Agenda Why are we here?
Who are we? (introductions)
How do we dissect texts?
What have we learned?
Where is the industry now?
When are the cocktails?
Why are we here?
What did we read?
2017
2018
Reader’s Point of View: Poetics by Aristotle
Plot (mythos) Character (ethos) Thought (dianoia) Diction (lexis) Melody (melos) Spectacle (opsis)
Writer’s Point of View: The Order of Creation
Plot (mythos) Character (ethos) Thought (dianoia) Diction (lexis) Melody (melos) Spectacle (opsis)
Analyzing Writing: Deep Reading
Analyzing Writing: Deep Reading
Consider the Context Is the Language Effective? Analyze the Overall Structure Look Hard at the Climax How has the Protagonist Changed? Break Down Every Scene
Analyzing Writing: Literary Forensics
https://www.garyalanmcbride.com/literary-forensics-resources/
Reading Techniques Close Reading (bullet points) How To Read Like A Writer (16-page essay, 6 tips) Reading Like A Writer (book) – Francine Prose How to Read Literature Like a Professor (book) – Thomas C. Foster Industry Resources Story Architecture Fiction categories Genres – the 5-Leaf Clover Novel Writer’s Market: 2019 The 7 Basic Plots ‘Book Riot’: publishing insider podcast Story focus: Milieu, Idea, Character or Event NYT Book Review podcast Arch-plot Structure — explained in 12 sections Sentiment analysis: 6 emotional arcs and story shapes (paper) Top Sellers Weekly: Publishers’ Weekly, The New York Times Scene / Chapter Considerations Best-selling Fiction & Literature in 2019 (Amazon) Dictionary of Fiction Critique (book) — terms we need to know Best-selling Fiction Authors (all-time) Point of View: here and here Best-selling Books (all-time) SCENES and SEQUELS Choose your words: Anglo-Saxon vs. Latinate
Analyzing Writing: Form
Analyzing Writing: Form Timing Matters 92%
75% 50%
25%
8%
~ first 25 pages Editors At Work: The Magical Mid-Point
50%
Editors At Work: The Magical Mid-Point
50%
Editors At Work: The Magical Mid-Point
50%
Editors At Work: The Magical Mid-Point
Exit West The Witch Elm
Eleanor Oliphant Origin
Editors At Work: The Magical Mid-Point
Less Mrs. Fletcher
Female Persuasion Broken Angels
Analyzing Writing: AI
Stories Reviews (32M) + (70M)
Story DNA machine learning Story Shapes: AI
Kurt Vonnegut (1985) The Shape of Stories
July 2016
Exit West – Mohsin Hamid (2018)
Less – Andrew Sean Greer (2017) Eleanor Oliphant – Gail Honeyman (2017)
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas (2017)
Origin – Dan Brown (2017) The Witch Elm – Tana French (2018)
Mrs. Fletcher – Tom Perrotta (2017) House of Broken Angels – Luis Urrea (2018)
The Female Persuasion – Meg Wolitzer (2017)
Kudos – Rachel Cusk (2018) Asymmetry – Lisa Halliday (2018)
There There – Tommy Orange (2018)
Writing Analyzation: Plot Points vs. Sentiment
Pacing (words per Backstory paragraph) (% past tense)
Points of View—How many is too many?
1 3 [2]
5 Alice, [Amar], Ezra 1-ish
. . . But it’s not who you think . . .
Points of View—How many is too many? 8 13
12
Points of View—How many is too many?
21 15
Using POV to Explore the Human Condition
“Migration is a basic condition of humanity” “How much is being a Mohsin Hamid good person or bad person tied to luck?” Tana French
“A white middle-aged American man walking around with his white middle-aged American sorrows?” . . . “It’s a little hard to feel sorry for a guy like that.” - from Less, Andrew Sean Greer
And what if the POV is a shell?
Faye Trends: Book Length—Last 50 years
1970-2019 1970-2019 1970-2019
Pulitzer Prize National Book Award Booker Prize avg: 411 Pages avg: 405 Pages avg: 368 Pages
Trends: Mixing Genres
1970-2019 1970-2019 1970-2019 2 2
1 1 1
Pulitzer Prize National Book Award Booker Prize 1980: The Executioner’s Song – Norman Mailer (True Crime, Literary) 1988: Paris Trout – Pete Dexter (Thriller, Literary) 2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon (Super Hero, Literary) 2003: The Great Fire – Shirley Hazzard (Romance, Literary) 2013: The Orphan Master's Son – Adam Johnson (Thriller, Literary) 2007: Tree of Smoke – Denis Johnson (Thriller, Literary) 2016: The Sympathizer – Viet Thanh Nguyen (Mystery, Literary)
Where to next?