Line by Line 8/05/2020

#WritingCommunity,

You are invited to #LineByLineTime, A Mini Critique Hour hosted by @graestonewriter on Twitter.

In the movie, Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, the president “runs the lines” of The Gettysburg Address with his aides, saying, “I have a short short short speech, which I will try out on the chickens, as the farmer said.”

(Marvelous, powerful movie that has haunted me all these years.)

Each week #LineByLineTime writers share lines from their WIPs. (Try it out on the chickens, as the farmer said.)

During the hour, there will be a focus question, a chance to share, and a wrap-up question.

…NexNext Time: Your Favorite Descriptive Scene

Wednesday, August 5th, at 9:00 PM Eastern, the #WritingCommunity will share our favorite descriptive scene. It can be a fight, romance (don’t get us shut down), humorous, or faeries and goblins.  

I am using Betsy Byars Good-bye, Chicken Little for simple examples of our Line-By-Line exercises. Byars wrote MG books for years, won prestigious awards, and knew her stuff.

In this week’s offering, Jimmy is worried he did not try hard enough to stop his uncle from “skating” to his death on the Monday River. His sister, Cassie tells him about the guilt she felt when their father died.

Cassie’s blue eyes brimmed with tears. Jimmie glanced away, out the window at the cold, gray afternoon. It was, he thought, the perfect setting for what was happening in his house—not one spot of brightness or sunlight or warmth.

Byars could be quite poetic at times.

I hope you will join us Wednesday. Feel free to make helpful suggestions about other lines the group might explore in the future.

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