Tuesdays with Story

Writer’s Mail
Tuesdays with Story
July 8, 2016

“Right you lot, five minutes to get those pies out or it’s the workhouse for the lot of you.” – Mel Giedroyc, The Great British Baking Show

1^st/3rd continues to be THE place to be on Tuesday nights, with a large group gathered around the tables in the back to discuss writing.

Pat’s two poems were, overall, received well, although many thought “Duke” was a pet.  Some questions about the use of “tar baby” being a racial term were raised.  But that’s poetry, folks!

Amber’s Chapter 3 of The Dragoneer was received well. Hannah really enjoyed it, but found the protagonist to be more guarded than she would have liked, but perhaps that’s just the character and she will change as the story continues. Kashmira and Pat like the subtle introduction of sexual tension to the work between the main character and a set of twin brothers. Shel had an issue with the hammer Moira carried hitting her on the thigh and how she carried it. John had a question about the dragon biting Moira and when it happened relative to the beginning of the story, essentially spoiling it for everyone 🙂

Shel’s “random thought” brought up a lot of good discussion about how the book could be organized (or not), the voice should be changed (or not), and whether explanation should be given for each pearl.

Kashmira’s novel end moved everyone.  Many commented on the single person perspective of the salt march to be very effective.

John’s chapter from Broken did confuse a few people with the horse names and some people gave suggestions for solving the problem.  A couple wanted more description of Leviathan.  All agree the ship section was well done.

Randy’s chapter wasn’t read by all, but there was a lively discussion about the “woman’s point-of-view” for a character. We talked about books to help with fundamentals like Strunk and White’s Elements of Style.

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