#113: First Chapter Analysis: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2023

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I feel that emotional connection, the emotional struggles here are going to be a big gameplay in how the story is executed.” - Abigail K. Perry

Magic has always fascinated us, hasn't it? The mere thought of a world where the impossible becomes possible, where spells are cast, and extraordinary adventures unfold, has captivated readers for generations. In the realm of adult fantasy novels, one name stands out – Lev Grossman and his masterpiece, "The Magicians."

Today, both Abigail K. Perry, host of the LitMatch podcast, and I embark on a magical yet realistic journey as we unravel the intricacies of the first chapter. Here’s a preview of what’s included:

[06:17] Abigail gives a summary of The Magicians by Lev Grossman

[21:51] A macro analysis of the first chapter using 7 key questions from Paula Munier's book The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings

[58:40] A micro analysis of the scene within the chapter using the "5 Commandments of Storytelling" from The Story Grid

[01:20] Final thoughts on analyzing chapters and scenes

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Savannah here. Before we get into today's episode, I wanted to share our next book
0:05.0	pick with you because I'm super excited to dig into this book and see how and why it works.
0:10.0	Our next meeting is coming up on November 16th at 4 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Eastern, and we're going to be
0:16.0	digging into the fourth wing by Rebecca Yarrows.
0:19.1	Abigail and I are so excited to deconstruct this book and these meetings are always so much fun.
0:24.1	They're interactive so in addition to our presentation on why we think this story works
0:28.8	and why we think it resonates with readers, there are also polls and lots of opportunities to chat with other
0:34.4	writers and ask us questions and you know just participate in a group discussion
0:38.8	about a really awesome book. As always our aim is to analyze a novel and translate our learnings into
0:44.8	actionable tips, tools, and strategies that you can take and implement in your own
0:48.8	writing right away. So if you want to join us or if you want to learn more about how the book club works, go to
0:54.4	Savannah Gilboe.com forward slash book.
0:57.7	One more time, that's Savannah Gilboe.com forward slash book
1:01.1	dash club. Hope to see you there.
1:03.0	So commercially this I looked it up it's technically marketed as an adult fantasy novel
1:09.2	which you know the the first thing we want to look at when it comes to commercial genre is do we get a sense of that in this opening chapter?
1:16.7	I think we do. There's multiple things that in my opinion show the magical side of it. So obviously Quinton's doing a lot of
1:24.9	thinking about filery and further where kids literally go to a magical land.
1:28.6	He's you know checking out cabinets in a real home to see if he can go to filary. He's doing magic tricks in his
1:36.3	pockets. That's like a different element of magic.
1:53.6	Welcome to the Fiction writing made easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilboo and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies
1:59.0	that you can implement in your writing right away.
	...

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