Writers Who Read
LIVE! #13

3 November 2019

American Spy
by Lauren Wilkinson

Agenda



  • Why We're Here / Roundtable Rules

  • Introduction to Literary Forensics

  • Group Discussion

  • Further Study


Why We're Here

We writers want to improve our craft
by reading like a writer

We learn from each other
using Literary Forensics

Roundtable Rules

Always refer back to the book

Practice active listening & serendipity

Every feeling and observation is valid...
but not every conclusion

Always refer back to the book

Reading Teaches Writing

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

Introductions

What do you bring
to this book?




Today's author: Lauren Wilkinson

  • - Born in 1984
    - Studied writing at Columbia with Paul Beatty
    - Has taught at Columbia and the Fashion Institute of Technology
    - A 2013 Center for Fiction Emerging Writer's Fellow

  • Statue of Yennenga in Ouagadougou

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

What do you feel?

What in the book elicited that feeling?

Every feeling and observation is valid...
but every conclusion should be questioned

We practice serendipity
- nothing is too crazy

Always refer back to the book

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

What do you notice?

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

American Spy - Stats


Marketing: African American Historical Fiction, African American Literary Fiction
Genres: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Spy Fiction
Genre: Realistic, Recent Past, Arch-Plot Long-Form
Word count: 103,268
Print Pages: 292

Tense: 1st Person: Past
POV: Marie (addressing sons)

Publish date: February 12, 2019
Publisher: Random House
Sold By: Random House
Noteable: Barak Obama's 2019 Reading List

Word Cloud

Literary Forensics

 

What you bring

What you feel

What you notice

What you study

Listen to our podcast: Writers Who Read

Attend our next meeting in person or online

Literary Forensics
Available worldwide at your local bookstore
and online everywhere

Thanks to: Boulder Writers Alliance

Contact Gary: gary@WritersWhoRead.com
Additional Literary Forensics Resources

Happy Reading
and
Happy Writing!