Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
November 20, 2020

The first word . . .

“Perhaps if we recognize the pleasure in form that can be derived from fairy tales, we might be able to move beyond a discussion of who has more of a claim to the ‘realistic’ or the classical in contemporary letters. An increased appreciation of the techniques in fairy tales not only forges a mutual appreciation between writers from so-called mainstream and avant-garde traditions but also, I would argue, connects all of us in the act of living.”

—Kate Bernheimer, writer, editor, and critic

Zooming Tuesday evening . . .

Nine TWS colleagues gathered on their screens to work through the chapters of six of their fellow writers. Here is some of what was said:

— Kashmira Sheth (chapters 19-20, Journey to Swaraj) . . . Most of the comments were how to pick up pace and maybe combine the two chapters. There were some discussions about how to use foreign words. Also, there was a suggestion about providing more details about the past massacre.

— Mike Austin (short story, “Hunter’s Moon”) . . . My short story, “Hunter’s Moon,” was well-received, with only few comments, such as the changing werewolves should not have enough awareness to register fear on the victim’s face. And it needs to be shown that they head him off before he reaches his vehicle. Thanks everyone for a fun evening!

— Jack Freiburger (poems, “Fall Fire” and “Snow Day”) . . . Two accessible poems this week seemed generally acceptable.  Considering the simplicity of them, non-literary, I didn’t expect much comment, but it seems readers liked them, which was the goal. Spent most of my editing time on Jerry and Amit/Kashmira offering, where I feel I actually can contribute something as a reader.

— Amit Trivedi (chapters 3-6, Keeper of the Keys) . . . 1. Start chapter 3 with smoke from the train. 2. Remove like ‘living in the past’ replace it with  something like ‘do we need to repay all our debts’ or let the story convey the meaning. 3. Use water in place of river. Has broader meaning. 4. Sharing food in the train—why? Does not move the story.

— John Schneller (chapter 30, Broken rewrite) . . . Several words struck people as being inappropriate for the setting—kid, crazy—better words, better story.  Jamie wanted clarity on the new hawk that flew in and out of the scene. Everyone felt that Witomzil’s discourse on when to fight needed to be shortened or broken up. I agree. And who better to break up a speech than an impatient squirrel hating dragon. The general rule of fantasy . . . never waste a dragon.

— Jerry Peterson (chapter 13, For Want of a Hand) . . . A lot of conversation about wheelchairs resulting in a general agreement that, because Quinn has only one good leg, a wheelchair would be in her hospital room at all times. That would cut Steele’s leaving the room to find a wheelchair for the great escape, a scene that changes the POV, said John. Jack suggested shorter, tighter dialogue bits among the band of friends—Quinn, Zigman, and Steele—that Jerry also go for the chuckles and jokes among them and with the nun in a later scene. Also general agreement, Quinn needs to be sharper in a search for clues to who’s trying to frame her for a murder and why.

Who’s up next . . . 

December 1

Kashmira Sheth (chapter, Journey to Swaraj)

Jaime Nelson Noven (chapter, Outsleep)

Huckle Rahr (chapters 29-30, Wolf Healer)

John Schneller (chapter, Broken rewrite)

Amber Boudreau (???)

Larry Sommers (chapters 29-30, Dizzy)

Our editor . . .

This is Larry Sommers’ last issue. He now hands off the editorship to Jaime Nelson Noven, She will gin out our December issues. If you have something you’d like Jaime to include in our next issue, do email it to her.

On writing: Listen to a grand master . . .

Literary Hub has a great story about the craft of writing . . . a collection of insights from sci-fi grand master Ray Bradbury. Here’s one example:

“The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you can write one short story a week—it doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing, and at the end of the year you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done. At the end of 30 weeks or 40 weeks or at the end of the year, all of a sudden a story will come that’s just wonderful.” – from “Telling the Truth,” the keynote address of The Sixth Annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University, 2001.

You can read all of Bradbury’s advice. Here’s the link: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/ray-bradbury-s-greatest-writing-advice?utm_source=pocket-newtab

The National Book Awards announced . . .

The announcement came Wednesday evening, and it contained a lot of surprises. Read the story that ran in The Guardian. Here’s the link: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/nov/19/national-book-awards-charles-yu-and-malcolm-x-biography-take-top-prizes

Writer House Rules: Questions in Publishing

submitted by Jaime Nelson Noven

Q. What social media platform is best for new authors?

A. You’ve heard that publishers want an author with a social media platform. If you’re looking to get started on social media, you may not know which platform or platforms to start on. Certainly not all of them! Here’s my advice on choosing the right social media platform for you:

Twitter: I’d recommend Twitter to almost all authors. This is where the booksellers,librarians, and debut authors hang out, and you should be part of those communities as soon as possible. 

Facebook: If you imagine your readers will be on the older side of the age spectrum, consider creating a Facebook author page. Run some ads to increase your page’s likes. I’d recommend starting your ads by targeting readers in countries where it is cheaper to advertise to (Turkey, Thailand, etc.) to get your numbers up really high quickly and cheaply before advertising to the more expensive countries (USA). The higher number of likes will give your potential readers more confidence in making the decision to like your page.

Instagram: If you have a lot of visual content and your audience is a little younger (20s, 30s), give Instagram a try. This is where Bookstagram lives, so even if you don’t post to Instagram, it may be nice to have an account so that you can track posts about your book and even respond to your readers directly on their posts.

LinkedIn: If your book is prescriptive or if you have a business persona, LinkedIn is the platform for you. There are all sorts of posting options and inexpensive advertising opportunities here, as long as you follow the professional tone of the platform.

The last word . . .

“So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” —J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books