Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
January 17, 2013
By Pat Edwards

“I write because I’m afraid to say some things out loud.” ~Gordon Atkinson

1st and 3rd Notes 1-15-2013 – thanks, Amber!
Nine gather around the tables for the first, first and third, of 2013.

We begin with Clayton’s Chapter Seventeen of Fishing Derby. He reads some last minute edits inspired by Alicia’s comments. Pat likes some of his old sentences better and wonders if Sherriff’s wear Smoky Bear hats in this part of Illinois, where the story is set. Jerry wonders what state police are doing there anyway and if he were outside a gated community wouldn’t they have their own security. We discuss the character’s motivation for a time and wonder how we can make it clear. Millie asks what a glass pack is. Jerry wonders why one kid doesn’t say something earlier about another character getting his name wrong. Rebecca has a question about pacing in the beginning and a comment about rhythm.
Rebecca shares Chapter Seventeen of her Cheese Log(-ue). We’re all fighting about whether to include the UE in Logue or not. Rebecca wonders if the section she reads needs to be cut, but Pat liked it. Opinion in this piece is okay. Clayton had a question about the location of a block of thought. Pat suggests turning it into dialogue. Alicia has trouble grasping the particular meaning of ‘processed’ cheese. Factories only make one type of cheese and why is that bad? The reader needs some clarification here.
Alicia starts us off with Chapter One of Lincoln’s Other War. Clayton thought it was a wonderful opening and asks what the Dakota Sioux called themselves. We discuss how to get around this – perhaps with a map, or in dialogue? Amber wonders if we have to know one character is from Illinois right away. Michelle thinks the conversation between Lincoln and his secretary is effective but there is some switching from formal to more intimate speech that she found jarring. Jerry didn’t want Lincoln sitting in this chapter at all; he wanted him standing and pacing.
Michelle shares the first chapter of what she hopes will be a memoir. Alicia thought where she began reading was a great starting place. Rebecca wanted to find out about the boyfriend in the meeting instead of directly from the author. Pat wants her to get it all down on paper before she gets bogged down in editing and rewriting. She’s writing linearly for the moment, but Pat suspects a lot of that will get cut out.
Jerry shares the beginning of a new novel The Last Good Man. Pat has a question about the choice of adjectives. She also wonders why the main character doesn’t use the GI Bill. Amber thinks there ought to be a little more chatter between the two new friends. Pat wonders when someone is going to die. Amber wonders what kind of conflict there will be.

Who’s Up Next?
January 22, 2013: Jack Freiburger – Path to Bray’s Head (with illustrations – if he can update his software); Terry Hoffman, Epilogue, The Great Tome; Carol Hornung scene, Ghost of Heffron College; Bill Eisinger, short story; Rebecca Rettenmund, chapter, The Cheese Logue.
January 29: Fifth Tuesday! We’re working on location, guest speaker, and other details, but we need your Fifth Tuesday Challenge entries.
February 5: Clayton Gill (chapter 18, Fishing Derby), Lisa McDougal (chapter 10, Follow the Yellow), Amber Boudreau (chapter, Noble), Millie Mader (chapter 41, Life on Hold), Pat Edwards (?), and Aaron Boehm (film script/part 3, “Whole Again”).

Oh, Just Go Write!
With the web you can find a retreat or writer’s workshop for any genre, gender, or geographic location. Ah, the sweetly terrifying bliss of writing all day and communing with other writers who will push you! Have you been to a workshop or retreat you can tell us about? Here are a few I found that look tantalizing to me!
https://www.hedgebrook.org/newsdetails.php?id=84
http://www.minnesotascbwi.org/
http://www.noetic.org/earthrise/events/2013/2/speaking-the-soul-rosen/
http://www.usi.edu/ropewalk/summer.asp
http://www.cinestory.org/retreat/
http://colorado.writehisanswer.com/

Bibliomancy
Bibliomancy is a form of divination that uses sacred books to obtain answers to questions. The word bibliomancy is derived from the Greek word biblos, which means paper or book.

For thousands of years, Jews and Christians have the used the Bible for divination purposes; with eyes closed, the individual thinks of a question–or asks it aloud–and then opens the Bible at random to obtain an answer. Usually, there are two methods used for obtaining insight from Bibliomancy. With the first, the querent opens their eyes and the first word or words that their eyes fall upon on are the answer to the question. The second method is to run a finger down the page, eyes still closed, until the querent feels to stop. Upon opening the eyes, the first passage that is seen is the answer to the question.

The Bible isn’t the only sacred book that can be used for Bibliomancy. Other texts that can be use include the Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Sephir Yetzirah, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Upanishads, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic Scriptures, and other religious texts.

Bibliomancy is related to a form of divination known as Rhapsodomancy which is a form of divination that uses literature to obtain answers to questions. Rhapsodomancy is a form of Bibliomancy, except that this form of divination is usually associated with consulting poetry, song lyrics, or literature. Read the entire post here: http://www.janetboyer.com/Bibliomancy.html

The Self-help, Diet, and Exercise sections of the bookstore require a belief in Bibliomancy: Yes, this book will be the one with the answer! Wikipedia lists over 360 other types of divination. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_divination There’s some real crackers on that list! From tyromancy: by cheese (Greek tūros, cheese + manteia, prophecy) to hyomancy: by wild hogs (Greek hūs, swine + manteia, prophecy). I was not familiar with either of those or many of the others listed. Humans, it seems, would like to know the future.

And, the last word…
“Bibliomancy: “Divination by jolly well Looking It Up.” ― Marilyn Johnson, This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All