May 15th, 2024

 

 Okay, I know I’m publishing this blog at least a week late. Why? I’m a busy person with Great-Grandchildren graduating from different school levels. I don’t want to miss them growing up. Enough said.

The meeting on the fifteenth, with nine writers in attendance, allowed us to hear from a couple of writers before they take off for the summer or at least a few weeks of vacation. Have fun on vacation. Be productive on your summer hiatus and bring back a trunk load of new work. See you in the fall.

To start the meeting, Ernie Ovitz led a short discussion on how we edit our work. ? We’re talking about self-editing, not paying a professional to edit for you. Do you edit as you go, or do you get it written and then edit it. Ernie has been a judge with FWA’s RPLA in the past and shared the Categories and Criteria the judges rank and comment on during the judging phase.

1.      Genre – Be true to the genre, whatever it may be.

2.      Hook – Have intense opening scenes and the first chapter. Define your conflict or setup.

3.      Language and Point of View –  Are you consistent throughout the narrative, sustaining or enhancing the story’s voice apart from using dialogue.

4.      Creativity – Is the story creative in concept, theme, and premise.

5.      Description – How effectively do you illustrate a point, character, or mood. Have you created sensory elements vividly, effectively, and appropriately.

6.      Characters – Are your characters well drawn? Can your readers identify with them? It doesn’t matter if they are likable or hated. Is the character strong?

7.      Dialogue – Is the dialogue balanced with the narration? Is it effective within the story arc? Is there dialogue at all–should there be?

8.      Plot – How well does the plot sustain the story. Is it paced appropriately? How effective is the story conflict?

9.      Mechanics – Assess the use of grammar, spelling, and syntax. Does it enhance or hinder the work?

1        Overall Impression – How well does the work come off as a whole?

Are you a ‘Pantser’ or a ‘Planner’? Pantsers write by the seat of their pants. Words flow from the brain to fingers to text as we stroke the pen or computer keys without a formal plan. “I’ll fix it later after I get in written,” thinks the Pantser. However, the Planner builds an outline, makes notes, and directs their words onto the page with precise placement. But no matter which method you use, editing is still needed. Without editing, we would be reading a lot of typos, disjointed thoughts, and GIGO, as if there’s not enough of that even with editing.

Those fortunate enough to belong to a writer’s group dedicated to helping our fellow writers have an advantage. We get to hear valuable critiques of what we’ve written before it reaches the public ear. Many of us can take advantage of basic editing skills within the group at affordable rates. Work within those resources available to make your writing better with each sentence.

 

Moving on, Peter McNally brought us an updated chapter of his memoir, Rewired. Three months after a debilitating second stroke, Peter drove into his driveway and collapsed in a writhing ball of pain and confusion. As he endured the cold of a New Jersey November, he found himself alone on the concrete driveway, suffering from a Gran Maul seizure. Will he survive? He doesn’t know what is happening.

 

Don Westerfield is a poet who sometimes turns story-teller by bringing us tales in prose. This week’s offering is one such story. War and Infidelity showcase the instability of relationships during the hectic and uncertainty of worldwide conflict. A couple are separated by the war as World War Two begins. Stationed in England, a young doctor is reunited with a former lover. Both are now married to others. Each couple suffered tragic circumstances as they meet at a social club purely by chance. Stay tuned for an update.

 

Jupiter, the Lord-Star, is what Bruce Haedrich calls his latest work. Ancient astronomers tracked the universe with primitive equipment and ideas oft influenced by religion. It often surprises modern man in their accuracy when plotting the path and existence of heavenly bodies. Bruce points out the similarities of different religions as they describe the creation of the celestial universes. Using information gleaned from the study of ancient writers and modern scientists, Bruce tells us a story universal planets relay to him in the form of a letter. How does the existence of each planet, moon, or star affect celestial neighbors? Look for Bruce’s publication soon.

 

Do you like Spy Novels? I can recommend a good read for you. Look for Novels written by Ursula Wong. Her latest work is under construction and has the title Strategic Deception. This week, Ursula allowed us a glimpse of Chapter 3. Arkady Mass, a software opportunist who procured the services of a programmer/hacker in Minsk to modify a program he believes will make him billions by allowing the user to change video and audio through Artificial Intelligence. With this program, someone can make anybody appear to be saying or doing anything they want them to say or do. But has he made a mistake? Is his confidence misplaced? Can he trust the programmer? Is the criminal he borrowed money from ready to bargain?

 

Gary Conkol is making his first foray into fiction writing. Gary is a talented technical writer who uses his skillset from the technical field to write a science fiction story. An old acquaintance, Al, has invited Ken to a weeklong excursion into the unknown. There, Ken meets Molly, a brilliant engineer/scientist, and they fall in love almost overnight. But the thing is, they are on Mars, transported there by a hyperspeed spacecraft. Where do we go from here? Stay tuned.

