Writing Excuses

19.10: Introducing Our Close Readings Series

Mar 10, 2024

The hosts introduce their Close Reading Series, focusing on five core elements of writing and analyzing specific literary texts. They will discuss books like 'This Is How You Lose the Time War' and 'A Memory Called Empire' in upcoming episodes. Listeners are encouraged to read along and join the interactive book club experience. The series will culminate in interviews with the authors, offering insights into their creative processes.

23:30

Creator website

Episode guests

Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

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Quick takeaways

The podcast introduces a structured close reading series focusing on specific literary elements for in-depth analysis.

Listeners are encouraged to actively engage by aligning techniques with scenes from favorite works to enhance comprehension.

Deep dives

Introduction of Close Reading Series

The podcast hosts introduce their close reading series with an aim to delve into specific literary techniques by analyzing selected works. They emphasize the value of close reading for understanding writing intricacies and experiencing the joy of in-depth analysis. The hosts provide a variety of works, ranging from books to short stories, ensuring inclusivity for diverse preferences. Through this series, they intend to offer concrete examples to assist listeners in grasping complex writing techniques effectively.

Introduction

2min

Exploring Writing Techniques Through Literary Analysis

7min

Transitioning to Deep Analysis and Exploring a Unique Role-Playing Game

2min

The Art of Close Reading in Analyzing Stories

5min

Exploring Close Reading and Book Discussions

2min

Analyzing Reader Reactions and Excitement for Book Series

4min

Exploring Key Writing Techniques and Support for Locust Magazine

3min

You’ve probably seen us posting about our Close Reading Series, and in his episode, we finally officially introduce it!

For most of the remainder of 2024, we’ll be diving into five core elements of writing by focusing on five different literary texts. We’ll spend five episodes on each one, and then we’re going to… drumroll please… interview the author(s)!

As you know, we’ve spent lots of time reading, writing, talking, and recording our thoughts about different elements of the craft. But this year, we wanted to ground our episodes in specific texts that you could read along– and analyze– with us!

Below is the schedule for each book or short story we’ll be diving into. The date on the right in parenthesis is the air date of the first episode in our series that will begin talking about that text. We highly recommend you read the book by that date, as we will be talking about the entirety of the text for all 5 episodes (including spoilers!)

First up: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

You can buy this (and all the other books!) through our bookshop link-- this is linked in our bio in addition to right here:

https://bookshop.org/lists/close-readings-season-19

Close Reading Series: Texts & Timeline

Voice: This is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar (March 17)

Worldbuilding: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (May 12)

Character: “You Perfect, Broken Thing,” “The Cook,” and “Your Eyes, My Beacon: Being an Account of Several Misadventures and How I Found My Way Home” by CL Clark (July 7)

Tension: Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (September 1)

Structure: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (October 13)

Thing of the Week: SHINOBIGAMI: Modern Ninja Battle RPG

Homework: Take a scene from a work that you love and five highlighters/crayons/colored pencils - use one color to underline/highlight places where the voice comes through, one for great worldbuilding, one for character moments, one for any moments of tension, and one for moments that move the plot forward. What colors do you end up with? Where do they overlap? What are the colors of the moments you love the most? What would the colors of one of your scenes be?

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Credits: Your hosts for this episode were Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was produced by Emma Reynolds, recorded by Marshall Carr, Jr., and mastered by Alex Jackson.

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