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

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (Audio)

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Audio)

The Time Machine

 

by H. G. Wells

(Audio)


The Time Machine is a novel by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895, later made into two films of the same title. This novel is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. (Summary from wikipedia.org)


 

Also see:

👉H. G. Wells at Amazon

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Scream at Midnight Joseph Payne Brennan (Audio Book)

Scream at Midnight  Joseph Payne Brennan (Audio Book)

Scream at Midnight

Joseph Payne Brennan (1918 - 1990)

 

(eText)

 

Thrill to a collection of terrifying stories from famed pulp horror writer Joseph Payne Brennan, author of "Slime", the story that influenced the famous film The Blob! From evil cats to blood-sucking bats, Brennan brings us a suite of supernatural tales full of haunted occurrences, ghoulish witches and all other manner of things that go bump in the night. "In the Very Stones" even introduces us to his long-running psychic detective Lucius Leffing. Get cozy for some good ol' fashioned pulp terror from a master of weird tales! (Summary by Ben Tucker)

Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction

Language: English


Monday, May 8, 2023

The Dead by James Joyce (1914) (Audio Book)

The Dead by James Joyce (1914) (Audio Book)

 

The Dead

 

by James Joyce

 

 (1914)


 

A group of Dubliners gather together for a Christmas celebration in James Joyce's transcendent tale of the mundanity and magic in life and death. "The Dead" is from Joyce's collection of short stories entitled Dubliners. (summary by iremonger)

Genre(s): Short Stories

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Part 1 iremonger
00:17:58
Play 02 Part 2 iremonger
00:36:48
Play 03 Part 3 iremonger
00:35:32

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand and More

 The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand and More

The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen: Passing, Quicksand and More



This volume brings together the complete fiction of the author of Passing and Quicksand, one of the most gifted writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout her short but brilliant literary career, Nella Larsen wrote piercing dramas about the black middle class that featured sensitive, spirited heroines struggling to find a place where they belonged. Passing, Larsen’s best-known work, is a disturbing story about the unraveling lives of two childhood friends, one of whom turns her back on her past and marries a white bigot. Just as disquieting is the portrait in Quicksand of Helga Crane, half black and half white, who is unable to escape her loneliness no matter where and with whom she lives. Race and marriage offer few securities here or in the other stories in this compulsively readable collection, rich in psychological complexity and imbued with a sense of place that brings Harlem vibrantly to life.

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About the Author 

Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen
Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen (born Nellie Walker; April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929), and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, she earned recognition by her contemporaries.  Wikipedia

Nella Larsen at Amazon

Monday, March 27, 2023

Quicksand by Nella Larsen Read by Elizabeth Klett (Audio Book)

Quicksand by Nella Larsen Read by Elizabeth Klett (Audio Book)
 

Quicksand

 

by Nella Larsen

 

Read by Elizabeth Klett

 

(Audio Book)

 

Quicksand is a 1928 novel by Nella Larsen, a writer of the Harlem Renaissance. It focuses on Helga Crane, a mixed-race woman who is a schoolteacher in the American south. As the novel opens, she suddenly decides to give up her teaching position and go north, back to her roots in Chicago. Helga's restless search for identity is semi-autobiographical, inspired by Larsen's own struggles to reconcile her mixed heritage with the racism of 1920s America. Although this novel was published after 1923, the copyright was never renewed and is therefore in the public domain. (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett) (5 hr 3 min)



 

About the Author 

Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen
Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen (born Nellie Walker; April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929), and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, she earned recognition by her contemporaries.  Wikipedia

Nella Larsen at Amazon

Saturday, March 25, 2023

Passing by Nella Larsen (Audio Book)

Passing by Nella Larsen

 

Passing

 

by Nella Larsen

 

Read by Elizabeth Klett

 

(Audio Book)

 

(PDF)

 

Nella Larsen, a novelist of the Harlem Renaissance, wrote two brilliant novels that interrogated issues of gender and race. In Passing, her second novel published in 1929, she examines the troubled friendship between two mixed-race women who can pass as white. One, Irene Redfield, marries a black man and lives in Harlem, while the other, Clare Kendry, marries a bigoted white man. Clare re-enters Irene's life after an absence of many years, and stirs up painful questions about identity. (Introduction by Elizabeth Klett) (3 hr 29 min)


