LIVE! #20
7 June 2020
Agenda
- Why We're Here
- Literary Forensics
- - What do I bring?
- - What do I feel?
- - What do I notice?
- - What do I study?
- Next Month's Reading & Study
Why We're Here
We Writers want to improve our craft
by Reading like a Writer
through Literary Forensics training
we learn from each other
Roundtable Rules
Always refer back to the book
We practice active listening & serendipity
Every feeling and observation is valid...
but not every conclusion
Always refer back to the book
Today's author:
David John Cornwell
- MI-5 agent (1958-1960)
MI-6 agent (1960-1964) - First novel published in 1961
Has written 25 novels
-- 10 became movies
-- 6 TV adaptations
What do I 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
What do I notice?
- • Language and Grammar
- • Context
- • Point of view
- • Character & character development
- • Pacing
- • Horizontal structure
- • Layering of themes
- • Overall effect
Agent Running in the Field - Stats
- Marketing: International Mystery & Crime, Espionage Thrillers
- Genre: Realistic, Modern-Day, Arch-Plot Long-Form
- Word count: 84,982
- Print Pages: 288
- Reading Level: 7th-8th grade
- POV: Nat
- Tense: Present
- Publish date: October 22, 2019
- Publisher: Viking
- Sold By: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
Writers Who Read: Coming Up
July 5: Bangkok Wakes to Rain (USA, 2019) - Pitchaya Sudbanthad
August 2: Lost and Wanted (USA, 2019) - Nell Freudenberger
September 6: Olive, Again (USA, 2019) - Elizabeth Strout
October 4: The Testaments (Canada, 2019) - Margaret Atwood
November 1: Weather (USA, 2020) - Jenny Offill
December 6: The Nickel Boys (USA, 2019) - Colson Whitehead