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Writer’s Mail

Posted in Newsletter, tagged , , , , , on April 21, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
April 15, 2015

She said it . . .

“Imagine the sounds of nails scraping along a chalkboard. Sometimes writing a first draft feels a lot like that. You look at the drivel you’ve plopped on the page and your teeth hurt because it’s so bad. That’s okay. It’s allowed to be bad. I had to learn to give myself  permission to be downright awful no matter how badly I wanted to get things right on the first try. Revision is your friend. Revision will save you. But it can’t if you never finish the first draft.” – Melissa Grey, debut novel, The Girl at Midnight, out this month from Delacorte Press

Who’s up next . . .

April 21: Lisa McDougal (chapter, Tebow Family Secret), Amber Boudreau (chapter 3, Stone), Mo Bebow-Reinhard (chapter 1, Dinner at Marshall Field’s), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapter 18, Coastie Girl), Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), and Judith McNeil (???).

April 28: ???

May 5: Alicia Connolly-Lohr (chapter 19, Coastie Girl), Pat Edwards (???), Kashmira Sheth & Amit Trivedi (chapter, novel), Mike Rickey (poems), Cindi Dyke (chapter, North Road), Millie Mader (chapter 62, Life on Hold), and Andy Brown (chapters, The Last Library).

Our April editor . . .

Amit Trivedi is our Writers Mail editor for this month. Send your good stuff to him.

Migrating to Wiggio . . . (more…)

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Writer’s Mail

Posted in Newsletter, tagged , on December 1, 2012| 1 Comment »

Tuesdays With Story
WRITER’S MAIL for November 29, 2012

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt

November 27 Meeting
Five people gathered at Barnes and Noble last Tuesday.

Rebecca, The Cheese Logue
The group suggested a few small changes, for example deleting repetitions like the description “important.” Katelin thought the middle seemed to drag some. Several people liked the ending, and Katelin commented on the nice bookend with the beginning of the chapter.

Liam, Fog-Gotten
Terri and Rebecca thought the part about the girl “handling junk” was disturbing, too strong, and suggested accomplishing the culture shock less shockingly. Katelin liked the lengths of the scenes, how they started short and got longer as Mike healed. Jen asked how Mike knows he hasn’t been moved. Rebecca wondered why Mike didn’t ask Taran why no one spoke English. Terri and Rebecca thought Mike should panic more when he wakes up and can’t function normally. He should check himself for injuries right away. Terri pointed out to watch language use as he heals to show gradual progress toward healing. If Mike is so calm and analytical because of boot camp, mention boot camp so the reader knows. Terri suggested another way to tell the reader about the previous head injury: maybe when Mike wakes up he thinks he’s recovering from the first injury and then realizes that can’t be right because he’s in the wrong place and that was a long time ago.

Terri, The Great Tome
Rebecca pointed out that the nurses would check on Rachel every 15 minutes while she’s in the hospital, even if they only look through the window. Also, there would there be bars on the windows, and there might not be a sink in the room. Jen wondered what the “charges” were at the end of the chapter. Katelin thought Rod and the therapy session were well written and believable. Liam thought the comment about silver bullets made it seem like Rod really didn’t believe Rachel. Katelin could see that he did believe her and was just joking, but something didn’t seem right about the jokes. It could seem off because werewolves and vampires are creatures that move, and the Tome is an inanimate object. Perhaps a comparison to the ring from Lord of the Rings would be more appropriate. Rod could suggest throwing it into Mount Doom. Or Rod could make fun of things by suggesting an exorcism, since Rachel said the book owns her. (more…)

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