A case study from the front lines of fiction publishing: novelist/marketer Grace Flahive talks about the dos and don’ts of pursuing publication, working with an agent, hooking editors, and learning from rejection. Watch the video above or read the transcript on Medium.
Posts filed in Fiction
Finding your novel’s niche: interview with the editor of “Crazy Rich Asians”
Editor Jenny Jackson shares how Crazy Rich Asians was able to find its niche to connect with readers. She also shares practical tips that help her authors focus their novel’s intent. Finally, she discusses her own transition from editor to author, and what she brought from her editorial experience into her writing process. Watch the video above or read the transcript on Medium.
How the prologue of “The Book Thief” hooks readers: an impressionistic, unique point of view
How the prologue of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak delivers an impressionistic look at the plot ahead, without spoiling that plot or even setting it up. Also, how the prologue teaches us to read the novel’s unique narrative voice without interrupting the story’s dramatic action. Watch the video above and read the transcript on Medium.
How “The Road” hooks readers: Rooting for the underdog
How author Cormac McCarthy creates vulnerable characters that engage our emotions in his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Road. Also, how the literary theories of Greek philosopher Aristotle still apply today, and what the modern anti-hero gets right and wrong. Watch the video above and read the transcript on Medium.
How “Cloud Atlas” hooks readers: Delivering the Unexpected
How author David Mitchell uses unexpected structure and unexpected language to hook readers in his novel Cloud Atlas. Plus, how the psychological concept of flow applies to great writing. Watch the video above and read the transcript (with extras) on Medium.
Learning from “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman: Building a world
Great writers build spaces for compelling stories and settings that capture our imagination. Here’s how author Neil Gaiman hooks readers using exploration and discovery of a setting in Chapter 1 of his novel Coraline. Watch the video above and read the transcript on Medium.
Close Your Eyes: a short story
A shooting star streaked through the clear mustard sky and burst apart, bombarding the plateau and the colony below with shrapnel. After a fragment with a bullet’s velocity shattered a dish on the colony’s communications tower, Arjun decided to climb the tower himself to repair the dish rather than pull construction drones away from their scheduled work.
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