How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill

In this stirring anthology, editor Brown (The Tradition), director of the creative writing program at Emory University, brings together new and previously published interviews with and essays by Black authors on how they “go about making what they make.” Among other topics, contributors discuss how they approach characterization, inspiration, developing a sense of place, and writing about personal experience. Novelist Crystal Wilkinson weighs in on creating complex fictional characters and provides questions to help flesh them out, encouraging writers to ask themselves “what is your character most afraid of?” and “what did being good mean in their family?” Marita Golden recounts how a literary agent convinced her to pivot from novels to memoirs and counsels readers to “focus on that slice of your life that haunts and inspires you” when writing autobiographical material. On finding inspiration, poet Camille T. Dungy emphasizes the importance of observation, while novelist Tayari Jones tells how she came up with the idea for An American Marriage after overhearing a couple fighting about the woman’s infidelity while the man was in prison. The contributors’ winning mix of practical guidance and personal reflection makes for an insightful manual. Aspiring authors would do well to check this out. (July)