 

About the Author 

Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen
Nellallitea "Nella" Larsen (born Nellie Walker; April 13, 1891 – March 30, 1964) was an American novelist. Working as a nurse and a librarian, she published two novels, Quicksand (1928) and Passing (1929), and a few short stories. Though her literary output was scant, she earned recognition by her contemporaries. Wikipedia

Nella Larsen at Amazon

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner (Audio Book)

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

A Rose for Emily

 

by William Faulkner

 Read by Debra Winger

 

(PDF)

 

A Rose for Emily is a short story by William Faulkner that exemplifies the Southern gothic genre. 



 About the Author

William Faulkner

William Faulkner was a Nobel Prize winning novelist of the American South who wrote challenging prose and created the fictional Yoknapatawpha County. He is best known for such novels as 'The Sound and the Fury' and 'As I Lay Dying.' American writer William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi, in 1897. Much of his early work was poetry, but he became famous for his novels set in the American South, frequently in his fabricated Yoknapatawpha County, with works that included The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom! His controversial 1931 novel Sanctuary was turned into two films, 1933's The Story of Temple Drake as well as a later 1961 project. Faulkner was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature and ultimately won two Pulitzers and two National Book Awards as well. He died on July 6, 1962.

William Faulkner Books at Amazon


Friday, February 3, 2023

Short Ghost and Horror Collection 066 (Audio Book)

Short Ghost and Horror Collection 066 (Audio Book)
 

Short Ghost and Horror Collection 066 

(Audio Book)

 

A collection of twenty stories featuring ghoulies, ghosties, four-legged beasts and things that go bump in the night. Expect shivers up your spine, the sound of a monstrous howl, and the occasional touch of wonder.

Note: The story in Section 8, "The Last Ascent", is attributed to E. R. Punshon in the Internet Speculative Fiction Database (isfdb.org).

Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction

Language: English
 
 
Section Chapter Author Source Reader Time Language
Play 01 The Cask of Amontillado Edgar Allan Poe Etext BrentPatrick
00:17:11 en
Play 02 Charles Ashmore's Trail Ambrose Bierce Etext Cliff Stone
00:05:18 en
Play 03 The Diary of a Madman Guy de Maupassant Etext Paula Messina
00:15:45 en
Play 04 The Edge Of The Shadow Richard Ernest Dupuy Etext Dale Grothmann
00:15:39 en
Play 05 Flowering Evil Margaret St. Clair Etext quartertone
00:18:59 en
Play 06 The Gallows I. W. D. Peters Etext Lee Vogler
00:11:43 en
Play 07 The Gray Rider Charles Hilan Craig Etext Dale Grothmann
00:18:41 en
Play 08 The Last Ascent Anonymous Etext Cliff Stone
00:14:51 en
Play 09 The Left Eye Henry S. Whitehead Etext Ben Tucker
00:43:13 en
Play 10 Lost Hearts M. R. James Etext James Dixon
00:22:20 en
Play 11 The Man Who Was Not Afraid Harle Oren Cummins Etext Andy Sames
00:12:29 en
Play 12 A Moonlight Fable H. G. Wells Etext Cliff Stone
00:11:13 en
Play 13 The Most Horrible Story John W. Jakes Etext Cliff Stone
00:10:01 en
Play 14 Pickman's Model H. P. Lovecraft Etext PlagueMonk
00:32:21 en
Play 15 The Scarlet Night William Sanford Etext Lee Vogler
00:11:46 en
Play 16 The Stroller Margaret St. Clair Etext quartertone
00:18:20 en
Play 17 The Terrible Old Man H. P. Lovecraft Etext Cliff Stone
00:08:13 en
Play 18 The Thing at Nolan Ambrose Bierce Etext Cliff Stone
00:10:25 en
Play 19 To Be Accounted For Achmed Abdullah Etext Andy Sames
00:16:39 en
Play 20 The Vengeful Tree Eleanor F. Lewis Etext Todd DeSilva
00:10:45 en 

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

LibriVox, Writers & Readers Library Short Story Collections (Audio Books)

LibriVox, Writers & Readers Library  Short Story Collections (Audio Books)

 LibriVox

 Writers & Readers Library 

Short Story Collections


Free Public Domain Audiobooks

LibriVox audiobooks are free for anyone to listen to, on their computers, iPods or other mobile device, or to burn onto a CD. 


