Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
August 9, 2019

The first word . . .

Literary critics have argued over whether Toni Morrison was best described as an African American writer, an African American female writer or simply an American writer—and whether the label mattered at all. Said Morrison, “I can accept the labels because being a black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from. It doesn’t limit my imagination; it expands it. It’s richer than being a white male writer because I know more and I’ve experienced more.”

We lost a literary giant . . .

Toni Morrison died at the age of 88 on Monday. The Washington Post ran a superb story/obituary about her, the first black woman to win a Nobel Prize for Literature, that you should read. Here’s the link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/toni-morrison-nobel-laureate-who-transfigured-american-literature-dies-at-88/2019/08/06/49cd4d46-b84d-11e9-a091-6a96e67d9cce_story.html

Here’s another obituary you should read, that of Morrison contemporary Maya Angelou. Angelou died at age 86 five years ago. The story/obituary also ran in The Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/maya-angelou-writer-and-poet-dies-at-age-86/2014/05/28/2948ef5e-c5da-11df-94e1-c5afa35a9e59_story.html

Back home at B&N . . .

A motley crew of writers found their way back to the bookstore after, last week, enjoying Fifth Tuesday at Larry and Jo Sommers’ home. They reviewed the works of a half-dozen of their colleagues. Here is some of what was said:

— Cindi Dyke (chapters 1-2 rewrite, The Mansion Secrets) . . . Lots of good discussion on developing Wart as a very smart but very quirky character. Jack suggested playing up Wart’s dramatic responses and storytelling with more physical gestures. Several thought the vocabulary he uses is still too adult for his age. Kashmira thought the narrator should also sound more childlike. Thanks everyone.

— Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi (chapters 19-20, untitled novel) . . . Amit and I submitted two chapters of our novel. There was discussion about “onion” that was mentioned as a treatment for seizure. Many questions were raised about what kind or type of onion, what color, scent etc. Also, Jack suggested to take out some part to make Uma’s thoughts about Arjun and Lord Krishna more prominent.  Thank you all for your feedback.

— Jack Freiburger (chapters 53-54, A Walk upon the Water) . . .

— John Schneller (chapter 9, Broken rewrite) . . . Choice of words was discussed. Choices show what the reader sees in the story.  A helpful discussion of how to handle staying in POV as the character wakes up. A clarification of Broken’s interaction of with the world of animals was brought up, with a promise for a clear shift in a couple chapters as Broken enters the mountains.

— Bob Kralapp (chapter 9, Capacity) . . . Tracey was unfamiliar with the expression “blood and thunder.” And who could blame her, the phrase having gone out common usage more than a hundred years ago. Lisa, in her written comments, thought that not enough plot was happening. She is right. In “Capacity,” plot happens more or less as an afterthough—tracks left behind by the characters on their way to wherever it is they happen to be going.

— Larry Sommers (chapter 21, Freedom’s Purchase) . . . Great comments from Kashmira and others on interplay between black and white characters  in scene where Daniel reveals the fatherhood of Betsey’s child and his own calling to return to the South as a guide to runaway slaves. Also good ideas about ratcheting up the drama in Maria’s confrontation with the Crawleys, including Jack’s suggestion of a ruse to simulate a second gun. Thanks, everybody.

Who’s up next . . .

August 20

Amber Boudreau (chapters 10-12, Mavis)

Jack Freiburger (chapters, A Walk upon the Water)

Chris Zoern (chapter, Apostate)

Paul Wagner (???)

Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi (chapters, untitled novel)

Mike Austin (???)

Jerry Peterson (???)

Our editor . . .

Larry Sommers runs our e-newsletter this month. Do send him your good stuff.

That little old semi-colon . . .

Come on, we’re writers. We like to know the minutiae of the mechanics of our craft . . . like punctuation: when should we use a semi-colon, where did this period over a comma form of punctuation come from, and why do we have it?

You can read a good story about the semi-colon in the current issue of The Paris Review. It’s brief. Lots of good history here. Here’s the link: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/08/01/the-birth-of-the-semicolon/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

The last word . . .

“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.”

― Toni Morrison (1931-2019), novelist, essayist, editor, and teacher