 

Poetry is Scott Anderson’s forte. Listening to Water Wings, we see a three-year-old construct a sandcastle, competing with the world’s most elegant structures. Even as his body grows weary and eyes heavy, the structure towers above the sand in unrivaled grandeur.

 

I’m glad you are here. We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting on June 5^th at the Nokomis Firehouse. Read as much as you can, and KEEP ON WRITING. We’ll be back soon.

May 1st, 2024

I took a little break over the past month and a half. I guess it was time for a tune-up. My doctors did a little re-plumbing of my ticker. Sitting in front of a computer and tapping on keys while scarfing down fast food is not conducive to keeping a human heart from clogging up. I calculated that having time to rest and recuperate would allow me to do a lot of reading and writing. Oops, that didn’t happen. The hospital is not a place to relax. They’d wake me up at three o’clock in the morning to be sure I was sleeping; then again, at four, they’d wake me to take my vital readings. Yep, I was still alive. Five A.M. was when I had to stick a sharp probe into my finger so they could check my blood sugar. Medications followed around Six, and breakfast came at about Seven. After that, it got busy until the visitors arrived, as I was still choking down the minuscule lunch of tasteless glop on dark brown bread that was supposedly chicken salad. How can glop be so dry? I guess dry glop is healthy.

Anyway, as the visitors finished lifting my spirits, they said their heartfelt goodbyes and set off to do whatever they had abandoned to make me feel better. Leaning back in the physiologically correct recliner I assigned during my waking hours, a uniformed waiter arrived bearing a tray of food I had no recollection of ordering around the lunch hour. That’s okay because I didn’t recognize it as anything I would usually have eaten.

Oh, well. My wife usually visited around dinnertime, and I was glad for that. I missed her. She is a retired nurse, and I needed her old-fashioned bedside manner. You know, “Quitcherbitchn n’ be quiet you're drive'n the nurses up here crazy. It ain’t their job to cater to your every whim.” That would permanently settle me down for the night. That is after two more vital sign checks and another blood test or two before the shift change at eleven.

I survived, and I’m back. Well, I was five minutes late because a motorist made a right turn on red and slammed into my van. But that’s another story.

 

Without an agenda for the meeting, and our co-host was nursing a bad cold he did not wish to share with the group, we went directly to the meeting’s reading portion.

 

Bruce Haedrich opened the readings with what he proposed to be Chapter Four of his extended version of Gaia. Gaia introduces us to the giant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. After the reading, a discussion ensued. Several members suggested changes and adjustments that might allow the Gas Giants story to be a stand-alone book. Bruce acknowledged that he considered that and was still open to taking that course. Regardless of how he chooses, we know the story will be fascinating.

When Slade Culp took the floor, he explained that his piece was independent writing without named characters that explored the philological relationship between the pair rather than telling a story—Slade’s insight into what is happening borders on invoking a personal feeling in the reader. Readers might adopt a physiological symbiont with a loosely defined character in this piece. It may require some refining, but it works as a stand-alone essay.

 Reading a piece he refined and edited, Gary Conkol brought the opening to his sci-fi story, Join Us, Chapter 1–Invitation, A Mysterious Courier, Remembering Al, The Glass Bead. A courier delivers an Invitation from an acquaintance from years past named Al to join him and several others on a mysterious journey to an undisclosed destination for a week, all expenses paid. Included in the envelope was a glass bead once launched aboard a space probe, never again to return to Earth. How did Al come to have this bead?

 Richard Cope is a fan of Andy Rooney, a former commentator on the television show 60 Minutes. Richard humorously recalled our television reception efforts before we had cable, from the use of tinfoil on rabbit ears to the twisting and turning of tall antennas outside the house. Richard took us back to the days of television reception and the attempt to view a picture free of electrical ‘snow.’

 Strategic Deception is the title of Ursula Wong’s latest book. Ursula gave us Chapter 2 to read and make suggestions on. An adventure thriller, Ursula leads us into Lithuania with this character, Anna, as her native Russia tries to force its rule on the Ukrainian people. How does the story unfold? Having heard some of Chapter 1 and having the privilege of listening to and reading Chapter 2, I am hooked and look forward to reading the finished work.

 After reading two of his poems, Don Westerfield allowed us to sail with him on a moonlit night as he rode the waves and wind. We went Sailing To The Moon, which rested upon the ocean’s dark water. After reaching the moon, we embarked on a journey down The River Of Time again, recalling the joys and disappointments of a life lived to its fullest.

 

I’m happy to be back with our group and hope to see all of you at our next meeting on May 15^th here at the firehouse. Until then, read, Read, and READ some more. Then, Keep on Writing.