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, March 17, 2022

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 11 by Mabie et al.

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 11 by Mabie et al.

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODERN

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE

LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE

GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

[Pg ii]

Connoisseur Edition

VOL. XI.

1896

[Pg iii]


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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 10 (Audio Book)

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 10

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODER


CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Connoisseur Edition
Vol. IX.

NEW YORK
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

Connoisseur Edition

LIMITED TO FIVE HUNDRED COPIES IN HALF RUSSIA

 

Recording of Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 10 by Various.

 
Read in English by LibriVox volunteers.

The Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, is a work of enormous proportions. Setting out with the simple goal of offering "American households a mass of good reading", the editors drew from literature of all times and all kinds what they considered the best pieces of human writing, and compiled an ambitious collection of 45 volumes (with a 46th being an index-guide). Besides the selection and translation of a huge number of poems, letters, short stories and sections of books, the collection offers, before each chapter, a short essay about the author or subject in question. In many cases, chapters contemplate not one author, but certain groups of works, organized by nationality, subject or period; there is, thus, a chapter on Accadian-Babylonian literature, one on the Holy Grail, and one on Chansons, for example. The result is a collection that holds the interest, for the variety of subjects and forms, but also as a means of first contact with such famous and important authors that many people have heard of, but never read, such as Abelard, Dante or Lord Byron. According to the editor Charles Dudley Warner, this collection "is not a library of reference only, but a library to be read." This tenth volume contains chapters from "Colman" to "Dalin". (Summary by Leni) 
 
 Total running time 17:40:05

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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 09 by Mabie et al.

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 09 by Mabie et al.

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODERN


CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Connoisseur Edition
Vol. IX.

NEW YORK
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

Connoisseur Edition

 

 

LIMITED TO FIVE HUNDRED COPIES IN HALF RUSSIA


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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 08 by Mabie et al.

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 08 by Mabie et al.

 

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODERN


CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Connoisseur Edition
Vol. VIII.

NEW YORK
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY

Connoisseur Edition

LIMITED TO FIVE HUNDRED COPIES IN HALF RUSSIA
 



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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 07 by Mabie et al.

 

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 07 by Mabie et al.

LIBRARY OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
ANCIENT AND MODERN

CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER
EDITOR

HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Connoisseur Edition

Vol. VII.



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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 06 by Mabie et al.

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 06 by Mabie et al.

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODERN



CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR



HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS



Connoisseur Edition

VOL. VI.

1896

 

 
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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05 by Mabie et al.

 

Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 05 by Mabie et al.

LIBRARY OF THE

WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE

ANCIENT AND MODERN



CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER

EDITOR



HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER

ASSOCIATE EDITORS



Connoisseur Edition

VOL. V.

1896


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