Writers Who Read
LIVE! #26
LIVE! #26
6 December 2020
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
by Colson Whitehead
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: Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead
- Harvard class of 1991
- then wrote for the Village Voice
- Authored 6 other novels
- The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt,
Sag Harbor, Zone One, The Underground Railroad - . . . and 2 non-fiction books
- ALL published by Doubleday
- Taught at Princeton, Columbia, et al
- Writer-in-Residence at Vassar, U Richmond, U Wyoming
Whitehead has described the characters as "two different parts of my personality", with Elwood Curtis being "the optimistic or hopeful part of me that believes we can make the world a better place if we keep working at it", and Jack Turner, "the cynical side that says no—this country is founded on genocide, murder, and slavery and it will always be that way."
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
Themes
Prologue DONTs
- Information dump
- Boring!
- Nothing to do with main story
- Too long
- Only there to hook reader
- Only used for atmosphere or world-building
https://www.writersdigest.com/publishing-insights/great-debate-prologue-not-prologue
Prologue DOs
- Must be an integral part of the novel
- Should read like a short story
- Should start with a strong and intriguing hook
- Must stand out from the body of the novel
- Time of events (History or Future)
- Different POV
- Reader feels distinct switch in feel at Chapter 1
https://www.writing-world.com/fiction/prologue.shtml
The Nickel Boys - Stats
Marketing: African American Literature, African American Literary Fiction, Historical African Fiction
Genre: Realistic Present-Day / Historical Arch-Plot Long-Form
Word count: 58,482
Print Pages: 210
Reading Level: 8th grade
POV: mostly Elwood -> Turner
Publish date: July 16, 2019
Publisher: Doubleday
Sold By: Random House
Audio book narration: JD Jackson, Colson Whitehead
Prizes: 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
The Underground Railroad - 2017 Pulitzer Prize
Writers Who Read: Coming Up
January 3: A Burning - Megha Majumdar (India, 2020)
February 7: Red Pill - Hari Kunzru (England, 2020)
March 7: Interior Chinatown - Charles Yu (USA, 2020)
April 4: Apeirogon - Colum McCann (Ireland, 2020)
May 2: The Lying Life of Adults - Elena Ferrante
(Italy, trans. 2020 by Ann Goldstein)
June 6: The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett (USA, 2020)