19.43: A Close Reading on Structure: Parallelism and Inversion

Writing Excuses

Mary Robinette Kowal, DongWon Song, Erin Roberts, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler

Fiction, Business, Careers

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The structure of The Fifth Season features both mirroring and inversion. How do these structural shifts interact with the three POVs? On today’s episode, we talk about the parallelism of the perspectives and the linguistic references to seasons. This leads us to the question, how many things need to work in sync in order for readers to feel the cyclical nature of the plot (and life)? How does N.K. Jemisin use structural arcs, beats, and elements to create upheaval? And finally, how can you create overlapping emotional states and narrative rhyming in your own writing? (And what is narrative rhyming you may ask? Don’t worry, we define it for you!)

Thing of the Week: Who Lost, I Found by Eden Royce

Homework: Take a look at one of your main character's arcs, and then try to rework another character's arc to match similar beats and structure to the first one.

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Transcript

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0:29.0	This episode of writing excuses has been brought to you by our listeners, patrons, and friends.
0:35.5	If you would like to learn how to support this podcast, visit
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0:45.0	Season 19, episode 43.
0:51.0	This is writing excuses. A close reading on structure, parallelism, and inversion.
0:56.2	15 minutes long because you're in a hurry. And we're not that smart.
1:00.6	I'm Dang one. I'm Aaron. and I'm Howard. So this week I really wanted to talk about the parallel structures that are present in fifth season. We talked a lot last week about
1:12.4	prospective and P. OV and how those shifts and we got a little bit into parallels just inherently in that, but the way fifth season is structured has two major structural things in my view. One is you have the
1:27.4	three Povis of Diemiah, Sionite, and Esuon that all have their own arcs, right? They all have the arc of being pulled through the story in a beginning middle end way.
1:42.0	There is also an inflection point
1:44.4	somewhere in the book where you have this mirroring structure
1:47.9	of beginning with a child death
1:49.7	and ending with a child death, right?
1:51.6	We have Esuin slash cyanite losing both of her children or two of her children.
	...

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