Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
June 21, 2020

The first word . . .

“You may well ask me why…I took time to write [books]. I can only reply that I do to know. There was no why about it. I had to: that was all.
― George Bernard Shaw

Zooming in from New York . . .

TWS alumnae Jaime Nelson Noven joined the group Tuesday evening from NYC where she works as a promotion pro for a new imprint at MacMillan. She will now be a regular with us for a long as we meet on Zoom.  We had a full house for critiques. Here is some of what was said:

— Kashmira Sheth and Amit Trivedi

            Story of Ba and Virabha would be better if conveyed in section alternating with present events. Transition after Ba and Virabha’s marriage to losing their son is abrupt.  This chapter has added depth to Virabha’s and Ba’s character and fits well in the overall story. Thanks all!

 — Larry Sommers (chapters 5-7, Dizzy)

Dizzy, Chapters 5-7: Chapter 5 starts weak, with confusion as to how familiar Izzy is with the Library, and no real description of the librarian. Would Izzy know the authors of the books he read? I think so, but not all agree. Izzy’s voice sometimes seems younger than 12, sometimes older. Would Collum say “a touch of polio”?  And what about the “gold”?  How long before Izzy finds out it’s fool’s gold?–Good questions. Stay tuned.

— Huckle Rahr (chapters 16-17, Wolf Healer)

This week the group had much less to say about my chapters. Overall the group seemed to like what I wrote in chapter 16. The banter and interaction between the different family members was enjoyed. The general agreement ended when we got to chapter 17. A line was drawn between those who didn’t mind the description of the different pack members versus those who were overwhelmed with too many cast members. Is there a need to know who everyone is in the pack at this point? Does it help the story move forward?

Thanks!

— Bob Kralapp (chapter 16, Capacity) . . .

Several comments came back that there were too few speech tags. The other comment was that there was an ambiguity as to whether the chapter was being presented as present-time events or as the memory of events.

Thank you.

— Amber Boudreau (chapters 21-22, Second Nature)

Larry had an issue with the main character’s internal thoughts intruding on the story. John kept waiting for one character to offer another a pair of pants, which made the author chuckle, but anyway. Jerry wondered if readers needed to know which direction they turned off of a road, but at the same time wanted to know what kind of tree the main character landed in as a bird. Jerry would have also liked to see the mustard get spilled. Thanks everyone!

— Jerry Peterson (chapters 5-6, For Want of a Hand) . . . Huckle and Amber found it not believable that a black judge, or as Huckle said anyone who is black, would be a supporter of Trump for President. Both also pointed out a failure on Quinn’s part to have a backup plan for defending Baheera Anderson in her court case should she—Quinn—be disbarred if she’s convicted on the charge of murder in her own court case, a case that goes to court two weeks before Anderson’s.

Who’s up next . . .

July 7

John Schneller (chapter, Broken rewrite)

Kashmira Sheth (chapter, Journey to Swaraj)

Mike Austin (???)

Jaime Nelson Noven (???)

Huckle Rahr (chapters, Wolf Healer)

Amber Boudreau (chapters, Second Nature)

Our editor . . .

Amit Trivedi completed his job as editor of Writer’s Mail for June with this issue. We now need a July editor. How about you?

Fifth Tuesday . . .

It’s still on for June 30. We will gather in the backyard of Larry and Jo Sommers’ home. The address is in Madison.

Do bring your own lawn chairs and supper, including a beverage. A mask is an option, but do plan to keep a safe distance from one another.

Here’s the writing challenge suggested by Jack: Love in the time of Covid-19. So you’re writing a love story, essay or poem, a complicated love story, essay or poem. Keep it to 500 words. Email your mini-masterpiece to Jerry Peterson by Sunday evening, June 28. Also, bring a copy to read.

Advice on that killer novel you’re writing . . .

Heard on NPR’s Morning Edition on June 9: Because of COVID-19 lockdowns, it appears more people are finding time to write. Literary agents are seeing more stories related to pandemics and viruses being submitted for them to review.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

All right. You finally have time to write that novel you’ve been talking about. Some people are actually doing just that. Erin Clyburn is a literary agent who says she is seeing an uptick in submissions from writers.

ERIN CLYBURN: It’s definitely increasing, like, day to day.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And it’s not hard to guess what’s inspiring them.

CLYBURN: I got one with a protagonist whose last name was Covid.

MARTIN: Clyburn is seeing more stories related to pandemics and viruses. But she says not everything she gets could be mistaken for George Orwell.

CLYBURN: People will say, I wrote this manuscript while I’ve been home for the last couple of months. It’s unlikely that a manuscript could be finished in a couple of months and have that level of polish that it would typically need to be sent to an agent.

GREENE: Literary agent Kari Sutherland says, don’t rush to submit that masterpiece.

KARI SUTHERLAND: You really get one shot with an agent. I don’t usually ask for a revise and resubmit.

GREENE: And if you are writing a pandemic novel, you may, in fact, be too late.

SUTHERLAND: By the time you’ve written something that you see is a trend, well, publishers have already filled their pipelines with those kinds of stories.

GREENE: Sutherland says editors are veering away from pandemic-related work.

SUTHERLAND: Everyone is looking more for an escape from our current circumstances. And they don’t particularly want to be reading about deadly viruses.

MARTIN: So what’s her advice to writers?

SUTHERLAND: Focus on making sure that you’re creating the kinds of stories that are going to reach into people’s hearts.

MARTIN: And Clyburn’s advice? Be sure the work is really ready before you push it out into the world.

CLYBURN: Put together a draft that is as polished and as solid and something that you’re going to be proud to send to agents.

MARTIN: Future Austens and Tolstoys, remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And War and Peace wasn’t written after a few weeks in quarantine.

On a lighter note…

“Go on writing plays, my boy. One of these days one of these London producers will go into his office and say to his secretary,” Is there a play from Shaw this morning?’ and when she says, “No,”  he will say, “Well, then we’ll have to start on the rubbish.” And that’s your chance, my boy.
― George Bernard Shaw

The last word . . .

“All writing is a form of prayer”

― John Keats