Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
Newsletter 6.25.13

Notes from Carol
We had a strong turn-out for the first official meeting of summer. Two pieces were on the schedule:

Erin Syth presented her short story, “Flight of the Rose Breasted Grosbeak.” Ray really enjoyed the clear imagery and description in the story. Very strong and effective. Jen pointed out some redundancies. We don’t need to be told she’s weeding the garden because the description of her actions show she is weeding the garden. Same with the mother-in-law driving up to see Terry, then asking “Where’s Terry?” Carol pointed out a couple of point of view changes, and both Carol and Katelin wanted some more backstory, about why the characters got married in the first place, and what they once loved about each other.

Carol Hornung read part of a scene from Ghost of Heffron College. Though she was afraid it was a bit of an information dump, the others didn’t seem to mind. Ray pointed out that since Autumn is a psych major, she just might catch Kyle in a lie or when he’s being evasive. Terry wanted to see more of Kyle’s inner thoughts as he processes the information he’s getting. Jack found several different conflicts working to build the tension, and felt they could be clarified and utilized more.

Jack made the announcement that Hickory Knolls Farm is hosting a HUGE horse event on the third weekend in July, and he needs volunteers for Sunday, July 21. Hours would be about 7:30-2pm. Fun, food, gifts, and maybe a writing experience or two! Contact him if you’d like to help out.

The rest of the meeting was spent discussing the idea of a mission statement, setting forth our goals and guidelines for all who join our table. First draft is in process. Will be interesting to see what happens when you have an edit team of multiple writers!

Who’s up next . . .
July 2: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Secret Family), Michelle Nightoak (chapter, memoir), Bob Kralapp (Part 2, “What Is Missing”), Amber Boudreau (chapter 16, Noble), Alicia Connolly Lohr (novella, chapters 9-10, Lincoln’s Other War), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 20-24, The Last Good Man).

July 9th: Ray Woodruff (short story), Ruth Imhoff (scene from Motto of the Hound), and Carol Hornung (scene from Ghost of Heffron College). Room for more writers – contact Carol at chornung88@aol.com to get on the schedule.

July 16: Ruth Imhoff (chapter 5, Motto of the Hound), Judith McNeil (chapter 2, My Mother, Savior of Men), Betsy Draine (chapter 1, Alice’s Book), Millie Mader (chapter 46, Life on Hold), Aaron Boehm (film script/part2, “Mesozoic Mall”), Jerry Peterson (chapters 25-28, The Last Good Man)

July Fifth Tuesday . . .
The community room at Panera on University Avenue has been reserved for July 30th at 7PM for the gathering of our two groups. It will be order off the menu, not potluck.

The writing exercise is “Fortune Cookie Fortunes.” Take a cookie, open it up, and read the fortune inside. Use it as a prompt – write whatever comes to mind from that statement!

July Newsletter Editor . . .
The newsletters for July are being edited by Alicia Connolly-Lohr from First and Third.

Mission Statement . . .
As discussed by Second and Fourth, we are currently in the process of drafting a mission statement to lay down guidelines, rules, consequences of breaking them, and the like. If you have any ideas, feel free to post them!

Writers on Writing . . .
From Pat: Here’s a great blog for a weekly radio program hosted by journalist and author Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and writer Marrie Stone on the art and business of writing.

http://writersonwriting.blogspot.com/

It takes a while to load because it’s filled with audio links. Worth the wait.