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

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Black No More by George S. Schuyler

 BLACK NO MORE


Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, A. D. 1933-1940
 

By George S. Schuyler


McGrath Publishing Company College Park, Maryland
 
Reprint McGrath Publishing Company 1969 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 75-76119
 
Manufactured in the United States of America by Arno Press, Inc., New York
 
Copyright, 1931, by The Macaulay Company
 
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL
CAUCASIANS IN THE GREAT REPUBLIC WHO CAN TRACE THEIR ANCESTRY BACK TEN GENERATIONS AND CONFIDENTLY ASSERT THAT THERE ARE NO BLACK LEAVES, TWIGS, LIMBS OR BRANCHES ON THEIR FAMILY TREES.
 


Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, A.D. 1933-1940 is a 1931 Harlem Renaissance satire on American race relations by George S. Schuyler. Wikipedia

  This celebrated Picaresque novel is a 1931 Harlem Renaissance era satire on American race relations. Schuyler targets both the KKK and NAACP in condemning the ways in which race functions as both an obsession and a commodity in early twentieth-century America. The central premise of the novel is that an African American scientist invents a process that can transform blacks into whites. Those who have internalized white racism, those who are tired of inferior opportunities socially and economically, and those who simply want to expand their sexual horizons, line up to be transformed. As the country "whitens", the economic importance of racial segregation in the South as a means of maintaining elite white economic and social status becomes increasingly apparent. The novel is known not only for its satiric bite and inventive plot machinations, but also for the caricatures of prominent figures of the American 1920s including W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, James Weldon Johnson, C. J. Walker and others.

Originally published: 1931
Pages: 250
Genre: Satire
Characters: Max Disher, Dr. Junius Crookman, Rev. Henry Givens, Bunny Brown, Helen Givens, More

George S Schuyler Books at Amazon

The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

 

About the Author 

George Samuel Schuyler
George Samuel Schuyler was an American writer, journalist, and social commentator known for his conservatism after he had initially supported socialism. Wikipedia

 Born: February 25, 1895, Providence, RI
Died: August 31, 1977, New York, NY
Education: Harvard University
Spouse(s): Josephine Lewis Cogdell ​ ​(m. 1928; died 1969)​

George S Schuyler Books at Amazon

No comments: