Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
December 4, 2020

The first word . . .

“It is wise to write on many subjects, to try many themes, that so you may find the right and inspiring one.” —Henry David Thoreau (Journal, 4 September 1851)

December already . . .

Nine TWS writers gathered Tuesday evening—yes, December 1—around their screens and worked through the chapters of five of their colleagues. Here is some of what was said:

— Kashmira Sheth (chapters 21-22, Journey to Swaraj). . . Kashmira submitted two chapters of her novel, Journey to Swaraj. The discussion centered around how much and what to include in Veena’s time with Lalubhai, Tarben and their friends. There was also discussion about how to weave some of Veena’s thoughts in dialogues with one of her family members or friends. Many liked the language and also where and how the story was proceeding. 

— Jaime Nelson Noven (chapter 4 pt 2, Outsleep). . . We discussed the audience’s reaction to Rice’s comedy-routine-turned-motivational-speech. More thought will go into how this particular society would feel hearing her words and how they would visually react to her set. We looked at a couple ways to rewrite the description of the bottles on the ledge in the green room. Larry expects to see repercussions for Rice’s speech. Thanks, everyone!

— Huckle Rahr (chapters 29-30, Wolf Healer). . . This week I got some competing reviews of my chapters. On the one hand I was told that my chapters flowed well, but on the other I was told some of the paragraphs were murky and a bit like lumpy oatmeal. Jack and Jerry felt I need to simplify some of my paragraphs and make my writing more efficient. Kashmira believes I need to incorporate more of the senses into the chapter and probably the full manuscript. There was a small discussion about Tanner’s reaction to Mr. Schneider and that he should be more annoyed, and not calm. Calm is Jade’s emotion. We ended the discussion of my chapters thinking about what exactly ‘calm’ smelled like.

— John Schneller (chapter 31, Broken rewrite) . . . Several problems were discussed. Several of them will take some thinking on my part. Winroc will lose any ability to move on its own. Fights will be all Kotel all the time. Kotel needs more reaction to learning Nathox has been silent by choice (to fit this into tension, he my discover Nathox can also mindspeak), Bloody hides were a problem for some, and the ‘telling’ statement to close the chapter needs to be replaced.  Great input. Greatly appreciated.

— Larry Sommers (chapters 29-30, Dizzy). . . Huckle doubted Irma’s four-inch high ponytail and kids aisle-standing on a school-sponsored bus, but Old Man Lar was adamant. Kashmira suggested truncating a scene in the science hall, to end on Izzy’s lack of a purple ticket. Jack pointed out the need for pocket protectors. Mike wanted Izzy more resistant to being displaced by metallurgy in Irma’s esteem. Jerry noted that Izzy would have let Irma get off the bus ahead of him, not behind him. Amit and Kashmira felt Izzy’s strong reaction against moving to Pikeport needed to be better set up, with more anger and conflict from Dad’s side. And some point about πr² escaped me, owing to sporadic wireless service. Thanks, everybody.

Who’s up next . . .

December 15

Kashmira Sheth (chapters, Journey to Swaraj)

Huckle Rahr (chapter, Wolf Healer)

Jack Freiburger (poems)

Amit Trivedi (chapters, Keeper of the Keys)

John Schneller (chapter, Broken rewrite)

Jerry Peterson (Christmas short story, “The Last Goodbye”)

Our editor . . .

Jaime Nelson Noven runs Writer’s Mail this month. If you have something you’d like her to include in the next issue, send it on to her.

News from our TWS alumnae in England

Tracey Gemmell, yes. She and Scott got there in May. Not too many problems, but then came the struggles of getting their daughter Kerry and their dog Watson there. Tracey wrote about it in her latest blog post. It’s hilarious. You can read it by clicking on this link: https://traceygemmell.com/2020/11/29/remember-the-fifth-of-november-will-we-ever/

Words of the year . . .

The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary couldn’t settle on one word for this year of 2020, so the selected a bunch that were important, each for its own reasons. Here’s the BBC’s story.

This year has seen so many seismic events that Oxford Dictionaries has expanded its word of the year to encompass several “Words of an Unprecedented Year.”

Its words are chosen to reflect 2020’s “ethos, mood, or preoccupations.”

They include bushfires, Covid-19, WFH, lockdown, circuit-breaker, support bubbles, keyworkers, furlough, Black Lives Matter and moonshot.

Use of the word pandemic has increased by more than 57,000% this year.

Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Dictionaries, said: “I’ve never witnessed a year in language like the one we’ve just had. The Oxford team was identifying hundreds of significant new words and usages as the year unfolded, dozens of which would have been a slam dunk for Word of the Year at any other time.

“It’s both unprecedented and a little ironic –- in a year that left us speechless, 2020 has been filled with new words unlike any other.”

Now click on this link <https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55016543> and read BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan commentary on how the news impacts language.

Writer House Rules: Questions in Publishing . . .

Q: My friend has written a book. What bookseller should I buy my copy from that is most beneficial to the author, the industry, or the world?

A: First, I’d suggest supporting an independent bookstore. I used to support Powell’s, but they are on the other side of the country, which seemed like a waste in carbon footprint. So, I’d suggest supporting your local indie. If your friend has a shot at getting on the bestseller list, even a regional one, you may want to call ahead and ask the store if they report. Not all bookstores do.

If your friend has a book event, buy the book from the store hosting the event, even if you already pre-ordered it elsewhere. Nothing is more depressing to a bookstore and an author than going through the energy of putting on an event and none of the attendees buy the book.

You can select a specific indie store to support when you buy from Bookshop.org, but the store is going to get nowhere near the cut that they would have gotten if you’d purchased directly from the store.

Barnes & Noble could use your help, too. They are going through a massive transition right now, and after the collapse of Borders almost ten years ago now, we are left with only a couple national chains (Books-a-Million being the other one).

Amazon has its downsides, including less profit to the publisher, increase in carbon footprint, and supporting a company that is notorious for the way they treat their workers. However, number of orders (especially pre-orders) on Amazon are very important in generating demand, which can affect number of books shipped and possibly number of books printed. And if you can review your friend’s book on Amazon as a “Verified Purchase,” your review has much greater potential to convince other readers to buy the book than if you reviewed it on another retailer website. Something to consider.

The last word . . .

In From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Robert Olen Butler recommends a specific type of journaling in order to learn to write emotions better: “Return to some event of the day that evoked an emotion in you. Record that event in the journal. But do this only—only—moment to moment through the senses. Absolutely never name an emotion; never start explaining or analyzing or interpreting an emotion. Record only through those five ways I mentioned that we feel emotions—signals inside the body, signals outside the body, flashes of the past, flashes of the future, sensual selectivity—which are therefore the best ways to express emotions. Such a journal entry will read like a passage in a novel, like the most intense moment-to-moment scene in a novel.”