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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Thursday, June 6, 2024

O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1923 by Society of Arts and Sciences et al. (PDF)

 



O. HENRY MEMORIAL
AWARD
PRIZE STORIES
of 1923

O. HENRY MEMORIAL AWARD
PRIZE STORIES
of 1923

CHOSEN BY THE SOCIETY OF
ARTS AND SCIENCES

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
BLANCHE COLTON WILLIAMS

Author of “A Handbook on Story Writing,”
“Our Short Story Writers,” Etc.
Associate Professor of English, Hunter College of the City of New York
Instructor in Story Writing, Columbia University (Extension Teaching and
Summer Session)



GARDEN CITY NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1924



COPYRIGHT, 1923, 1924, BY
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright, 1922, 1923, by The McCall Company and The Pictorial Review Company.

Copyright, 1923, by Harper & Brothers, The Curtis Publishing Company in the United States and Great Britain, McClure Publishing Company, New York; The Century Co., Pearson’s Magazine (The New Pearson’s), The Frank A. Munsey Company, P. F. Collier and Son Company in the United States and Great Britain, International Magazine Company, Consolidated Magazines Corporation (The Red Book Magazine.)

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES
AT
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

CONTENTS

 PAGE
Prelude. By Edgar Valentine Smith1
A Friend of Napoleon. By Richard Connell19
Towers of Fame. By Elizabeth Irons Folsom38
Phantom Adventure. By Floyd Dell46
The Distant Street. By Francis Edwards Faragoh59
The Wager. By Isa Urquhart Glenn75
Célestine. By James Hopper92
Witch Mary. By Genevieve Larsson104
The Bamboo Trap. By Robert S. Lemmon120
The Hat of Eight Reflections. By James Mahoney134
Home-Brew. By Grace Sartwell Mason159
Derrick’s Return. By Gouverneur Morris182
Shadowed. By Mary Synon193
The One Hundred Dollar Bill. By Booth Tarkington211
Nice Neighbours. By Mary S. Watts229
Not Wanted. By Jesse Lynch Williams247

{vii}

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