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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Sunday, November 5, 2023

Scream at Midnight Joseph Payne Brennan (Audio Book)

Scream at Midnight Joseph Payne Brennan (Audio Book)

Scream at Midnight

Joseph Payne Brennan (1918 - 1990)

 

(eText)

 

Thrill to a collection of terrifying stories from famed pulp horror writer Joseph Payne Brennan, author of "Slime", the story that influenced the famous film The Blob! From evil cats to blood-sucking bats, Brennan brings us a suite of supernatural tales full of haunted occurrences, ghoulish witches and all other manner of things that go bump in the night. "In the Very Stones" even introduces us to his long-running psychic detective Lucius Leffing. Get cozy for some good ol' fashioned pulp terror from a master of weird tales! (Summary by Ben Tucker)

Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction

Language: English


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