December 3, 2008
During the holiday season, we do not meet at the Barnes and Noble.
We will be meeting at the Bear Rock Cafe in Arlington, near the East Falls Church Metro.
Bear Rock Cafe
Westlee Retail
2200 N. Westmoreland Street
Arlington, VA 22213
703-532-0031 (p) • 703-532-0443 (f)
It is right near the East Falls Church Metro, and the intersection of Washington blvd/66/Lee Highway.
For driving directions, I recommend putting it in Google maps. (not Mapquest, as they have linked to).
Parking is along the side streets and in the garage in the rear of the building. It says 2 hours only, but they don’t actually tow. Do however make sure to park in the retail parking spaces. The meters
outside are free after 6. If you park in the garage, there is a back door inside that leads to Bear Rock.
From the Metro:
Come out of the turnstiles and turn right towards the Kiss and Ride. When you get to the sidewalk along the parking low, go right and follow the curving wall to the stairs. Go up the stairs and again
turn right. Just past the Metro on the right is the W&OD bike trail. Take that until it meets up with Washington Blvd/Lee Highway at the light. Do NOT cross the street. Instead, turn left, and go to the
next intersection. Cross the side street. Bear Rock is right there in front of you.
(Instead of the bike path, rather than turn right you can keep going forwarrd through the neighborhood. The sidewalk will curve back around and drop you at the bike path. Turn left and follow to the big intersection at Wash. Blvd/Lee. Continue as above from there.)
We will be in the room in the back.
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September 19, 2008
We’re writers. We get ideas all the time. Ideas are cheap, easy, and everywhere. However, an idea isn’t a story. We know that, and manage to poke and prod and stretch and combine until ideas become something worth the work.
Sometimes though the ideas still remain cool to us but we can’t get them to (as member David puts it) “cross the line into plot.”
Every writer starts in different places. Some like Blythe actually start (gasp!) with plot and have to fill in the rest. Some, like Lisa and myself, start with characters. Yet others start with a world, a what-if concept, or the underlying theme.
I discovered that trying to think about an idea like someone else hurts my brain, but can be key to getting the idea into shape. It is easier said than done, of course, but it is a start.
So we all threw our tools into the toolbox and came up with a mix that just might help us (and anyone else who wants to try) to get an idea over the hurdle into a story. I’m listing them in no particular order, and I will try to attribute who recommended what.
- Tracy: The Snowflake Method helps her organize her thoughts and think about each step.
- Blythe: The story needs to end in the same place (location, theme, or the like) as it starts. This gives narrative structure.
- Jennifer: Make a scene checklist that covers the main plot, subplots, character growth, etc. Whatever I feel should be in most scenes (if possible, in all of them). Use that when trying to decide what happens next.
- Work back from the ending. List everything needed for that ending and seed in the scenes before it.
- Whether you start with end or beginning of the story, figure out what is the opposite state as what you have. (i.e., a character who’s loving at the end may be callous at the start of the story).
- Ask why. Ask it again. Ask it a lot. Then ask who, what, where, when, and how. And maybe some more whys. The answers that appeal to you will get the ball rolling.
- Each scene will have the character striving for his/her goal. Each scene will end with another obstacle to that goal.
I’m sure there was lots more I forgot to take notes of. All in all, I can’t wait to try these tools out!
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September 13, 2008
Writing good dialogue can be difficult. How do you reflect a character’s background, goals, and individuality in just a few words? That’s a journey each author must make on their own. This post is intended to be a help in properly punctuating the dialogue once you’ve figured out what it is your characters are going to say.
These are fairly common examples. The further afield you go in sentence structure, the more likely you are to lose your reader, so try to stay to these formats. We can try to help if you have more complicated structures, and I’m sure I may have overlooked some, so please comment in either case.
*****
“John, you’re going to the prom.”
“John, you’re going to the prom?”
“John, you’re going to the prom!”
“John, you’re going to the prom,” his mother said.
“John, you’re going to the prom?” his mother said.
“John, you’re going to the prom!” his mother said.
His mother said, “You’re going to the prom.”
“I’m not going to the…” John said, trailing off.
“I’m not going to the–” John said, but his mother interrupted him.
“John, you’re going to the prom.” His mother slammed the door.
John flung open the door. “She won’t go to prom with me, so I’m not going!”
“The main thing,” his mother said, “is that you get out of the house.”
“I don’t want to go alone,” John said. “That’s lame.”
