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, February 28, 2023

A Selection from the World's Greatest Short Stories, Illustrative of the History of Short Story Writing by Sherwin Cody, 1868-1959

A selection from the world's greatest short stories, illustrative of the history of short story writing by Cody, Sherwin, 1868-1959
 

A Selection from the World's Greatest Short Stories, Illustrative of the History of Short Story Writing

 

by Sherwin Cody, 1868-1959

A Selection from the World's Greatest Short Stories, Illustrative of the History of Short Story Writing by Sherwin Cody, 1868-1959

A Selection from the World's Greatest Short Stories, Illustrative of the History of Short Story Writing by Sherwin Cody, 1868-1959

Short stories remain the most interesting form of story telling over the centuries. Many of the greatest writers to have lived, started with short stories, before embarking on the journey of writing something longer.

This book is an attempt to handpick the greatest works in short story writing over the years, including some of the most recognizable names in the field of literature. Stories from all slices of life, which will make you laugh, cry, smile or sulk.

Including writers like Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce, Rabindranath Tagore, Saki, Anton Chekhov, Oscar Wilde, H.G. Wells, Jack Landon, Mark Twain, Dickens, D.H. Lawrence, Leo Tolstoy, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, O. Henry, Victor Hugo, Somerset among many others.

Happy reading.

 

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