AI Snips
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Episode notes
Sympathy Requires Nuance
- Tayari Jones struggled because readers expect a single heroic response to injustice, but real reactions can be complex and nuanced.
- She deliberately gave Celestial a conflicted response to insist women can feel ambivalence without being unsympathetic.
Multiple POVs Reveal Shared Ownership
- Jones originally wrote the book from Celestial's POV only, then wrote Roy's chapters and added a third perspective to fully humanize all characters.
- She believes multiple viewpoints are necessary to show how events 'don't belong to you' alone.
Revise Until Character Feels True
- Revise scenes repeatedly until the character's voice and emotional tone feel authentic and inevitable.
- Jones treated Celestial's letter as if Celestial herself kept redrafting until the wording matched her psychology.