Blackbird Studio for Writers Podcast: Lit Lessons

In this episode, NYT bestseller, Jennifer Lauck talks with writers about working with the truth in creative non-fiction. She pulls ideas from many current memorists and helps writers understand how to build a pact with the reader.

In a live class, writers of the Studio discuss the total number of scenes, and locations in this book. They also compare the book to the movie with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. Finally the writers study the inner and outer arc in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The goal is to learn more about creative choices made by writers, in order to improve as writers.

New York Times Bestseller, Jennifer Lauck, meets with a group of college students in Western Washington and provides tips for maintaining her writing practice. This conversation is for anyone interested in being a writer, and persevering in this challenging art form.

Students at the Studio meet with literary agent, Betsy Amster, with offices in Portland and L.A. Amster is a dogged prospector of American talent who frequently speaks and even teaches! Amster discusses publishing and what literary agents are looking for in books they represent.

In a live Studio class, advanced writers discuss the short story, Chicxulub, by TC Boyle. They are particularly interested in the literary device known as the objective correlative, the infusion of description and the movement of the scenes it's used in this story.

In a live discussion, members of an advanced Studio class discuss the artistic choices of Aimee Bender, in her wonderful novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake . Studio writers pull specific scenes from the book, in order to establish an understanding of progression of the action. Writers also look at action, and making meaning of the action. The goal in the study is to improve as writers.

In a live discussion, members of the Studio discuss the lovely and spare novel, Nora Webster, by Colm Toibin. From a review of the book, to an analysis of scenes. The goal of the conversation is to better understand Toibin's craft decisions and improve as writers.

In a live class, members of the Studio hold a literary discussion about the glorious and heartbreaking novel, Beloved, by Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison. Writers discuss antagonistic forces in the book, including the concept known as the negation of the negation--taken from the work of Robert McKee, author of Story. There is also a discussion of something called the Controlling Idea (also taken from McKee's analysis of story). The goal of the conversation is to think deeply about literature, in order to improve craft.

In a live class, members of the advanced Blackbird Studio for Writers discuss David Foster Wallace's short story Forever Overhead, from the collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. Wallace's prose is beautiful and evocative and the writers in this class discuss the use of detail, description, POV, and meaning.

In a live presentation, NYT Bestselling author, Jennifer Lauck, talks to students in Texas about all the things she wished she'd been told about writing. Funny, educational, irreverent and inspiring, Lauck shares her knowledge about writing from her 30 years of experience.