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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Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Library of the Best American Literature by William W. Birdsall and Rufus M. Jones (PDF)

Library of the best American literature by William W. Birdsall and Rufus M. Jones

 

Library of the Best American Literature 

by William W. Birdsall and Rufus M. Jones


NATIONAL HUMORISTS, NOTED JOURNALISTS AND MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTORS, POPULAR WRITERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, GREAT ORATORS AND PUBLIC LECTURERS


ELEGANTLY ILLUSTRATED WITH HALF TONE PORTRAITS


And Photographs of Authors’ Homes, together with Many Other Illustrations in the Text


MONARCH BOOK COMPANY,


Successors to and formerly L. P. Miller & Co.,


CHICAGO, ILL. PHILADELPHIA, PA.


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by

W. E. SCULL,

in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

All rights reserved.


ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO INFRINGE UPON OUR COPYRIGHT BY USING EITHER THE MATTER OR THE PICTURES IN THIS VOLUME.


LITERATURE OF AMERICA.


PART
1.
Great Poets of America
2.
Our Most Noted Novelists
3.
Famous Women Novelists
4.
Representative Women Poets of America
5.
Well-known Essayists, Critics and Sketch Writers
6.
Great American Historians and Biographers
7.
Our National Humorists
8.
Popular Writers for Young People
9.
Noted Journalists and Magazine Contributors
10.
Great Orators and Popular Lecturers
11.
Famous Women Orators and Reformers
12.
Miscellaneous Masterpieces and Choice Gems

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