LIVE! #37
2 January 2022

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

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

Introductions

What do I bring
to this book?

Today's author: Patricia Lockwood

  • Childhood in Ft. Wayne, St. Louis, Cincinnati

  • Known primarily for:
  • - Rape Joke (Poem, 2013)
  • - Priestdaddy (Memoir, 2017)
  • - 3 poetry collections (2012, 2014, 2017)

  • Essays / Literary Criticism has appeared in
    London Review of Books, The New Yorker

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

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

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

What do I notice?


  •    • Language and Grammar

  •    • Context

  •    • Point of view

  •    • Character & character development

  •    • Pacing

  •    • Horizontal structure

  •    • Layering of themes

  •    • Overall effect

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

No One Is Talking About This - Stats

  • Marketing: Literary Satire Fiction, Humorous Literary Fiction, Satire Fiction
  • Genre: Present-Day Medium-Form Miniplot
  • Print Pages: 222; Reading Level: Grade 8-10
  • Word count: 41,144; Avg. wds/sent.: 18.69
  • Lexical Density: 44.93; Flesch Reading Ease: 68.03

  • POV: She; Person: 3rd; Tense: Past

  • Publish date: February 16, 2021
  • Publisher: Riverhead Books
  • Sold By: Penguin / Random House
  • Audio book narr.: Kristen Sieh (4 hrs, 3 mins)

  • Awards: shortlisted for Booker, 1st Novel Prize, Women's Prize
  • No One... written 2017-2020 mostly on an iPhone

Literary Forensics

 

What do I bring?

What do I feel?

What do I notice?

What do I study?

Writers Who Read: Coming Up

February 6: Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro (UK, 2021)
March 6: The Plot - Jean Hanff Korelitz (USA, 2021)
April 3: The Promise - Damon Galgut (S. Africa, 2021)
May 1: Intimacies - Katie Kitamura (USA, 2021)
June 5: Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen (USA, 2021)


Thanks to: Boulder Writers Alliance

Contact Gary: hello@garyalanmcbride.com
Literary Forensics Resources

Happy
Sleuthing!