Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail for 04-23-13

“The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as the wall.”–Mitch Hedberg

Last Tuesday at the B&N . . .

Last meeting before Fifth Tuesday! Write your challenge (translate a cliche and explain what happened) and bring a copy along to read to the group! Tuesday, April 30, Panera on University.

Tuesday night we had a big crowd – though a bigger crowd was using most of the chairs for a kids event… had some scrounging to do, but then we got to business.

Ray Woodruff presented his short story “Leave Them Be.” Terry summed up many of our thoughts when she said, “Creepy creepy creepy!” She did point out, though, that naming the main character 17-76 was a little distracting. Carol had some trouble picturing what the bunk room looked like. Bill was concerned about the use of UV lights – with the reveal at the end, UV might be harmful. Full spectrum, perhaps? Julie enjoyed the build-up and pay off, but wondered what They were doing with the blood. Do we need to know who They are? Katelin felt it worked well even without that information.

Carol Hornung read a scene from Ghost of Heffron College. A party scene. Discussion broke out about whether “joint” was the proper terminology, or if it was too dated. Other options were suggested (and with further research, I’ve discovered that “joint” is the correct terminology, but these days you’re more likely to use a water pipe anyway … rewrites now in progress). Andy liked the pacing. Holly wanted something earlier in the scene to hint at what would come later, like an appearance of the ghost. Jack pointed out continuity issues – large room, but crowded, and Bill liked the isolation of the small dorm on a bad weather weekend.

Bill Eisinger returned with a rewrite of “Jack ad Susan.” Holly loved the inner dialog. Andy noted that italics make it clear it is inner dialog, so quotations aren’t needed. Carol liked the way the characters are starting to emerge. Loves that Susan is a run-at-the-mouth chatterbox until she’s asked about herself. Could make her stop and stammer even more at that point. Julie wanted some clarification of Jack’s motivations. Why is the character here? What does he want?

Rebecca Rettenmund brought in Chapter 26 from The Cheese Logue. Terry loved the “page erased” by the snow metaphor, and the line about laughter “squashed like a cricket.” Julie and Andy like the story but think it needs more oomph and personality. There are very funny and quirky bits which need to be coaxed out more. Jen said that even though it is memoir, applying fiction techniques would be good. Carol suggested that’s the next step in the editing process – to really clean up the writing, use fewer words, edit out some bits and focus on others. Jack was wary about editing the spirit out of the book, however. The voice is what charmed him, and he doesn’t want to see it lost.

Mike R read a poem he brought along. We pointed out some lines we liked, and discussed the value of having poets and prose writers look at each other’s works. We invited him to pass out copies of his poem next time so we could take a closer look.

Andy Pfeiffer introduced us to a new character in his story, “People.” Jen wondered if there would be a CVS Drug Store in such a small town, or if it would be a Mom and Pop Pharmacy? Also, might want to steer away from the name brand – they might not like it. Carol was curious about the level of education of the character. She spoke a distinct, uneducated dialect, but also had internal monolog in French. Instead of telling us, Holly wants to be shown that this character knows all there is to know about everyone in this small town. Rebecca felt more description of the store, too, would add to the character. Terry encouraged him to just get out there and write the whole book – things will probably change by the end, so don’t focus so much on changing things now.

Who’s Up Next . . .
May 7: Lisa McDougal (chapter 13, Follow the Yellow), Rebecca Rettenmund (chapter, The Cheese Logue), Pat Edwards (???), Alicia Connolly Lohr (chapter, Lincoln’s Other War), Judith McNeil (???), and Jerry Peterson (chapter 7-9, The Last Good Man).

May 14th: Mike R, poetry; Rebecca Rettemund, The Cheese Logue; Jack Freiburger, poetry; Andy Pfeiffer, People; Bill Eisigner, short story.

May 21: Pat Edwards (???), Amber Boudreau (chapter, Noble), Millie Mader (chapter 44, Life on Hold), Andy Pfeiffer (???), Aaron Boehm (film script/part 6, “Whole Again”), and
Jerry Peterson (chapter 10, The Last Good Man).

May 28th: Carol Hornung, Ghost of Heffron College; Katelin Cummins, Battle of Sista; Terry Hoffman (??); Ray Woodruff (short story); Jen Wilcher (??).

Fifth Tuesday is April 30th
At Panera Bread on University Avenue
The challenge is: Poorly Translated Cliché
Pick a cliché. Make a poorly translated version of it. Build a story around this translation. Perhaps a foreigner or alien writes home about the cliché and you translate the letter back to English? 250 words or less.

Bring your own copy to read at the party!

Writing Contest by Prada
The link says it’s an essay contest but go to the rules and it refers to a short story. The article says the contest is to promote eye wear but the actual rules don’t state that. Topic: “What are the realities that our eyes give back to us? And how are these realities filtered through lenses?” Due Date: June 18; Prize: 5,000 Euros, about $6,528 U.S. The winner will also be published by Prada on its website and possibly distributed in Prada boutiques and by Feltrinelli.

Read more at http://www.writerswrite.com/prada-launches-writing-contest-42320131

Great word . . .
Courtesy of Word Spy Paul McFedries:
pi-ku
n. A haiku on the theme of the mathematical constant pi. Also: piku. [pi + haiku.]

