Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
December 26, 2016

The big contest . . .

Here’s everything you need to know to win a critique of 50 pages of the book you’re writing, the critique to be provided by a published author . . . TWS alumnus and sci-fi writer Pat Tomlinson. Pat has three novels out and a fourth under contract.

Your assignment, write the very best short story, essay or poem you can with this as your prompt: The clock struck 11:59 p.m. on December 31st. So-and-so turned, tipped his or her glass to you (or to a fictional character) and said thoughtfully, “You know, I’ve been meaning to tell you this all year . . .”

Maximum length for your mini-masterpiece is 500 words. Go over and your piece will not be read.

Deadline for getting your entry to Jerry Peterson is midnight, January 22. He will forward all the entries to Pat who will select the best of the best.

There is an entry fee . . . $10. The winner gets all the money in the pot with which she/he is to take Pat to dinner at one of our finer restaurants in the Madison area.

The winner will be announced at our January Fifth Tuesday . . . January 31 at Panera’s on University Avenue.

Party time . . .

Put it on your calendar now . . . January 7 at 2:00 – that’s a Saturday afternoon – Jerry and Marge Peterson will host our TWS post-holiday party at their home in Janesville. This is a potluck event. Marge says she will serve her world-famous cheese soup, so plan what you intend to put in your lucky pot around that.

TWS alum Clayton Gill will be with us.

It happened Tuesday evening . . .

A baker’s dozen of TWS writers ate cookies and critiqued the works of six of their colleagues at our last meeting of the year, this at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library. Here’s some of what was said:

Millie Mader (poems, “Loss” and “The Sighting of the Highwayman”) – My poem was short, so the critique is pretty brief. Some changes in certain words and phrasing, which I’m working on.

Jen Wilcher (chapter 2, Hogoshiro Chronicles) –

Hannah Marshall (poems, “Running Free as a Young Doe” and “Summer Squash”) – We had some lovely discussion about my poems. In “Running Free,” comments were made about some spots where I could employ better verbs; in “Summer Squash,” we mainly discussed the second half of the poem, and many mentioned that the recipe part fell flat compared to the strength of the beginning.

Cindi Dyke (chapter 9, North Road) – It was suggested that the dialogue be more like spoken conversation. More starting and stopping, perhaps more interruption, and less use of full sentences. Also, since this is Kath’s story, Jerry questioned whether or not we need this chapter from Paula. Cindi felt that while it is Kath’s story, it is still vital to the piece that we understand where Paula is coming from and felt the reader needs to hear it from Paula herself. Jerry suggested that Paula’s feelings could be revealed in chapters that still came from Kath.

Tracey Gemmell (chapters 8-9, Losing It) – The members reported enjoying the Annie and Lester characters. It was generally agreed that Taylor and Charles were less likeable, and more needed to happen to these characters to make them interesting. Differences in British and American punctuation were discussed: single versus double quotation marks, hyphenation, and final punctuation outside quotation marks. Some descriptions of Annie were considered noteworthy, for example, Annie’s spine taking on the shape of a question mark. However, descriptions of settings needed some work to bring them up to standard.

Jerry Peterson (short story, part 1, “The Mayor & The Guv”) – John Schneller pointed out that Jerry had the wrong kind of fish jumping out of the water. Saugers, he said, are deep fish. Bass would be better. Pat Edwards tripped up on the name of the street department worker, Silky. “When I read ‘silky’, I thought of the women-seals in Scottish lore,” she said. So Silky is now Kevin.

The next time we meet . . .

January 3, we’ll be back at ye olde booksellers, Barnes & Noble Westside. Submitting pieces for your consideration for that evening are Pat Edwards (chapter), Amber Boudreau (chapter 12, The Dragoneer), John Schneller (chapter 8, Final Stronghold), Eva Mays (chapter 8, Dhuoda), Nora O’Reilly (chapter 6, Bill McCormick’s Bliss), and Mike Austin (chapter, Before I Leave).

*Special note: When you post, go to our Yahoo group’s 2017 file. There, click on 0103 to open our January 3 meeting file. Next click on Works and upload your chapter, short story, poems or essay there.

Looking way ahead to January 17: Millie Mader (???), Jen Wilcher (chapter 3, Hogoshiro Chronicles), Nora O’Reilly (chapter 7, Bill McCormick’s Bliss), Judith McNeil (???), Kashmira Sheth (???), Tracey Gemmell (chapter, Losing It), and Jerry Peterson (short story, part 2, “The Mayor & The Guv”).

An interesting article from the Writer’s Digest~ http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/important-writing-lessons-from-first-time-novelists

We have editors . . .

Nora O’Reilly finished her December duties with this issue. Tracey Gemmell takes on the editorship for January and Eva Mays for February. Send them your good stuff.