Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail for Tuesday July 8th, 2014

“If you want to write a fantasy story with Norse gods, sentient robots, and telepathic dinosaurs, you can do just that. Want to throw in a vampire and a lesbian unicorn while you’re at it? Go ahead. Nothing’s off limits. But the endless possibility of the genre is a trap. It’s easy to get distracted by the glittering props available to you and forget what you’re supposed to be doing: telling a good story. Don’t get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That’s a story. Handled properly, it’s more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.” 
-Patrick Rothfuss

Five writers gathered at Barnes and Noble Tuesday July 8 to read and critique two stories.

Jen read from Chapter 1 of her untitled novel.

Rebecca and Katelin wanted more reaction from the character Hibiki as she sees the blue veins for the first time. Wouldn’t she have some reaction from seeing something completely out of the ordinary? The reaction could be slight. Joel and Liam tracked with Jen’s intention to show that Hibiki isn’t processing anything while doing the Akido moves. Rebecca wanted the appearance of the blue veins to be more prominent and obviously magical, because it’s the most interesting part of the scene. Katelin suggested moving the description of the veins to a new paragraph to draw attention to it. Rebecca and Joel pointed out a few grammatical corrections. Joel suggested added a scene prior to this one to introduce the character so the ready knows why she is taking the test.

Liam read from chapter 1 of his novel.

Everyone liked the beginning of the story. Joel thought the dialogue flowed well. The first line could be changed to a short, positive description of the crab dinner by the character, or delete the first line and start with the photo. Rebecca wanted it to be more obvious that the character is not in a normal hospital. Joel thought the scenes communicated well that the character is wavering between life and death. The group discussed how aware the character would be of what’s happening around him and how clear his thoughts would be during this traumatic experience. Some thought he would be less aware, others thought it was good the way it was written. Katelin liked when Hippoctrates mentioned the oath.

Devin also read some from the beginning of his novel. We encouraged him to keep writing to discover the story.

Who’s Up Next:

July 15th : Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Andy Brown (chapter 4, Man Before the Fall), Amber Boudreau (chapters, Stone), Pat Edwards (???), John Schneller (chapter 3, Final Stronghold), and Judith McNeil (chapter 14, My Mother, Savior of Men).

July 22nd: Deb – chapter 4 of Crossing Guard

Andy Miller

Rebecca – chapter 2 of Lookout

Joel – chapter 1

Jen – chapter 1, part 2

Jack

August 5th :  Amber Boudreau  (chapters,  Stone),  Andy Pfeiffer  (chapters,  The Void),  Millie Mader  (chapter 56,  Life on Hold),  Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi  (chapter 5, novel),Bob Kralapp  (short story part 6, “Hole in the Wall”), and  Jerry Peterson  (chapters,Rubbed Out).

Editors:

Ruth Imhoff is the July editor.

Katelin Cummins takes on the job in August.

5th Tuesday!!

The next Fifth Tuesday will be July 29!

Rebecca Rettenmund will host. Bring a lawn or folding chair for yourself if you have one. If the weather is nice, there may be a bonfire!

This is a potluck, so please bring some food to share!

The Challenge

What if your character could tell you what he or she thinks about your writing? Maybe she doesn’t like how you portrayed her, or he hates what you’re doing to his life in the story. Your character’s rant or diatribe is your 250 word challenge piece.

Bring a print out of your own story to share at the gathering for fun. Email your masterpiece to Katelin by July 30 so it can be included in the next newsletter. That means you have up until the Fifth Tuesday to complete it!