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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Showing posts with label Charles Francis Horne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Francis Horne. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Technique of the Novel. The Elements of the Art, Their Evolution by Charles Francis Horne (1908)

The Technique of the Novel. The Elements of the Art, Their Evolution and Present Use by Charles Francis Horne (1908). The aim of this book is to make clear the principles that underlie the most popular form of literature, the novel. With this end in view these pages trace historically and by the aid of constant illustration the development of the art of novel writing. Considering the present frequently lamented "tyranny of the novel," it is surprising that the technique of this influential form of art has not been more closely studied. Its principles are often loosely discussed, and histories of the novel or critiques on the work of individuals are abundant; but nowhere has the complete body of accepted law been gathered and formulated for common use.

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