THE REVIEW

BACK ON SCHEDULE

Wednesday was the third Wednesday of the month, so our Meeting here was back on track. Kay, Annette and Guy joined me in tune with the calendar!

I told the group I needed help deciding which story to read at the Lit Café I’ll be participating in on October 2nd. I am supposed to fill a ten minute time slot with my reading, but only have one ‘Honey’ story that is that exact length. The others are shorter, and I don’t have any two or three that could add to that amount of time together. Besides, I don’t really want to read more than one story. So I read to the group my story “Mechanically Challenged”, about the serpentine belt on a van breaking when we were on our way to Green Lake. It was ten minutes. Later on I read “Don’t Rock The Boat”, about a barbecue catching fire on a houseboat near Kelowna. It was eight minutes long. The group thought it best to read the second story as it had more drama to it and just adding a few words here and there could make it a little longer. So my decision is made and I thank those present for helping me with this. By the way, I used the stopwatch on my cell phone to time my reading all my stories out loud. Honey wanted to know who I was talking to.

Kay is currently writing her spec script and explained to us how the storyline structure is strictly timed for screen presentation. It comes in three acts, and they encompass seven different points of progression. Act 1 starts with the set-up of the main character’s world, and then moves to the inciting incident (conflict). Act 2 brings out a new direction for the character, which leads to a point of no return, and then moves into a reversal of the character’s circumstances. Act 3 proceeds to the climax and then the resolution/denouement. I will never watch a movie or T.V. drama the same way again.

At last week’s Meeting of just Annette and me, we discussed that maybe her novel’s plot would benefit if she wrote a prologue to it in the boyfriend’s point of view. So Annette did that, and it immediately gave way more depth and intrigue to the storyline. Jarod is upset about his relationship with Maxine and works out his anger at the gym, going over everything that bothers him, before leaving on a two week holiday. Now the reader will be left wondering what happened to him, and if the relationship with Maxine is salvageable.

Guy read a short story, “December 16th” that is a rewrite of one he had first let me read before he started coming to our Meetings. In the new version, we see his character George at a pub, looking forward to seeing the waitress Ursula. But she avoids him and he is instead served by an unlikable waitress from the bar. This scene leaves the reader wondering what he has done to deserve such treatment. Guy said he made the change based on some writing tips I had forwarded to everyone. Good to know they are helpful!

Charity’s calendar wasn’t working the same as ours, so she had other commitments Wednesday. And we hope to see Crystal and Luke again soon. And I’ll bet Margaret F. is still on the Island. I heard from her several weeks back, and she is still writing and misses us, as we do her.

Next Meeting will be Wednesday, October 4th at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. Hope to see you then. Write on!

Lisa A. Hatton
Author