Tuesdays with Story

TWS

September 7^th 2021

First word

For me, where genre ends and literature begins doesn’t matter. What matters is whether a given novel hits me with high impact. If it does, it probably is fulfilling the purpose of fiction. It has drawn me into a story world, held me captive, taken me on a journey with characters like none I’ve ever met, revealed truths I’ve somehow always known and insights that rock my brain. It’s filled me with awe, which is to say it’s made me see the familiar in a wholly new way and made the unfamiliar a foundational part of me. It both entertains and matters. It both captures our age and becomes timelessly great. It does all that with the sturdy tools of story and the flair of narrative art.”
― Donald Maass, Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling

Here’s who presented Tuesday evening

Jaime Nelson Noven (part 2, New York, After All) – Jaime (New York, After All chapter) This week, we talked about New York as a character, conveying Charlie’s affection for the baby in a way that’s less detached than the rest of the narrative, leaning in to the imagined future history of New York, and the logistics of having a baby without warning (Is the baby early? Did Charlie miss the signals?). Great recommendations surrounding incorporating the river into the Ohio-Kentucky civil war and using bus ads to add to the metaphor. Thanks, everyone!

John Schneller (chapter 18, Precious Daughter) – The fable inserted into the story received mixed response. For some it fit, others felt it dragged on. One thing that might help is to clarify the conflict. Kotel’s ignorance of his calling might need to be more obvious. The conflict is between Carnar and the elders and the obedience to wait for their call. Rewrites will start at the end of previous chapter to make this clear.  Jamie also suggested that the same (present) tense is used throughout the fable, including Kotel’s telling dialogue.

Amber Boudreau (chapters 27-29, Dragoneer 2) – Amber gave a brief synopsis of the three chapters she submitted to the group without reading from her work because she could. Jamie and Jerry wanted to know what happened to a certain character and think that if that character died, then those remaining alive need to find the body. Jamie also had a question about the timeline of events. Jerry wanted more tension in the scene with the villagers when the blacksmith comes out holding his hammer. Larry and Jack pointed out some antecedent/pronoun issues, while Jack found the final chapter submitted to be a bit rougher than usual. Back to the drawing board.

Jerry Peterson (chapters 26-27, Night Flight) – Jack and Amber agreed that the wedding story needs a little introspection from Rooster, suggesting there is still something unresolved for him. John and Jaime had to read twice the section that contains Mulqueen’s reaction to the mention of Sarah’s name. They want a fix so the section can be clearly understood on the first read. Larry said kosher dills should be dropped, that that kind of pickle likely hadn’t made it into the Smoky Mountains in the 1920s. John enjoyed the shivaree but said it was nothing like the shivaree he experienced when he was first married. “Mine was tame,” he said. “A lot of shouting, and the men took me to the (grocery) store where they bought everything we needed for the party and gave me the bill.”

Here’s who’s up on August 17

Kashmira Sheth (chapter 2-3, Nina Soni, Best Hostess)

John Schneller (chapter, Precious Daughter)

Jamie Nelson Noven (New York, After All)

Amber Boudreau (chapters, Dragoneer 2)

Jerry Peterson (chapter 28-29, Night Flight)

Amit Trivedi (?)

Member News:

Kashmira Sheth’s Nina Soni, Halloween Queen (Nine Soni, book 4) came out this month. Thank you for all your help!

Gr 1–3—A must-have chapter book for readers who enjoy stories of friendships, families, and cultural traditions.—Kelly Finan Richards, Baltimore County P.S.

School Library Journal

Our editor

Kashmira Sheth will continue as editor for our second September issue of Writer’s Mail. You have something you’d like her to include in our next issue? Email it to Kashmira.

How are you and contronyms?

Contronyms, words that are their own opposites.

Not possible, you say? It is. Click on this link to read about 25 contronyms: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/25-words-that-are-their-own-opposites?utm_source=pocket-newtab 

Last Word:

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”
–Anaïs Nin