Book Breakdown: Where The Crawdads Sing

A look at the 1st chapter of Delia Owens' book that took the world by storm.

I read rather often.

This is not to boast, as I know there are those that can, and do double that in 6 months.

It’s just to tell you that there is truly nothing quite like Delia Owens’ Where The Crawdads Sing. In her first fiction novel, her prose is poetic and filled with harmonies of nature. Species of insects and mammals most people never see come to life page after page as the ink leaps off it, and runs wild; animals, nouns, become verbs and adverbs.

“The shack sat back from the palmettos, which sprawled across sand flats to a necklace of green lagoons and, in the distance, all the marsh beyond. Miles of blade-grass so tough it grew in salt water, interrupted only by trees so bent they wore the shape of the wind. Oak forests bunched around the other sides of the shack and sheltered the closest lagoon, its surface so rich in life it churned. Salt air and gull-song drifted through the trees from the sea.”

Where the Crawdads Sing
-Delia Owens

Yeah. I know right? And that’s only page 7…

Owens, BS in Zoology; a career Wildlife Scientist she spent 20 years with one other person in an area the size of Ireland.

An incredible life and an incredible book. The mastery of her craft shows with every sentence.

Now, I’m going to breakdown (somewhat) the first chapter of this book in a way that I find helpful and interesting. Maybe you’ll have some use for it to.

No spoilers, don’t worry.

In the first chapter, I’ve found 3 different moments, I’ll deem shifts, that Owens, amongst others, use to write. There are more then 3, I’m sure, but for now, and for Chapter 1, these are what we’ll focus on.

The 3 shifts:

1. Present:

The story progressing through the present time. The usual stuff.

Example:
Ben’s dog barked at him all night as she awaited eagerly for her nightly dish of fish and sweet potato.

2. Past:

These are shifts where there is a reminiscence - something in the present brings them back to a memory and this digression, this shift in the writing, can continue on for a few sentences to a few pages from here.

Example:
As he made his way to the kitchen he noticed the old hound was avoiding eye contact. The last time she had refused to meet his gaze was in Virginia of 2016, as they drove through a hail storm. A late night drive home to Columbus, Ohio through thunderstorms, and all he had wanted to do was eat a few McDonalds fries. He had seen her dip the last one in his sweet and sour sauce before he pulled the car to the side of the highway.

(Talk about digression. I think I blacked out. I’m back now. Sorry.)

3. Setting/History:

Just like it sounds. A description of the setting or the history of the town, city, or even the background of lets say a Cathedral the characters are in.

Example:
The town was built in 1997, after the last of the floods ravaged the lands of his backcountry. After the towns folk closed up shop and left plywood heaved on every window. And after that damn dog dipped my french fry in my sweet and sour sauce.

“I taketh his fry and I dippeth it.”
-Dog

Okay people, c’mon, can we focus now please?

NOW, LET’S BREAK IT DOWN REAL QUICK

-PAGES 1-2:

Present. Owens opens up, getting the readers involved in Kya’s mind right away. Seems to be a de-facto way of opening a novel.

-PAGES 3-4:

Setting/History. This is where we dip into the setting and the history of the town. Owens goes into great detail here, and her time as a wildlife author clearly shines as the text is as rich with history as it is with beautiful prose.

-PAGE 5:

1/2 = Present

1/2 = Past (Memories of happy times in Kya’s life)

-FINAL 1.5 PAGES:

Owens focuses the reader back on the story and Kya’s hardships, driving the story forward, and setting up the story for the rest of the book.

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SOMETHING TO NOTE:

There always seems to be a debate on wether to use “said” or “asked” or a million other options. More times than not, through this book, Owens uses “said” once to let the reader know who is talking, then she wouldn’t use it again.

Here’s what I mean, from the top of page 23:

“Jesus Christ!” Benji said.
”My God, it’s Chase Andrews.”
”We better git the sheriff.”
”But we ain’t s’posed to be out here.”

As you can see, Benji starts us off, and then the rest just flows. From reading beforehand, we know the other person is Steve, his friend.

I will say, it reads nicely and I was never thrown off.

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STATS:

Out of 6.5 pages…

~4 pages were spent on the Present. The beginning and the end, most notably.

~2 pages were spent on Setting/History of the books main setting.

~1/2 page was spent on Kya’s (protagonist) past memories.

Finals Thoughts…

This book hit me on every page. Every sentence succulent and lush with life. If you are looking for a great book or even just a little motivation read to get your brain churning, primed for writing, then absolutely grab this book. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’ve heard decent things.

Although this was extremely quick and non-thorough, these little sessions always help gain clarity and put together a formula for my own writing for my multiple WIP. Hopefully this is somewhat helpful for you and I know I enjoy seeing how writers actually let their minds write.

I don’t think there is a formula to this, but if there is, I’ll find it.

Thanks for reading. Have a great day, and a better tomorrow!

-Ben