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July 10, 2008
Well, now, isn’t that a delightful way to start a post. This assumes we don’t respect our fellow authors or their manuscripts! And yet, you aren’t always going to–in some form, some of the time.
First big thing is liking or being familiar with the genre. I don’t like reading horror. I just don’t. I hate the inevitable gore, the sense that all will not be right in the end, and the kinds of stories that are usually told. And that’s a prejudice I just need to be aware of when reading horror. It isn’t as if I don’t respect the genre, because I know some great horror writers and have even liked some great stories. But to properly respect the genre while critiquing, I need to be aware of my prejudices and learn to keep them out of the way.
To do that, what I need to do is remember to focus on what the author was trying to achieve. I may not agree with it (why horror for this story?), but I respect that what I like is not the full scope of what other readers will want. I may not always understand the tropes, but I can help in mood and plot progression and character development. By knowing my instinctive reaction (which is to read horror as far away from my eyes as possible so I can hide when I get squeamish), then I can deal with it and still respect the critique.
Another thing that crops up is similar: not agreeing with what the author is trying to do. You don’t agree with the theme, maybe, or you are uncomfortable with anyone writing a story involving a taboo subject. Maybe the author is trying a very experimental structure or style or insists upon using a POV that you feel is, in general, a stupid thing to use for stories.
It can be hard to look at the story with the professional distance needed. Hot topic items (politics, religion, taboos, etc) can make one uncomfortable to read when they clash with what you believe. Sometimes you can’t get past it–the subject is too tender to poke, or you are so uncomfortable you can’t get past it (detailed sex scenes, explicit violence, etc).
The thing to realize is that this is also okay as long as you are upfront to yourself and the author about the situation. You can opt-out gracefully without needed to explain why beyond a simple “I’m sorry, but I can’t read about this topic/theme/situation objectively.” This puts the author at a greater ease–they can hardly argue with how you feel, can they? (This is also a way for their feelings to be protected. You aren’t judging the fact they wrote the subject or theme or scene, just your ability to read it fairly and critique it.)
To emphasize the point, don’t ever say something like “this sort of story should never be written.” Even if you believe it. That’s the sort of thing that crosses the line to critiquing the author, which should never, ever be done.
And what about that pesky author, anyhow? What if you really don’t like the person? Or you’ve had a fight with them? Or they just savaged your writing and your dignity and your ability to hold a pen, much less try to write with it? Or maybe they just annoy you or get on your nerves or you think they really suck at writing/critiquing/whatever?
Divorcing the personal from the professional is an essential part of critiquing. I usually try to read a submission twice, once as reader (personal), once as writer (professional). I can’t–no one can–completely separate the two. But the harder I try, the better the critique.
Again, you can always opt out if you can’t be professional about your feelings towards someone. (Don’t, however, tell them you think they are a jerk or they suck or the like when opting out). But try anyway. Some of the best writers are jerks. Sometimes you can’t get past the socially awkward stage with someone. The work must and should stand alone from the person behind the keyboard.
Focus on the words on the page. Focus on the goals of the story: genre considerations, marketability, presentation of theme/char/plot/setting, progression of the story. Does the beginning set up the end, and does the end follow up on those promises? Are the sentences and paragraphs and the scenes chosen to serve the story best? What about tension on the page–is there conflict (interal/external/both)? Does it serve as story along with message? Can you understand the story even if you aren’t familiar with the tropes of its genre?
Above all, remember that you aren’t critiquing this as personal friends. You are doing it as a professional. Even if you can’t respect a manuscript or its author, you have to fake that you do.
Who knows, you might learn somethng by doingi so.
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June 26, 2008
Cat Vacuuming?
Definition: procrastination; anything a writer does to avoid writing.
A writer determined to avoid the blank page will even clean the house, but when done, may engage in ideas such as “If I vacuum the cat before he sheds, it will save a step!” but only serve to waste time and annoy the cat.
Who
We’re fiction writers of all skill levels from novice to professional. Membership requires regular attendance, active participation, and a commitment to writing. Our focus is on critiquing manuscripts and helping each other write more and write better.
When and Where
7:00 - 9:00 pm. every Thursday, Jan. 1st to Nov. 30th. (December location TBD)
Clarendon Market Commons Barnes and Noble, Event Lounge
(2800 Clarendon Blvd., Ste. 500, Arlington, VA 22201; phone: 703-248-8244)
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