debate went on the appropriate length of time.

Pat, Poems Hey You! & Open House
• Jen accidentally deleted the poem because she thought it was some kind of advertisement. (ROTFL)
• Rebecca wondered if there was any real driving. Pat was just trying to follow the format of the daytime commercial.
• Alicia thought the different types of poems got a little elevated and suggested getting rid of the asterisk but Jen liked it.
• Rebecca begs for a series of funny poems.
• Everybody enjoyed it though.
• Next Pat shares Open House. Jerry liked the last three lines.
• Alicia brought up the sad element of the poem, because it made their lives feel simply too routine.

Greg, Beyond Cloud Nine.
• Pat was really zipping along, turning pages, having to slow down and remember to review, but she had a problem with the twelve minute reboot.
• Pat wonders why the main character doesn’t say anything about the sabotage to her sister.
• Amber had a question about a couple of characters reaction. What happens to tears in zero gravity.
• Jerry wonders if someone pops up and spins in zero gravity, they keep going—she has to reach out a hand to stop herself.
• Alicia thought it moved really well and the dialogue was so good, some details could be peppered in, perhaps even some humor added.
• Jerry wants to know if Brooke’s going to survive the end of the chapter.

Jerry, Thou Shalt Not Murder
• Greg liked the part with the harmonica.
• Pat wondered while Jerry didn’t read the judge with more anger in his voice.
• Jim thought it was more of a burden at that point, not anger.
• Rebecca thought one character should have been a bit more worried about walking in on the other—they would have had no idea how the other would react.
• Big picture time, Greg didn’t feel the flying scenes were well integrated into the rest of the story and he would have jumped ship because he wasn’t getting any short-term wins with the flying.
• Rebecca thinks that’s easy enough to fix.
• Alicia wondered if it was a premeditated murder.
• Greg needed more mystique around the watch.

Who’s up next . . .
March 27: Katelin Cummins (???), Terry Hoffman (chapter, The Great Tome), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (???), and Jen Wilcher (???).
April 3: Aaron Boehm (???), Judith McNeil (more of “The Waldorf Hysteria”), Amber Boudreau (chapter 4 rewrite, Noble), Lisa McDougal (Follow the Yellow, chapter 1), Clayton Gill (chapter, Fishing Derby), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 1-2, Rage).
April 10: Carol Hornung (scene, Sapphire Lodge).
April 17: Liam Wilbur (chapter, Scott & Rory), Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter 6, The Cheese Logue), Millie Mader (chapter 34, Life on Hold), Pat Edwards (poems), Judith McNeil (more of “The Waldorf Hysteria”), and Greg Spry (chapter 20, Beyond Cloud 9).

Getting back to your book . . .
You’ve taken a break from writing – hey, we all do it – and now you have to get back at it. It’s tough, said novelist and former literary agent Nathan Bransford in a recent post on his blog:

Hello! I am back, after what I realized was my first extended blog break in five years. Five years! My how the time flies. I haven’t been idle this past month as I have been hard at work finishing Wonderbar #3, but it still feels a bit strange to be getting back to the blog game.

To that end, I thought I’d tackle one of the most dangerous moments for any writer: The long break.

I’ve known writers who hit their stride, were interrupted for one reason or another, and then days turned into weeks turned into months and they were never able to get back in the saddle. All that work was squandered. Breaks = kryptonite achilles heel termite ridden ankle breaking weakening things. Don’t let long breaks destroy you!

So. Once you break your writing rhythm, how do you get it back?

Here’s how I do it:

1.) Know that your first day back will not be productive

You must know that your first day back after a long absence will not be as productive as a normal day. This is okay. Knowing is the first stage of not panicking and not getting down on yourself. Don’t set page goals, don’t be hard on yourself. Just focus on getting your rhythm back. That’s all you need to accomplish.

2.) Don’t head straight for the novel
Instead of going right back to my novel and feeling the crushing weight of the blinking cursor, I start off by writing something, anything other than fiction. E-mails, blog posts, forum posts, you name it. Chances are you have stuff that has piled up, and it’s easier to write an e-mail than figuring out what is going to happen next in your novel.

Don’t procrastinate endlessly, but get the words flowing for an easier reentry. Then it’s time to…

Read the entire post at http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

Here’s a phrase for you . . .
From Word Spy Paul McFedries:
100-foot diet
noun. A diet that consists mostly or exclusively of food grown in one’s garden.
Example Citations:
Customers may even choose to purchase free range chicken meat direct from the farm for their dinner menu, along with the vegetables they may collect from the farm garden, in what can only be described as a 100-foot diet!
– Catherine Frechette, “Fall RV Vacations in Kelowna,” Ripe with Surprises, September 19, 2011

Green Man 365 is a new daily blog about my year of local eating. The challenge: to eat something that I grew myself each and every day for one year…. At first I thought of calling it the 100-foot diet, but Green Man 365 is more retro-futuristic and much more my style.
– Randy Shore, “Green Man 365: A new blog for garden and kitchen voyeurs,” The Vancouver Sun, September 30, 2010

Earliest Citation:
Dr John Vella[‘s]…Home Mini Gardens are sold as one way of growing your food as local as possible – in your own back yard, or on your balcony.
– Warren McLaren, “Dr John’s Mini Gardens – The 100 Foot Diet?,” TreeHugger, April 12, 2007

In Closing• Alicia will like to share a link in regards to self-publishing, http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-works-promo-for-ebooks.html
• Pat will be editor for Apirl. I will be on vacation this weekend with my family, so I will not be able to do another newsletter before April. Please send information to Pat for the next newsletter.