Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
March 5, 2019

The group met as usual at Borders:  Your editor was absent and so can say nothing about who was there and who not.

But here’s the feedback from those who had their work critiqued:

John Schneller (Chapter 4, Broken) . . . “Broken chapter 4 was hidden in the archives of submissions, but resurrected for some good thoughts regarding the shard of dragonstone. Consulting the imaginations of the group as well as our resident geologist helped the discussion.”

Jack Freiburger (Chapters 33-34, A Walk upon the Water) . . .  “My piece went over fairly well, your encouragement helping confirm the Clare chapter does have some value.   Just a few changes here and there.  Every one seemed to like the 14-year-old’s look at gowning [sic] into a real job and the joy in that as well as the need to have a focus in an unfocused and scattered kid.

“I spent a lot of time reading Amit’s piece.  With all the symbolic structure he’s put into it, it is interesting to deconstruct formally and look at the referent structure.  Amit is a true Modernist.  Jerry is such a straight forward narrator that suggesting a detail here and there is about it. John’s Broken chapter, the early February notes for which I forgot to bring, I believe was the clearest and cleanest text he has produced to date, great to listen to or read.

“The value of the group is not only being able to have your own work edited/chopped/praised/ returned in a manila envelope in ashes after burning, but to improve one’s writing by editing others, working through other styles.”

Amit Trivedi (Untitled work, Chapters 9-10) . . .  “Here are the comments from the group:

1. Date of the wedding is not clear.
2. Add a bit more of the tribe description/personality.
3. Try to use the ‘canopy’ more as a symbolism (Safety vs ominous things to come?)

I need to talk to Jack a bit more about the last one.”

Cindi Dyke (Chapters 5-6, The Mansion Secrets) . . . “Much of the discussion had to do with Wart’s obsession with TV detectives. Many saw opportunities to expand Wart’s character with more mimicking of his hero detective Columbo’s mannerisms. Jerry and Jack both thought there should  be greater difference in the voices of Michael and his older brother Alex. As it stands, they sound too much the same. Amber pointed out that Michael jumps out of bed and later runs out the door, but was concerned that he never got dressed. Good point! Thanks to all for your feedback.”

Who’s up next

March 19

No guidance on this to date from our gatekeeper, Jerry. If you did not read on March 5, chances are it’s your turn next. Stay tuned.

Tracey’s source for book covers

For those who expressed interest in where Tracey found her graphic designer for her book covers, here’s the link: https://www.behance.net/. She says: “Search for styles that suit you, then contact the designers. Don’t expect an answer from all of them. I found Anita B. Carroll at Race-Point on this site. Her website is  https://race-point.com/. She did the covers for Dunster’s Calling and More or Less Annie.”