19.44: A Close Reading on Structure: Tradition and Innovation
Today we’re zooming out to see where N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season fits into the canon of fantasy literature. How does Jemisin interact with magic, words, and the expectations of the genre? And what...
3 Nov 202426min
19.43: A Close Reading on Structure: Parallelism and Inversion
The structure of The Fifth Season features both mirroring and inversion. How do these structural shifts interact with the three POVs? On today’s episode, we talk about the parallelism of the perspecti...
27 Okt 202423min
19.42: A Close Reading on Structure: Whose Perspective is it Anyways?
Structure and POV (point of view) are often intertwined. In N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, we see this in the myriad perspective shifts. In this episode, we talk about the importance of these shifts...
20 Okt 202421min
19.41: A Close Reading on Structure: An Overview and Why Fifth Season
Just a reminder that we will be talking about a lot of spoilers, so if you haven’t read The Fifth Season, go and do so now! As we dive into N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season, we wanted to tell you why w...
13 Okt 202421min
19.40: An Interview on Tension with P. Djèlí Clark
We sat down with the author of Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark, in order to wrap up our close reading of tension. We talked with Clark about his influences, which ranged from Birth of a Nation to Beyonce’s...
6 Okt 202446min
19.39: A Close Reading on Tension: Tying It All Together
This episode, we’re talking about how important tension is in creating a world where your readers feel fully immersed. We talk about the importance of using tropes and techniques while also using vari...
29 Sep 202422min
19.38: A Close Reading on Tension: Anticipation and Subversion
When you’re subverting your readers’ expectations, do you need to do the exact opposite of what they’re anticipating? Today, we dive into this question, using various examples of books and movies. We ...
22 Sep 202419min
19.37: A Close Reading on Tension: Movement and Resolution
Today, we’re using music as an entry-point for tension. Howard introduces us to the power of the half-step, and other musical metaphors that can help you to incorporate tension in a new way to your wr...
15 Sep 202421min
