The Book Blueprint: How a Story is Structured and Why it Works
Calling all Readers and Writers!
We’ve launched a bimonthly, online book group. We discuss how a book is structured and why it works. We meet for an hour, every two months, via Zoom. The class runs for three sessions. The cost is $150($50/session).
This past session, we read Nathan Hill's novel Wellness, Leslie Jamisons's memoir, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, and Percival Everett's novel, James,
For our next session, we’ll read Colm Toibin's novel Long Island, Nobel prize winner Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian, and Elizabeth Strout’s novel, Tell Me Everything. Our next meetings are on three Thursdays, from 5:30-6:30, January 9, February 6 and April 3.
In this book discussion, in addition to discussing structure, we will ask the following questions :
How well-written was the book? More specifically, was the story so absorbing that as the reader, we forgot where we were when we were reading it and stopped doing everything else so we could finish it?
Did the characters feel “real?” Did we think that we understood them intimately? Could we imagine what it was like to live these characters’ lives and navigate the challenges they faced, even if we would have done the opposite in our own lives?
Could we see what the characters saw, smelled, and tasted? If they were having sex or eating something delicious, did we feel that we were doing it with them?
Did we feel moved by the events in the book?
Did the book offer a turn/pivot/surprise?
Did the book educate us in some way?
Did the ending blow us away?
Calling all Readers and Writers!
We’ve launched a bimonthly, online book group. We discuss how a book is structured and why it works. We meet for an hour, every two months, via Zoom. The class runs for three sessions. The cost is $150($50/session).
This past session, we read Nathan Hill's novel Wellness, Leslie Jamisons's memoir, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, and Percival Everett's novel, James,
For our next session, we’ll read Colm Toibin's novel Long Island, Nobel prize winner Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian, and Elizabeth Strout’s novel, Tell Me Everything. Our next meetings are on three Thursdays, from 5:30-6:30, January 9, February 6 and April 3.
In this book discussion, in addition to discussing structure, we will ask the following questions :
How well-written was the book? More specifically, was the story so absorbing that as the reader, we forgot where we were when we were reading it and stopped doing everything else so we could finish it?
Did the characters feel “real?” Did we think that we understood them intimately? Could we imagine what it was like to live these characters’ lives and navigate the challenges they faced, even if we would have done the opposite in our own lives?
Could we see what the characters saw, smelled, and tasted? If they were having sex or eating something delicious, did we feel that we were doing it with them?
Did we feel moved by the events in the book?
Did the book offer a turn/pivot/surprise?
Did the book educate us in some way?
Did the ending blow us away?
Calling all Readers and Writers!
We’ve launched a bimonthly, online book group. We discuss how a book is structured and why it works. We meet for an hour, every two months, via Zoom. The class runs for three sessions. The cost is $150($50/session).
This past session, we read Nathan Hill's novel Wellness, Leslie Jamisons's memoir, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, and Percival Everett's novel, James,
For our next session, we’ll read Colm Toibin's novel Long Island, Nobel prize winner Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian, and Elizabeth Strout’s novel, Tell Me Everything. Our next meetings are on three Thursdays, from 5:30-6:30, January 9, February 6 and April 3.
In this book discussion, in addition to discussing structure, we will ask the following questions :
How well-written was the book? More specifically, was the story so absorbing that as the reader, we forgot where we were when we were reading it and stopped doing everything else so we could finish it?
Did the characters feel “real?” Did we think that we understood them intimately? Could we imagine what it was like to live these characters’ lives and navigate the challenges they faced, even if we would have done the opposite in our own lives?
Could we see what the characters saw, smelled, and tasted? If they were having sex or eating something delicious, did we feel that we were doing it with them?
Did we feel moved by the events in the book?
Did the book offer a turn/pivot/surprise?
Did the book educate us in some way?
Did the ending blow us away?
(We’ll record the workshop so if you miss it, you can listen to the recording.)