Read Like A Writer

There are two ways to learn how to write fiction: by reading it and by writing it. Yes, you can learn lots about writing stories in workshops, in writing classes and writing groups, at writers' conferences. You can learn technique and process by reading the dozens of books like this one on fiction writing and by reading articles in writers' magazines. But the best teachers of fiction are the great works of fiction themselves. You can learn more about the structure of a short story by reading Anton Chekhov's 'Heartache' than you can in a semester of Creative Writing 101. If you read like a writer, that is, which means you have to read everything twice, at least. When you read a story or novel the first time, just let it happen. Enjoy the journey. When you've finished, you know where the story took you, and now you can go back and reread, and this time notice how the writer reached that destination. Notice the choices he made at each chapter, each sentence, each word. (Every word is a choice.) You see now how the transitions work, how a character gets across a room. All this time you're learning. You loved the central character in the story, and now you can see how the writer presented the character and rendered her worthy of your love and attention. The first reading is creative—you collaborate with the writer in making the story. The second reading is critical.


John Dufresne, from his book, The Lie That Tells A Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction

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Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Plot of the Short Story by Henry Albert Phillips (1912)

The Plot of the Short Story: An Exhaustive Study, Both Synthetical and Analytical, with Copious Examples, Making the Work a Practical Treatise by Henry Albert Phillips

I.-MISLEADING FORMS OF NARRATIVE 1

Illuminating Comparisons of the modern Short Story with (1) the Anecdote; (2) the True Story; (8) the Fable; (4) the Allegory; (6) the Character Sketch and the Character Study; (6) the Humorous Story; (7) the Playlet; (8) the Novel; (9) the Novelette.

II.— THE MODERN SHORT STORY ... 11

A Comprehensive Definition; the Name a Misnomer.

III.— THE PLOT 14

What It Is ; Its Importance and Relationship in the Modem Short Story; the Obstacle; Logic and Plausibility.

IV.— LAWS GOVERNING THE PLOT ... 19

The Dramatic Unities with an Additional Unit; Care; Compression; Simplicity; Dispatch; Completeness.

V.— PLOT ANALYSIS 23.

"Mrs. Knollys" and "The Necklace" as Examples; the Triangle Plot

VI.— INSPIRATION 80

Mood; Stimulants; the Powers and Employment of Imagination.

VII.— THE PROCESS OF PLOTTING . . . 36

Important Differences between that of Plotting and of Narrating the Story.

VIII.— THE PROGRESSIVE STAGES IN PLOTTING 40

The Plot Germ; the Plot Skeleton; the Plot Scenario; Examples.

IX.— ARRANGEMENTS OF EVENTS ... 46

Chronological and Logical Orders; Natural Sequence; Story Interest.

X.— PLOT DEVELOPMENT 58

The Laws of Movement and Action ; Supreme Moment; Climax; Conclusion; Denouement; Necessity for Complete Action; the End; the Effect.

XI.— THE TEN POSSIBLE PLOT MANIFESTATIONS 69

Each Illustrated by an Example.

XII.— PLOT GENEALOGY 74

God's Plot in the Book of Creation, showing the Resemblance of All Plots Since; the Basic Plot for All Stories; the Five Elemental Plots Deduced there from; Man's Relationships.

XII— CLASSIFICATIONS AND VARIATIONS OF PLOT . . 79

A Categorical Classification and Comprehensive Catalog of Plot Material.

XIV.— PRACTICAL PLOT SOURCES ... 92

Employment of Facts ; the Daily Newspaper ; Pregnant Paragraphs; Fertile Phrases; Use of Fiction; General Reading; Observation; Dangers; Propriety; Originality.

XV.— A STORE-HOUSE FULL OF PLOTS . . 108

A Novel Method of Storing a Practically Inexhaustible Supply of Plots; the Importance of Taking Notes; How to Take Notes; How to Keep them Systematically.

XVI.— A PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION IN PLOT BUILDING 112

How a Plot is Conceived and Carried thru every Process.

XVII.— THE PLOT-BUILT STORY .... 120

Administrating the Relationship of Plot and Finished Story; "Arden— The Village of Despair."

XVIII.— RECAPITULATION AND REVIEW . 148

A Syllabus Designed for the Use of Teachers and Students in the Study of the Plot of the Short Story; 207 Vital Questions Taken from the Text Itself and Covering the Whole Subject.


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