Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
Writer’s Mail
October 23, 2013

Synonym (noun)- A word used in place of a word you can’t spell.

Notes from 10/22/2013
Katelin read a section from The Battle of Sista. Karen corrected the use of “like” in “it was like the rock…” and suggested using “as though.” Holly and Deb said it was often not clear who was talking to who and suggested providing more atmosphere with description. It wasn’t always clear that the POV character was Cassie. Everyone thought the characters seemed closer to 12 years old than 15, especially when they weren’t scared or concerned about the weird rock and sudden powers, or when dialogue seemed awkward. Ruth, Deb and Holly related to Cassie’s fear of heights and appreciated Rachel helping Cassie. Holly suggested using more clues to define each of the girls differently. Jen and Holly pointed out weak word choices or awkward sentences.

Holly read chapter 3 of Coming Up For Air. Several people suggested deleting the paragraph where Liza is back in the car, because it was confusing and seemed unnecessary. Jen asked for more description of Ty’s body language when she says “mom, you’re scaring me!” Deb thought it was odd that Liza let Ty call and yell at her dad. After Holly explained that was intentional, the description of Ty yelling at her dad seemed too rational and aware on Liza’s part. Make it more obvious that Liza is self-absorbed and not paying attention to Ty. Chris suggested showing examples of how Mike tamed Liza’s “wild ways.” In what way was she wild?

Karen shared instructions for her do-it-yourself pop-up book Where’s Bear’s Stuff? Everyone attempted to follow the instructions and put together the book. The group had fun folding, coloring, cutting, and gluing! The process resulted in many suggestions: provide an index of pages or explanation of contents; separate instructions from content in separate PDFs or different font; make a how-to video; number the steps and use more diagrams; use dotted lines to show where all the folds are; use different kinds of lines for cutting and folding consistently and explain in instructions; bring this back one page at a time so the group can give more thorough feedback.

Other Odds and Ends
FREE WEBINAR
The Secret Success Formula of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Bestselling Memoir
Tuesday, October 29

Brooke Warner and Linda Joy Myers, creators of Write Your Memoir in Six Months, are now teaching quarterly webinars on bestselling memoirs. Last spring they taught Wild to rave reviews. Now they’ve chosen Eat, Pray, Love, a memoir that lives on in the hearts and souls of many. But a more important question to explore for memoirists is what made it so popular?

In this FREE webinar, Brooke and Linda Joy will be covering:
• what a formulaic memoir is and why publishers love it.
• techniques Gilbert used to make her story universal.
• questions you need to consider about your own structure.
• how Gilbert uses themes and through-threads throughout her memoir.
• why having a formula helps you create a contained story.

Brooke and Linda Joy ALWAYS offer WOW! subscribers a discount on their courses, and they’re excited to share with you these fun and interesting ways to reconnect with your favorite memoirs to learn more about writing and craft.

Join them for this hour-long free webinar Tuesday, October 29, at 4pm PT | 5pm MT | 6pm CT | 7pm ET.

Coming Soon. . .
October 29: Lisa McDougal (chapter 7, Tebow Family Secret), Aaron Boehm (???), Pat Edwards (poems), Ruth Imhoff (chapter, Motto of the Hound), Cindi Dykes (chapter 2, North Road), and Amber Boudreau (chapter 21, Noble).
November 5: Fifth Tuesday – really – at Mystery To Me Bookstore.
November 12: Carol (Ghost of Heffron College, Scene 11), Holly (Coming Up For Air, Chapter 4), Deb, Karen
November 19: Lisa McDougal (chapter 8, Tebow Family Secret), Bob Kralapp (???), Millie Mader (chapter 48, Life on Hold), Andy Pfeiffer (chapter, The Void), Judith McNeil (chapter 7, My Mother, Savior of Men), Betsy Draine (chapter 2, Twins: A Love Story), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 12-13 Capitol Crimes).

A Fifth Tuesday note . . .
Got your Fifth Tuesday challenge story written? Please send it both to Carol Hornung and Jerry Peterson. Jerry will forward his set of stories to our judge, Joanne Berg.
It’s also time to make your reservations. Send Carol a note telling her you are coming and whether you are bringing a guest. We want to be sure we have enough chairs for everyone. Also tell Carol what you are planning to bring for the feasting table. Finger food is the order for this potluck. If everyone brings frozen bananas on a stick and chocolate-dipped grape tomatoes, that could be interesting.
Date: November 5.
Place: Mystery To Me Bookstore on Monroe Street, across the street from Trader Joe’s.
Time: 7 p.m.