Writer’s Mail for October 20, 2010
by Pat Edwards
“When we read, we start at the beginning and continue until we reach the end. When we write, we start in the middle and fight our way out.” – Vickie Karp
Tuesday, October 19th at the Barnes and Noble
Kim shares a couple short chapters from her novel – Alicia liked it, but she would have liked the dream sequence without italics better. Jerry was bothered by the break between the chapters and suggested making two chapters into one. Pat likes short chapters, but these were really itty-bitty. Greg didn’t care about the chapter on reading lessons, which interrupts two others, the ones Jerry wants to go together. Alicia was confused between the uses of the word goddess and god. It’s hard to follow. Greg also thought one character was a little too boisterous (with an excess of exclamation points). Jerry and Pat thought the dialogue/accent of one character was overdone and hard to read.
Millie shares chapter 21 of her novel, “Life On Hold,” and a synopsis of the story. Pat really enjoyed all of Millie’s imagery, but she was concerned about the use of the MRI in that time period. The table seems to think they would have taken a regular x-ray of her head. Jerry thinks her main character needs to be more firm with her break-up speech. Kim suggests she might be afraid. Greg thought one character went from not being able to talk to being able to drive off in a short amount of time. We don’t miss how the ambulance got there because the story’s from one characters point of view and she’s knocked out for that. Greg thought the chapter ended with a cliffhanger. Jerry had a problem with the Emergency Room doc. He wasn’t out there and doesn’t know who’s connected to whom, so he won’t be able to tell someone their friend has passed away.
About the synopsis…Alicia is bothered that we still don’t know what the main character is facing and why she’s looking back over these years of her life. Why do we even need the older Erin at the beginning of each chapter? Millie tells us she’s reviewing her life and how she’s ended up where she is now. Alicia doesn’t think that’s enough. We’re all wondering what the connection is. (more…)
Tuesdays with Story 