Alida, Robert, & Kathryn discuss writing death and dying. We all read Edwidge Danticat’s book The Art of Death, in Graywolf Press’s Art of Series. The slim volume is our jumping off point for delving into the role of death in relation to character arcs, plot, the writer’s journey, and the effect these scenes can have on readers.
VIDEO
AUDIO
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SHOW NOTES
Want to read the book? It’s The Art of Death by Edwidge Danticat.
What was our experience with the book? What were our biggest takeaways? What makes death meaningful for the story? And what tools should you bring to write a death well? How can we make them authentic? And what is the power of the point of view?
What we talked about:
What was our experience with the book? What were our expectations versus our experience? (2:00)
Roberts biggest takeaway – the more personification the better for the story. (5:54)
Use specificity, but not necessarily in physical description. (8:08)
What makes this particular death meaningful for the story and for the reader? (11:44)
Death as a tool in our writers tool belt. (15:55)
The point of view matters! (17:46)
Have have we written death in our own stories? (19:08)
Death is a very special turning point for your characters. (22:10)
How do we make our deaths authentic? (24:52)
What about using the omniscient point of view to write death? (30:12)
LINKS
Things we mentioned:
The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Serenity
Want more about these topics? Check out:
SWRT 26 Introduction to Point of View
SWRT 27 First Person Point of View
SWRT 28 Third Person Point of View
SWRT 094 Multiple Points of View, Pros, Cons
SWRT 072 Killing Your Characters