Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
March 21, 2014

First and Third Meeting March 18, 2014 at Barnes and Noble
A small group yesterday evening, only nine of us. Jerry was out of town, so Pat Edwards facilitated.

Lisa McDougal read from Tebow Family Secret, Chapter 14. The group liked the twist at the end where Jessica suggests to Adam that he contact Glenn to see if he can uncover Izzy’s trail. Andy thought the twist make the chapter awesome.

Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi read from the second chapter of their novel. They had not been able to upload the chapter for the group to read whole thing. So when they get it up, we can read the whole chapter. From the part they read, the group liked the tensions, with descriptions that gave a feeling of “being there, at the time when India was going through political dissent.

Bob Kralapp read from The Hole In The Wall, Part 2. The group wanted more than two pages into this chapter, feeling that it was more of a teaser than a whole chapter. Lisa wondered if Alice wouldn’t have been more cautious than to go into basement unaccompanied, considering the previous night’s experience. Pat suggested that she might want to keep some of information to herself. Since Alice’s actions show that she does not want to tell Gary about the previous night’s actions, and Gary doesn’t seem to “pick up” on any of her body language, Kashmira asked about the length of their marriage. Bob said they were together only two years. She felt that Alice would give away enough with her body language considering the previous night’s events. The group asked Bob about the length of his piece and he said it would be long short story around 30 pages or so. The group was a bit surprised at the couple’s age—in their 20’s. Suggested that some information indicate their age.

Cindi Dyke read from North Road, Chapter 9. Lisa felt that Paula would have left the restaurant immediately after seeing the nurse’s expression. No need for additional dialogue. Kashmira felt that the dialogue between the nurse and Kath at the end of the chapter could be shortened, otherwise it seemed that she was badgering Kath. She also suggested that the descriptions be kept to highlighting the important scenes.

Judith McNeil read from My Mother, Savior of Men, chapters 10 and 11. The group liked the humor of the piece. Andy thought that the amount of people at the party was somewhat confusing. Judith mentioned that most of them were not important to the story, but needed to be there to get the feel of a large family party.

Who’s up next . . .
March 25: Jack Frieburger (revised chapter 1,Path To Brays Head), Karen Zethmayr (Origami), Roxanne Aehl (???), Ruth Imhoff (Hound or Vikings). There is room for two more readers.

April 1: Georgia NeSmith (chapter, memoir), Millie Mader (chapter 52, Life on Hold), Ruth Imhoff (chapter, Flame of Souls) Cindi Dyke (chapters, North Road), Bob Kralapp (???), and Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel)Andy Pfeiffer, chapter, (The Void).

April 15: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter 3, novel), Cindi Dyke (chapters, North Road), Pat Edwards (???), John Schneller (???), and Judith McNeil (chapter 12, My Mother, Savior of Men).

Fifth Tuesday . . .
Just to keep it at the front of your mind . . . April 29 at Mystery To Me Bookstore.
First-and-third group hosts. It’s a potluck, so decide what you are going to bring for the food table. Look at the list in the March 3rd Writers Mail, so you can see what is being brought so far.
Coffee shop stories is the writing challenge. Write a story, poem, essay or film scene in which a coffee shop is involved. Max length is 500 words.

Great word . . .
From Word Spy Paul McFedreis:
frankenword
Meaning: (noun) A word created from the parts of two or more existing words, particularly when the resulting term is awkward or unsightly. Also: franken-word. [Frankenstein + word]

Example Citations:
“Use is probably the ultimate arbiter and we’ll see whether newer frankenwords like FRENEMY, COCACOLONISATION and FAUXHAWK become as unremarkable and unobjectionable as BRUNCH, SMOG and MOTORCADE – or whether they’re destined to the same dustbin as the nineteenth-century INSINUENDO and Virginia Woolf’s SCROLLOPING, which to my ears has a sound that’s too fun to denote ‘heavily intricate’.”
– Alan Connor, Crossword roundup: chillaxing with my frenemies, The Guardian, October 8, 2012

“Machete Kills puts the tat in Mex-ploitation, the frankenword coined by writer-director Rodriguez to encapsulate his Latin-flavoured homage to exploitation films of the 1970s and 1980s.”
– Damon Smith, Not much spice but plenty of gore in ‘Mexploitation’ dud, Bradford Telegraph and Argus, October 11, 2013

Earliest Citation:
“As you can see, the challenge is to find a title with the least relevance to the business in which your company is actually engaged. Pseudo-Latin wankery (hello Altria, Navigant, Conixant, Candesant, Veriton and Vivident) is popular, as are gruesome frankenwords such as Consignia, which was adopted by the British post office for 15 months before it reverted to the completely out-there Royal Mail.
– Emma Tom, A cancer stick by any other name would smell just as foul, The Australian, January 21, 2004

Notes:
A new word created from a blend of two or more other words is also called a portmanteau, and many linguistic authorities assert that portmanteau and Frankenword are synonymous. However, if you look at the usage, people are wielding Frankenword as an insult, hence my addition that such a word also lacks euphony. Therefore, I submit that Frankenword itself is not a Frankenword, but a garden-variety portmanteau.

To write every day or not to write every day . . .
Ah, that is the question . . . and YA author Nathan Bransford took it on in a recent blog:

One of the most persistent myths in the writing pantheon is that “serious” writers write every day.
Like many myths, this one contains a kernel of truth, namely that many writers do write every day. The rhythm and discipline of sitting down every day is important to some writers, and many of them believe so wholeheartedly in their own process that they elevate this to “requirement” status. They can’t imagine not writing every day, so it becomes an ironclad rule and some hector others as unserious.
I’ve said this several times before, but I still see this myth repeated so often I feel like it’s time to chime in again. You don’t have to write every day. You really don’t. I certainly don’t write every day.
I’m not a morning person, so I can’t wake up early to write in the mornings. And after a long day’s work, I’m usually too mentally exhausted to write. So I get my writing done on weekends.
Moreover, I find the breaks between writing times to be very beneficial. Those breaks are ideas times, when I’m letting my mind wander, making free associations, and planning what I’m going to write when the weekend comes. By the time I finally get back to the computer, I’m ready.
Read the entire post at http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2014/03/you-dont-have-to-write-every-day.html