Tuesdays with Story

Tuesdays with Story
10/23/21

The Halloween Edition

The first word . . .

“Most people think of Stephen King as a horror author, but his best work usually comes with a side order of nostalgic Americana.” ―Stewart Stafford

Tuesday evening Fully on Zoom Once Again. . .

Five TWS writers—Larry, Jerry, Amber, John, and Jaime—filled our screens this week for a fairly short but meaty meeting filled with great ideas on how to improve the novels and pitching assets that were presented. Here is some of what was said:

— Larry Sommers (synopsis and blurb, The Maelstrom) … John suggested starting the blurb with the last paragraph, making the first graf less generic and more pointed, and he had some better language for the second graf, describing Daniel’s relation to Anders and Maria in more visceral and causal terms. There was agreement that the synopsis was much improved from last time, touching all essential plot points. However, it still needs work to tie the disconnected plot statements more closely to an overall theme agents and editors would look for, as noted by Jaime. Thanks, all, for your good ideas.

— John Schneller (chapter 23, Precious Daughter) … Most found the chapter coherent with the run starting to intercept the slave ships. Jamie caught a “when the dust settled” cliche. The term ‘short bowed’ did not work for most readers. It will be replaced with “inclined his head in a nod of respect”. That won’t help my word count but I’ll make up for it later. Larry asked for clarity on numbers… he asked for an army but, sorry, won’t get it.  Thanks for all the good suggestions.

— Amber Boudreau (chapters 34-36, Dragoneer 2) … Amber read from the beginning of chapter 34 of the sequel to The Dragoneer and promised to fix all of her antecedent issues. Jerry has decided to lobby hard for the main character to investigate the explosions and carry the news of the legion’s demise to the prince. That way the reader doesn’t have to wonder what the heck happened and gives our main character something to do instead of go from place to place and talk – Jaime says that’s a different genre. John thought the first line of chapter 34 could use some work as well as the last line of the chapters submitted. Amber will have to get back to it later as she may be participating in NaNoWriMO this year. 

November 2, here’s who’s on deck

Jaime Nelson Noven (chapter, New York, After All)

Jerry Peterson (chapters 31-32, Night Flight)

John Schneller (chapter, Precious Daughter)

Kashmira Sheth (chapter, Nina Soni, Perfect Hostess)

Jack Freiburger (???)

Larry F. Sommers (“Debriefing” memoir)

Our editor

John Schneller will edit the November issues of Writer’s Mail. He’s always looking for good things to include. If you have something, do email it to John.

Classic covers

What makes for a memorable book cover? The really top ones are all over the place. Emily Temple, Lit Hub’s managing editor, selected 25 that she considers to be iconic, covers for books that sold really well, covers that have been reproduced on tee-shirts and other merchandise, elements of the cover that have appeared on movie posters. Read the story and see the covers and decide if you agree that these covers are iconic. Here’s the link: https://lithub.com/the-25-most-iconic-book-covers-in-history/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Inspiring Halloween recommendations: Books by Grady Hendrix

Paperbacks from Hell: When it comes to books about books, it’s hard to beat this “twisted history” of pulp horror novels and its hundreds of images of reproduced jacket artwork.

Horrorstor: Hilarious and terrifying, this novel takes place in an IKEA rip-off called ORSK—a furniture store (headquartered in Milwaukee!) built on the remains of an old prison. What makes this book extra special is that it is formatted like a full-color furniture catalog, complete with furniture diagrams, store maps, and coupons.

The GHOST Foundation

In the Nightmare Fuel class from Autocrit, Jaime learned about structuring a horror story, and indeed structuring each scene, by identifying these three elements:

• Great Hook: This is often the main element of your elevator pitch. Jurassic Park’s great hook is a theme park with real dinosaurs.
• Obstacle: This taps into a fear or paranoia, like the fear of being eaten by dinosaurs.
• Something True: This is the element of the story that taps into something the reader has experienced or can understand from the real world. Perhaps a wariness toward scientific advancements or their lack of regulations.

A scene without a hook, a fear, and a connection to the real world does not make for a good horror novel scene!

Those Descriptions on the Inside Cover of Book Jackets Are Full of It

Eric Farwell has spent five years reading jacket copy. A warning to writers and publishers, he says those descriptions “have become meaningless mush—but they don’t have to be.” Read his article in Slate here:

https://slate.com/culture/2021/06/book-jacket-copy-useless-luster-silence.html

The last word . . . “So okay― there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You’ve blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water. Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want.” ―Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft