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.
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.