Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
June 7, 2020

The first word . . .

“I feel devoutly thankful to have been born fond of writing.”

― Winston Churchill

Zoom-zoom . . .

Zoom isn’t without its problems. Delayed voice transmissions and audio breakups forced John to leave Tuesday evening’s meeting early. Here are summaries of the critiques those who were on the schedule received:

— John Schneller (chapter 20, Broken rewrite)

While I have tried to embrace the RUE (Resist the Urge to Explain) concept, my minimalist approach left most readers guessing Broken’s distrust, the thief and murderer qualities of the shepherds, the subversive technique to convince the ewe to accept a lamb not her own, and why did he reach into the pouch and bring out nothing (visible). Looks like I has some esplainin to do! (me no edit John’s righting) Thanks for the input.  John

— Huckle Rahr (chapters 14-15, Wolf Healer)

This week Jade ended her vacation in Florida and returned home to Wisconsin. I was given notes about making Sarah’s parent’s reactions more real. They seem flat and to take things a bit too much in stride. Their child turned into a panther, and though they were warned, there should be more physical and emotional reaction to this change. There should also be more explanation to the hour Jade spent having a panic attack in the bathroom of the airport. Time seemed to fly a bit too much. I got positive notes on the interaction between Jade and her mom.

Thanks!

Huckle

— Larry Sommers (chapters 3-4, Dizzy)

Dizzy, Chapter 3: Jerry pointed out the ground had not been laid for Izzy to feed the whole family, only himself. Huckle felt more authentic interaction was needed between Izzy and Christine in the tea-party scene. Chapter 4: Huckle and Jack felt Izzy was worried about his parents and would not say he wasn’t. Amit sensed a discrepancy between Izzy’s and Collum’s imaginary space world and Izzy’s comment about “waiting for Science to catch up with us.” Jerry wondered what the point was of the mulberry tree rocketry, and I promised to tie it in with later plot features. Thanks, everybody.

— Kashmira Sheth (chapters 8, Journey to Swaraj)

Kashmira submitted chapter 8 of her story Journey to Swaraj. John suggested that a few phrases and words could be deleted. Larry had questions about the language and word choices. Jerry made several comments and suggestions to help the story flow better. Thank you all for your comments. I am sorry I could not make it. Hope to connect next time.

Who’s up next . . .

June 2

Amit Trivedi (???)

Mike Austin (???)

Huckle Rahr (chapters, Wolf Healer)

Bob Kralapp (chapter, Capacity)

Amber Boudreau (chapter, Second Nature)

Jerry Peterson (chapters, For Want of a Hand)

Our editor . . .

Amit Trivedi is running Writer’s Mail this month. If you have something you’d like him to put in our next issue, do send it on.

Fifth Tuesday . . .

Yes, our next Fifth Tuesday is June 30. Larry and Jo Sommers will host us, weather permitting because we will meet in their backyard around their new fire pit. Do plan to bring your own lawn chairs and supper, including a beverage.

Larry says you can mask or leave your mask at home. It’s your choice, just keep a safe distance from one another.

Here’s the writing challenge suggested by Jack: Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera, which for us could be love in the time of Covid-19. So you’re writing a love story, essay or poem, a complicated love story, essay or poem. Do it in no more than 500 words.

Somethings are good to repeat!

From Larry:

Invite:  Members of TWS are invited to Larry and Jo’s house on Tuesday, June 30 at 7:00 pm for Fifth Tuesday. In order to observe COVID precautions:

1. Bring a chair of your own to sit on in our backyard.
2. Bring your own picnic-style or brown-bag meal, your own plates, utensils, napkins, etc.
3. We will have a table with a little wine and beer, to which you may help yourself. There will also be plastic cups. And there will be a pitcher of water and maybe some iced tea. You’ll have to access this table one person at a time. If you want any other kind of drink, bring it yourself.

There is plenty of room in our backyard for social distancing. We’ll provide a campfire, unless it is too beastly hot.

Wear a mask if you wish, but it won’t be a house requirement.

THIS PLAN IS SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION AT SHORT NOTICE if weather does not cooperate, because we don’t really have enough room indoors for social distancing.

Something to ponder . . .

“Nobody has known anything better than sparkling wine

Since the morning star and the moon graced the sky:

Wine-sellers astonish me because

What can they buy better than what they sell?”

― The Ruba’iyat of Omar Khayyam as translated by Peter Avery and John Heath Stubbs

The last word . . .

“Perfecting and selling your writing is a lifelong task. If you are a persistent writer, you can expect your abilities to improve with time. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

― Winston Churchill