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Book Exploder: Tayari Jones - An American Marriage

Sep 28, 2022
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INSIGHT

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.
INSIGHT

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.
ADVICE

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.
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