 

Read by Volunteers from Around the World

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Short Story Collection Vol. 104 by Various (Audio Book)

Short Story Collection Vol. 104 by Various (Audio Book)

 Short Story Collection Vol. 104 

by Various

 

Old favorites, such as Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and O. Henry make appearances in this 104th edition of the Librivox Short Story Collection. As always, stories were selected and read by dedicated volunteers. We invite you to sit back and enjoy!

Genre(s): Anthologies

Language: English

Group: Short Story Collections

 

 

SECTIONCHAPTERAUTHORSOURCEREADERTIMELANGUAGE
Play01The Basket, An Odd Little TaleHerbert J. ManghamEtextLee Vogler
00:11:59
Play02Che ti dice la patriaErnest HemingwayEtextKevinS
00:19:51
Play03Climate—DisorderedSam Merwin, Jr.EtextDale Grothmann
00:15:37en
Play04Cross Country SnowErnest HemingwayEtextKevinS
00:11:23
Play05Disappearing DalrympleHenry Hamilton Edmund CraigieEtextDale Grothmann
00:23:05
Play06The End of SomethingErnest HemingwayEtextKevinS
00:08:28en
Play07Halt! Who Goes There?Robert E. HowardEtextBen Tucker
00:10:36
Play08HungerJames StephensEtextMichele Fry
00:26:53
Play09HungerJohn D. SwainEtextDale Grothmann
00:10:38
Play10MuttsyZora Neale HurstonEtextJim Locke
00:34:26
Play11One Hour MoreAnna Katharine GreenEtextJohn R Moore
00:37:36
Play12A Price on his HeadRussel CrouseEtextDale Grothmann
00:04:15en
Play13Sea ChangeHenry S. WhiteheadEtextBen Tucker
00:44:47
Play14The Skylight RoomO. HenryEtextWinnifred Assmann
00:15:40
Play15The Social SystemViolet QuirkEtextTriciaG
00:14:50
Play16The Child's StoryCharles DickensEtextYoganandh T
00:10:33
Play17The JesterVirginia Woodward CloudEtextNidra
00:04:53
Play18The Tomb of NapoleonRobert G. IngersollEtextClaudia Caldi
00:03:04
Play19The Trysting PlaceGeorge SinbergEtextDale Grothmann
00:02:43en
Play20Uncle Richard's New Year DinnerLucy Maud MontgomeryEtextTom Merritt
00:10:18


Monday, September 19, 2022

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (Audio Book)

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (Audio Book)

 Gulliver's Travels

by Jonathan Swift 

(Audio Book)

 

 (PDF)

 

 Gulliver's Travels, or Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships is a 1726 prose satire by the Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift, satirising both human nature and the "travellers' tales" literary subgenre. It is Swift's best known full-length work, and a classic of English literature. Swift claimed that he wrote Gulliver's Travels "to vex the world rather than divert it". Wikipedia

 Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon

 Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon

 About the Author

Jonathan Swift
Born in 1667, Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer and cleric, best known for his works Gulliver s Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Journal to Stella, amongst many others. Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Swift received his Doctor of Divinity in February 1702, and eventually became Dean of St. Patrick s Cathedral in Dublin. Publishing under the names of Lemeul Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, and M. B. Drapier, Swift was a prolific writer who, in addition to his prose works, composed poetry, essays, and political pamphlets for both the Whigs and the Tories, and is considered to be one of the foremost English-language satirists, mastering both the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. Swift died in 1745, leaving the bulk of his fortune to found St. Patrick s Hospital for Imbeciles, a hospital for the mentally ill, which continues to operate as a psychiatric hospital today.

Jonathan Swift(1667 1745), a poet, satirist, and clergyman, published many satirical works, among them A Modest Proposal. Robert DeMaria, Jr. is Henry Noble McCracken Professor of English at Vassar College. He has published widely on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century literature

Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon Jonathan Swift Books at Amazon