Example Citations:
“Students will spend the morning in 35-minute sessions that include math competitions, integrated math and art workshops featuring origami, pi-ku writing, and a pi(e) eating contest.”
– Kari Tutwiler, Pi and pie to fuel math competition at WSU Tri-Cities, Washington State University News Center, March 11, 2013

“Festivities will include pie eating/pi solving contest, pie for sale at the Pie Café, Piku (think Haiku with a twist).
– Third Annual Jersey City Pi-e Day March 9th, Jersey Bites, March 9, 2013

Earliest Citation:
“Fifth-graders in Tiffany Ebright and Stefanie Cook’s classes at Fulton Avenue School #8 in Oceanside celebrated Pi Day in honor of Albert Einstein’s birthday. Pi is the ratio between the circumference and the diameter of a circle. The children wrote a pi-ku, designed pi posters and competed in a pie-eating contest.”
– Mary Ellen Pereira, Jericho’s team bowls them over, Newsday, April 9, 2006

Notes: Why, look, it’s yet another term posted in honor of Pi Day, which was March 14. In case you’ve forgotten, March 14 can be written as 3/14, and the decimal expansion of pi begins with 3.14, ergo pi lovers celebrate their favorite transcendental number every March 14.

A researcher looks at the publishing biz . . .
From the books section of the Guardian newspaper’s blog:

Ten ways self-publishing has changed the books world
As the DIY approach gains more and more writers and readers,
traditional publishers must reinvent themselves
by Alison Baverstock
April 8, 2013

After a boom year in self-publishing, the headlines are getting a little predictable. Most feature a doughty author who quickly builds demand for her work and is rewarded with a large contract from the traditional industry. But in our rush to admire, there’s a risk we overlook the wider cultural significance of what is going on. As publishers from all over the world prepare for next week’s London book fair, here are 10 changes that they ignore at their peril:

1. There is now a wider understanding of what publishing is – and that it is more difficult than it looks. The industry has long suffered the irony that effective publishing is most evident when invisible; it is only when standards are less than felicitous that we realise how well what we read is managed most of the time. Now that school cookbooks, or fundraising brochures for sports teams, can be effectively self-published, people are learning the process and what is involved. In the past, the industry has tended to recruit heavily from those in the know (the offspring of former publishers and authors being particularly well-represented); wider awareness of publishing is now promoting wider diversity.

2. Gone is our confidence that publishers and agents know exactly what everyone wants to (or should) read, and can spot all the material worth our attention. Soft porn and fantasy have emerged as particularly under-represented in the industry’s official output.

3. The copy editor, a traditionally marginalised figure, is now in strong demand. If you are well-connected through social media, can isolate what your writing has to offer and get the message noticed by a reading public, you can probably manage the marketing of your work. The one thing it’s really hard to do is self-edit. Long ago publishers outsourced copy editing, relying on the freelance labour market – and freelancers are now being actively sought by self-publishing authors too. The price for services for which there is both high demand and scarce supply tends to rise.

4. The re-emergence of the book as precious object. Some publishers are marketing luxury books; limited editions available only from them. Similarly, it’s becoming relatively common for people to self-publish their holiday photographs in book form; to produce a unique photograph/memory book for special birthdays or to mark a retirement. If these are being presented to those who are not big readers, or regular frequenters of bookshops, the social significance of self-publishing may be particularly strong.

5. The role of the author is changing. With the fragmentation of the media in recent years, publishers were already relying on authors to help with the marketing – and learning how to do so is empowering. Now, as authors meet their readers at literary festivals, run blogs or tweet, they know their readers well and are no longer solely reliant on their publishers to mediate relationships. Looking ahead, authors who understand how publishing works are likely to be vastly less compliant than their forbears.

6. The role of the agent is also changing. Literary agents used to introduce ingenue authors to those who might invest, and then work with them to build longer-term careers. Now that so many self-publishing authors are finding the market themselves, agents need to find new ways to make their work pay. If agencies are multi-faceted (film, television, after-dinner speaking) they may be protected, but smaller agencies will struggle. Selling manuscript development services to those in whom they might not otherwise invest their time is an unsatisfactory way to make a living.

7. New business models and opportunities are springing up, mostly offering “publishing services”: advice on how to get published or self-publish; guidance on developing a plot or a whole manuscript; lifestyle support and writing holidays; editorial services and marketing assistance. New writing patterns are developing too: team writing; ghost writing; software to assist the crafting. Publishing is emerging as a process – accessible as a variety of different services to whoever needs them – rather than just being an industry.

8. It’s not all about making money. If, as I believe, self-publishing means taking personal responsibility for the management and production of your content, this can be achieved as effectively via a single copy to be kept at home as the sale of thousands online. Self-publishing means recognising, and preserving, content that has value for someone – but the process does not have to yield an income to be worthwhile.

9. An end to the “vanity publishing” put-down. No longer the last resort of the talentless, these days self-publishing is seen as a homing ground of the instinctively proactive: identify your market; meet their needs; deliver direct. It’s also a flexible solution; a process not a single product, for which the rationale can be very varied – from book as business card to ebook novel; from hard copy of a work-in-progress, to a team compilation for a local history group.

10. Self-publishing brings happiness. Publishers have long assumed that only if nearing professional standards could a self-published product bring any satisfaction. My research has revealed the opposite. It seems self-publishers approach the process confidently, are well-informed, and aware of how much the process will cost and how long it is likely to take. They emerge both keen to do it again and likely to recommend it to others. Finalising a project you have long planned feels good, and the process builds in the possibility of future discoverability – whether that is in an attic (whenever the family decides they are mature enough to want to know), or by ISBN from within the British Library. Self-publishing as a legacy – should we really be so surprised at its growing popularity?

• A former publisher, Alison Baverstock is Course Leader for the Publishing MA at Kingston University. The Naked Author, her guide to self-publishing, is published by Bloomsbury. The full results of her more recent research will be published in the journal Learned Publishing in July.

Thanks for reading – See you on a Tuesday.
— Amber Boudreau