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 31, 2015

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

THE

SECRET GARDEN

BY

FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT

Author of
"The Shuttle," "The Making of a Marchioness," "The Methods of Lady
Walderhurst," "That Lass o' Lowries," "Through One Administration,"
"Little Lord Fauntleroy" "A Lady of Quality," etc.
 
 

NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS



Copyright, 1911, by
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Copyright, 1910, 1911, by
The Phillips Publishing Co.


All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian.


August, 1911.


  CONTENTS

CHAPTER                                       PAGE
I      There is No One Left    1
II      Mistress Mary Quite Contrary    10
III      Across the Moor    23
IV      Martha    30
V      The Cry in the Corridor    55
VI      "There Was Some One Crying—There Was!"    65
VII      The Key of the Garden    75
VIII      The Robin Who Showed the Way    85
IX      The Strangest House Any One Ever Lived in    97
X      Dickon    111
XI      The Nest of the Missel Thrush    128
XII      "Might I Have a Bit of Earth?"    140
XIII      "I am Colin"    153
XIV      A Young Rajah    172
XV      Nest Building    189
XVI      "I Won't!" Said Mary    207
XVII      A Tantrum    218
XVIII      "Tha' Munnot Waste No Time"    229
XIX      "It Has Come!"    239
XX      "I Shall Live Forever—and Ever—and Ever!"      255
XXI      Ben Weatherstaff    268
XXII      When the Sun Went Down    284
XXIII      Magic    292
XXIV      "Let Them Laugh"    310
XXV      The Curtain    328
XXVI      "It's Mother!"    339
XXVII      In the Garden    353

 

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