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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Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Sorcery Club by Elliott O'Donnell

THE SORCERY CLUB

BY

ELLIOTT O'DONNELL

AUTHOR OF BYWAYS OF GHOSTLAND, WERWOLVES,
DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS, SOME HAUNTED HOUSES OF ENGLAND
AND WALES
, SCOTTISH GHOST TALES, HAUNTED HOUSES OF LONDON, ETC., ETC.

 

 

London
William Rider & Son, Limited
8 Paternoster Row, E.C.

1912


 

CONTENTS


HOW THEY FIRST HEARD OF ATLANTIS

THE BLACK ART OF ATLANTIS

LEARNING TO SIN

THE TESTS

THE INITIATION

THE FIRST POWER

SAN FRANCISCO LADIES AND DIVINATION

TWO DREAMS

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

HOW THE DREAMS WERE INTERPRETED

LEON HAMAR CALLS ON THE MARTINS

THE GREAT CHALLENGE

THE MODERN SORCERY CO. LTD. GIVE A GRATIS PERFORMANCE

SHIEL TO THE RESCUE

HOW HAMAR, CURTIS AND KELSON ENTERED THE ASTRAL PLANE

HAMAR MAKES ADVANCES

THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE

STAGE THREE

A SERIES OF MISADVENTURES

THE STAGE OF HAUNTINGS

THE SELLING OF SPELLS

THE PERSECUTION OF THE MARTINS

LOVE

THE SUBPŒNA

CURTIS IN A NEW RÔLE

IN HYDE PARK AT NIGHT

THE RIGHT GIRL TO MARRY

WHOM WILL HE MARRY?

THE END AND 'THE BEYOND'
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE KEEP OFF," KELSON SHRIEKED
Frontispiece

THE INITIATION

THEY GAZED FASCINATED

THE ROOM FILLED WITH LUMINOUS, STRIPED FIGURES


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