Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
February 6, 2014

“The greatest rules of dramatic writing are conflict, conflict, conflict.” – James Frey

Notes from 2/4/2014
A dozen of us gather round the tables at the old B&N.

Lisa reads from Chapter Eleven of Tebow’s Family Secret. Pat thought the dialogue flowed and that it was a good chapter. She wondered about what was served at the restaurant the characters visited, but Lisa explains it’s a ‘fusion’ joint. Judith reread some chapters and thinks things are converging. Andy wondered why a character would find a joke about their daughter funny instead of disgusting. Pat thought the ending was very compelling. Jerry thought one character was very laid-back about his mother getting out of prison. Kashmira thought Lisa could add a smell or some description to the restaurant scene.

Cindi reads from Chapter Five of North Road. Millie could relate to the story. Andy initially thought Chapter two was a bit of an info dump, with no dialogue, but the twist at the end hooked him. Amber thought there could be a little more shorthand between sisters in the section that was read to the group. Pat thought she could cut quite a bit out of these chapters and get right into the meat of the story, the part that has emotional resonance. Bob gets the value of telling a story slowly and methodically, but it does bog it down in places. Bob also likes the characters but doesn’t think she needs to hold the reader’s hands.

Bob reads from his short story Hole in the Wall. Lisa was confused about a character who gets introduced. Pat liked the tone though she doesn’t like scary stories. Lisa thought it was too light and didn’t think a lot happened. Some thought it could be ominous. Jerry has a question about geography and if the hole has been taken out yet. Cindi and Pat thought it was very visual, which was great.

Millie reads from Chapter Fifty of Life on Hold. Jerry has some logistics issues – the main character will have to get another to bend down to kiss another on the forehead. Lisa would have liked one character to be a bit more assertive. Kashmira thinks there’s an opportunity for one character to admire another, which would add to the guilt one feels later in the chapter. The group suggests adding smells to the scene might help too.

Ruth reads from Flame of Souls her NaNoWriMo novel. Jerry wants to know how something without eyes can stare. Pat suggests writing about the feeling she’s trying to invoke instead of eyeless face. Jerry wonders how many times she used the word ‘walk’ or some variation thereof. Lisa was confused about the shop the characters go into – she thought it was a house. Pat wonders if she has to mention his ethnicity. Also, are the tears from the cold or from some emotional trauma?

Amber reads from the end of her YA novel, Noble. Judith thought she did a good job of building the tension. Jerry has some logistical, geographical concerns.
Jerry shares Chapter twenty-three of Capital Crimes. Pat says only Jerry would put an outhouse in a chase scene. The chapters added with a missing character fit well.

3 Things Writers Can Learn From J.K. Rowling’s Second-Thoughts about Harry and Hermione

Every newsfeed in the land was abuzz with J.K. Rowling confessing to second thoughts about how she wrapped up the Harry Potter series, and specifically about whether Harry and Hermione should have gotten together. The full interview has not yet been released, but that hasn’t stopped the Internet from having a collective freakout, with some people agreeing and some people thinking everything turned out just fine thank you very much.

From the quotes that have been released, it sounds more like she felt like she forced the Ron/Hermione relationship more than flubbing the Harry/Hermione relationship.

Count me in the camp that feels that a lack of chemistry between Harry and Ginny was a bigger problem than an unfulfilled desire to see Harry and Hermione get together, but setting that aside, there’s a lot that this reveal tells us about the writing process.

1. Even J.K. Rowling has second-thoughts about her plotlines

Writing a novel can be such a confusing mess. At the end of the day you have to just pick something and go with it, but those nagging second thoughts might never go away.

By the time you read a good book it feels like canon, like it sprung forth fully-formed from its writer. You get lost in it and don’t think about all of the difficult choices the author had to make, all of those times when the author went with their best guess about what would work with no prior knowledge of whether it really would make sense and be the best plot.

Second-thoughts and doubts are totally normal. You might feel like you’re barely holding things together, and you wouldn’t be alone. . .

