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 Leslie Quirk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leslie Quirk. Show all posts

Saturday, November 19, 2022

How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction by by Leslie Quirk (1906)

How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction by by Leslie Quirk (1906)

How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction 

 

by Leslie Quirk

(1906)

 
How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction (1906) by Leslie Quirk. The material in the following pages is a series of suggestive talks rather than a scholarly discourse. I leave to others the discussion of polish, atmosphere, and artistic handling; I take for my theme the writing of a short story that will sell.  
 
There are many writers throughout the country, with good educations, with clear brains, and with the ambition to see their work in print, who are failing merely because they are not familiar with the technique of the short story. It is to these that I would appeal.

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Wednesday, November 25, 2015

How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction (1906)

How to Write a Short Story: An Exposition of the Technique of Short Fiction (1906) by Leslie Quirk- The material in the following pages is a series of suggestive talks rather than a scholarly discourse. I leave to others the discussion of polish, atmosphere, and artistic handling; I take for my theme the writing of a short story that will sell. 

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