Episode Description
Leslie & Alyssa critique the opening of the literary fiction novel Ripples Through Time by Lincoln Cole. They discuss characterization, telling detail, the power of subtlety, and what defines literary fiction.
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Show Notes
“[T]he best modern fiction and nonfiction writers let a character’s visible persona speak for itself. They carefully choose a few details that hint at the underlying character. Through the choice of detail, they lead readers to certain inevitable conclusions about the character they are describing. They create character, in other words, through careful reporting. Their method of characterization, unlike that of Henry James and other 19th-century novelists, is largely indirect.”