There’s more! Read the full post at
http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2014/02/3-things-writers-can-learn-from-jk.html

Who’s up next . . .
February 11: Karen Zethmayr (page of pop-up book instructions), Holly Bonnicksen-Jones (chapter 6, Coming Up For Air), Deb Kellerman (chapter 3 of recent work), Carol Hornung (chapter, Ghost of Heffron College), and Ryan Wagner (poems).

February 18: Cindi Dyke (chapter 2, North Road), Andy Pfeiffer (chapter, The Void), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (novel), Pat Edwards (???), Judith McNeil (chapter 8, My Mother, Savior of Men), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 24-29, Capitol Crimes).

March 4: Lisa McDougal (chapter 12, Tebow Family Secret), Cindi Dyke (chapters, North Road), Bob Kralapp (short story, “Hole in the Wall”, Part 2), Millie Mader (chapter 51, Life on Hold), Ruth Imhoff (scene 2, Flame of Souls), and Jerry Peterson (chapters 30-33, Capitol Crimes).

Time to sign up for Writers Institute . . .
A number of your TWS colleagues have attended UW’s Writers Institute over the years, a superb writer’s conference . . . and it’s right here in Madison, this year at the Concourse Hotel, April 4-6.

Here are three reasons why you should go:

– YA author and blogger Nathan Bransford kicks off the event at 9 a.m. on the 4th. From time to time, we feature Bransford’s blog posts in our e-newsletter, so you know he’s witty guy and most certainly knowledgeable about the writing and publishing biz. He will be talking about how to stay sane while writing whatever you’re writing, whether it be a short story, a book, or a collection of poems. He will be drawing from his newest book, How to Write a Novel.

– This is Writers Institute’s 25th year. Big celebration. Marshall Cook and Chris DeSmet launched the first conference way back in 1990. Elmore Leonard was that year’s headliner. Jacquelyn Mitchard and Carol Higgins Clark have been among the headliners since.

Mitchard will be back this year, leading a session for YA writers titled “No Vampires Need Apply: Why the New Wave in YA.”

Mitchard advocates for a new kind of realism in YA stories, what she calls American magical realism. Says she, “In a post-millennial world, the possibility of an afterlife, dreams and visions, and such abilities as telepathy may be commonplace. A global sophistication pressed against the timeless insecurities and urgencies of youth mean that the stories written for today’s youth possess different qualities than they did a generation ago.”

– You can save money by registering now. $260 for the full conference if you sign up by March 14; $280 if you sign up after March 14. One-day registrations are available as well.

While at the conference, you can get your manuscript critiqued, pitch your book to editors and agents, and have private meetings with the Institute’s instructors. Be aware, though, there are separate fees for these goodies.

For all the program details, the list of keynoters and instructors, and the registration form, go to Writers Institute’s website. Here’s the link: http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/conferences/writers-institute/index.html

Great word . . .
From Word Spy Paul McFedreis:

geriaction
Meaning: (noun) An action movie genre that features aging actors in the lead roles. [geriatric + action]

Example Citations:
“Combats, encounters, car chases, gunshots, explosions, punches, kicks, blood and sweat with some good guys and their foes thrown in; the geriaction (action from old dudes) subgenre has exploded on the silver screen and it has exploded big time.”
– Suruchi Sharma Diwan, It’s time for some geriaction, The Positive, January 7, 2014

“Ever since The Expendables grossed $274 million worldwide – a figure almost as high as its cast’s combined ages – the geriaction subgenre has exploded, making born-again stars out of 1980s icons such as Sylvester Stallone and Mickey Rourke, long thought to have hung up their assault rifles.”
– Charlie Lyne, Geriaction heroes and the age of aged movie stars, The Guardian, March 30, 2013

Earliest Citation:
“Geriaction: A genre of action/adventure films featuring over-the-hill actors/actresses reprising roles they had in their much younger years.”
– docmoc, “geriaction,” Urban Dictionary, June 20, 2009

Last word . . .
“He was such a bad writer, they revoked his poetic license.” – Milton Berle