Writing Discussion : How to Write a Fiction Novel

river

Watch Her Flow
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Mar 22, 2004
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Over the next several weeks we will look at different aspects of fiction novel writing.

You may be asking “Who does sista river think she is trying to teach smaddy how to write a novel?” Sister river is:
1. A published author (http://speakingforthechild.com)
2. An Award winning poet
3. A graduate with a MA in English
4. Two thirds finished her second book

Need I say more? I am qualified to teach what I know best and I want to share with you some of the things that have helped me.

We will learn about how to structure a novel, develop strong plots and characters, handle transitions, and more. Hang tight with me. As your teacher, I’m not here to produce good writing. I’m here to produce good writers. What that means is I’m not here to tell you how to write or what to write but to show you the tools and strategies that will help you write the book you want to write. I will show you how to write a strong novel that goes beyond the okeedoke.

We will use Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple as sample text to demonstrate the things I will show you. I like these two novels because they don’t strictly follow the rules of European novel writing traditions. Such rules are made to be broken. Mandates like “can‘t” and “have to” are mere challenges for the next generation to overcome the constrictions of past generations. When you successfully overcome the “rules” you will be deemed a genius. So I’m not here to teach you a bunch of rules. I am here to bring out your genius.

Stay tuned for our first lesson.
 
Over the next several weeks we will look at different aspects of fiction novel writing.

You may be asking “Who does sista river think she is trying to teach smaddy how to write a novel?” Sister river is:
1. A published author (http://speakingforthechild.com)
2. An Award winning poet
3. A graduate with a MA in English
4. Two thirds finished her second book

Need I say more? I am qualified to teach what I know best and I want to share with you some of the things that have helped me.

We will learn about how to structure a novel, develop strong plots and characters, handle transitions, and more. Hang tight with me. As your teacher, I’m not here to produce good writing. I’m here to produce good writers. What that means is I’m not here to tell you how to write or what to write but to show you the tools and strategies that will help you write the book you want to write. I will show you how to write a strong novel that goes beyond the okeedoke.

We will use Toni Morrison’s Beloved and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple as sample text to demonstrate the things I will show you. I like these two novels because they don’t strictly follow the rules of European novel writing traditions. Such rules are made to be broken. Mandates like “can‘t” and “have to” are mere challenges for the next generation to overcome the constrictions of past generations. When you successfully overcome the “rules” you will be deemed a genius. So I’m not here to teach you a bunch of rules. I am here to bring out your genius.

Stay tuned for our first lesson.

excellent...i'm headed for one of the seats in the front row pencil and pad in hand.
 
a long forgotten motto: it is the responsibility of the enlightened to enlighten those less enlightened than themselves.

ahhhh....it's nice to see teachers coming out the closet.:) one of the building blocks of Destee.com was/is the exchanging of knowledge/the uplifting of our people. Given that we're all writers, what better way to uplift us than to teach us our craft. me...although i've taken fiction writing classes, i'm terrible with transitions...and struggle with details--preferring to get right to the meat of the matter. the worst hurdle i have, though, is not knowing when to stop writing...understanding when to say "the end." i'm here to learn, teacher. help a brutha out.
 
Hey baller,

That's good that you have specific goals and areas that you want to focus on. We will deal with transitions as well as dialogue.

It has been said that a novel is not finished when nothing else can be added but when nothing else can be taken out. In my experience it's a matter of building and cutting. Build for strength and cut for clarity.
 

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