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

Header

Liquid Story Binder XE by Black Obelisk Software

Disable Copy Paste

Amazon Quick Linker

Showing posts with label Children Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children Books. Show all posts

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

 

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

Winnie-the-Pooh 

by A. A. Milne

Winnie-the-Pooh is a children’s book by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Published in 1926, it is a collection of short stories about an anthropomorphic teddy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh, and his friends Christopher Robin, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Roo. Wikipedia
 

Originally published: October 14, 1926
Illustrator: E. H. Shepard
Genre: Children's literature
Characters: Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Roo, Christopher Robin, Kanga, Owl, More

About the Author 


A. A. Milne
Alan Alexander Milne (/mɪln/; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. Milne served in both World Wars, joining the British Army in World War I, and as a captain of the British Home Guard in World War II. Wikipedia 

  Buy A. A. Milne Books at Amazon

The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

Friday, March 4, 2022

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum

 

 

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by John R. Neill. It was published on June 18, 1908 and reunites Dorothy Gale with the humbug Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This is one of only two of the original fourteen Oz books Wikipedia

Dorothy and her friends are joined by the Wizard of Oz and nine piglets, and then make their way through a series of dangerous lands trying to find their way back to the surface of the earth, and home. They wander through the Valley of Voe, which is inhabited by invisible, deadly bears.



The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum

 



A record of her adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion, and the Hungry Tiger; besides other good people too numerous to mention faithfully recorded herein.

This is the third book from the tales about the Fairy Land of Oz

Followed by: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz - Book 4


The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

 

The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published in July 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Wikipedia
 

Originally published: July 5, 1904
Author: L. Frank Baum
Illustrator: John R. Neill
Characters: Princess Ozma, Jack Pumpkinhead, Scarecrow, The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy E. Gale, More
Followed by: Ozma of Oz, Ozma of Oz: The Fairy World of Oz - Book 3



The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

 


Journey to the spectacular land of Oz with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz! This classic tale from L. Frank Baum has enchanted readers for over a century. Now, new readers will learn the power of the phrase “There is no place like home.”

Follow the adventures of young Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, as their Kansas house is swept away by a cyclone and they find themselves in a strange land called Oz.

Here she meets the Munchkins and joins the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion on an unforgettable journey to the Emerald City, where lives the all-powerful Wizard of Oz.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Wikipedia

Originally published: May 17, 1900
Playwright: L. Frank Baum
Illustrator: W. W. Denslow
Genre: Fantasy, children's novel
Series: The Oz books
Characters: The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy E. Gale, The Tin Man, The Wicked Witch of The West

Followed by: The Marvelous Land of Oz - Book 2

The PDF might take a minute to load. Or, click to download PDF.

If your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin

 



FIFTY FAMOUS STORIES

RETOLD

 

 

BY

JAMES BALDWIN

 

Synopsis




Fifty Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin. Includes fifty legendary tales depicting certain romantic episodes in the lives of well-known heroes and famous men, or in the history of a people. Children naturally take a deep interest in such stories.

The reading of them will not only give pleasure but will lay the foundation for broader literary studies, as nearly all are the subjects of frequent allusions in poetry and prose.

James Baldwin was one of the most prolific authors of school books for children at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It is estimated that 26 million copies of his works sold worldwide, including China and Indonesia. A selfeducated man, he became a school superintendent before working as an editor for Harper's and later for the American Book Company.