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

Header

Liquid Story Binder XE by Black Obelisk Software

Disable Copy Paste

Amazon Quick Linker

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

LibriVox’s Short Story Collection Vol. 020 (Audio Book)

 

LibriVox’s Short Story Collection Vol. 020 (Audio Book)

LibriVox’s Short Story Collection Vol. 020 (Audio Book)


LibriVox’s Short Story Collection 020: a collection of 10 short works of fiction in the public domain read by a variety of Librivox members.

Genre(s): Anthologies

Language: English

Group: Short Story Collection

 

CONTENTS

  1. The Gingerbread Man by Sara Cone Bryant, read by Carolyn Frances - 00:07:11
  2. Innocents Abroad, Chapter 11 by Mark Twain, read by Julie Pandya - 00:11:17 
  3. The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde, read by Nicodemus - 00:11:29 
  4. The Strange Looking Man by Fanny Kemble Johnson, read by Lucy
    Burgoyne - 00:11:15 
  5. Useless Beauty by Guy De Maupassant, read by Michael Thomas Robinson  - 00:47:39 
  6. The Village Uncle by Nathaniel Hawthorne, read by Nicodemus - 00:26:16 
  7. The Whale and the Grasshopper by Seumas O’Brien, read by Lucy Burgoyne - 00:15:54 
  8. The Winning of Lucinda by L. M. Montgomery, read by Mindy H - 00:28:24
  9. The Wogglebug Book by L. Frank Baum, read by Mark F. Smith - 00:50:12
  10. Wonderwings by Edith Howes, read by Clarica - 00:06:36

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)