![\"Architecture](\"http:\/\/t1.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4Cvdkaq9CmAUkgt-5JMpIxN1KoyBQUizNjHqHxhb8tfRCSzWx:images.indiebound.com\/978\/435\/9781582435978.jpg\" "\\"Architecture")
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Guess what I’ll be teaching this fall. Yep. You guessed it. Novel writing. This isn’t my first experience with novel writing. I’ve got six of my own novels in various stages on my computer files, in fact. And I’ve taught\u00a0Novel Writing many times before. But each time I do —\u00a0even though I’m always\u00a0focusing on the specific elements of craft such as filtering voice through character and plot and story arc — I learn more about myself as a writer. And I discover new ideas, methods, and insights into the way I teach.<\/p>\n
Through teaching, I’ve discovered I’m a writer who focuses on structure. I’m always looking for the story arc, the rise and f In\u00a0revision, I can see what students need to do in order to deepen character and to build true tension, but for myself?\u00a0I sometimes\u00a0become a bit discouraged\u00a0that, once again,\u00a0I’ve protected my characters from pain and often stopped short in those earned scenes in which the character might need to get hurt or to hurt someone they love. But it’s fixable, I tell my students and myself.\u00a0“Grit\u00a0your teeth and get back in there and let\u00a0your characters knock each other\u00a0down.”<\/p>\n I’m keenly aware of the difficulty and joy of writing a longer work; I admire the beauty of layered characters, the intensity of a well-delineated conflict, the beauty of a scene filtered through a primary character.\u00a0I’m not the only teacher\/writer who falls in love with a novel because it manages this. So this semester, I plan to bring Jane Vandenburgh’s<\/a>\u00a0Architecture of the Novel<\/em> into\u00a0my classroom with the hope that students\u00a0really digest this thoughtful guide and keep it as an excellent resource. I’ve found myself relying heavily on it this summer as I revise a novel that started out being a sappy mess and is only, after three years, taking shape.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I’m also bringing in essays from Tin House so that my students have the opportunity to hear\u00a0other writers talk about the pleasure and pain and details of crafting their work.<\/p>\n I wonder — what handbooks and essays help you define your writing style? Let me know!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Guess what I’ll be teaching this fall. Yep. You guessed it. Novel writing. This isn’t my first experience with novel writing. I’ve got six of my own novels in various stages on my computer files, in fact. And I’ve taught\u00a0Novel Writing many times before. But each time I do … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[89,49,90,92,93,91,32,29],"class_list":["post-465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-architecture-of-the-novel","tag-creative-writing","tag-jane-vandenburgh","tag-novels","tag-teaching-writing","tag-tin-house","tag-writers","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465\/revisions\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/annangelwriter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"41IUwXkNdPL.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/t3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ6OPXbA-GQM46nCPW9fH4-EufZD6_s1egrRo3IWW74jzVcamsEEQ:ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41IUwXkNdPL.jpg\" "\\"41IUwXkNdPL.jpg\\"")
all of tension, and the truth of a character’s character<\/em> when working\u00a0to solve his or her own problems.\u00a0The character, I realize, has to be structured to respond logically — given his or her personality, quirks, upbringing and significant problem. I recommend\u00a0students read Erik Erikson, a psychologist who had strong insight into personality and characteristics as well as the\u00a0contrasting ideals of these characteristics.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/t0.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR1JtXehF2HVvn-4-XsNR-50SoUMdPy9hmsnEN8KZT_2szNZ0p_hg:img1.imagesbn.com\/p\/9781935639466_p0_v1_s260x420.JPG\" "\\"The")
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