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Reading Like a Writer

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Reading Like a Writer
Cover of the first edition
AuthorFrancine Prose
Cover artistRoberto de Viqde Cumptich
LanguageEnglish
GenreNonfiction
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
2006
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages275 pp
ISBN0-06-077704-4
OCLC62762325
808/.02 22
LC ClassPE1408 .P774 2006

Reading Like a Writer is a writing guide by American writer Francine Prose, published in 2006.

Background

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Subtitled "A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them," — Prose shares how she developed her writing craft through writing and reading. She uses examples from literature to demonstrate how fictional elements, such as character and dialogue, can be mastered.

Summary

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  • Chapter One: Close Reading

Prose discusses the question of whether writing can be taught. She answers the question by suggesting that although writing workshops can be helpful, the best way to learn to write is to read. Closely reading books, Prose studied word choice and sentence construction. Close reading helped her solve difficult obstacles in her own writing.

  • Chapter Two: Words

Prose encourages the reader to slow down and read every word. She reminds the reader that words are the "raw material out of which literature is crafted." Challenging the reader to stop at every word, she suggests the following question be asked: "What is the writer trying to convey with this word?"

  • Chapter Three: Sentences

Prose discusses how "the well made sentence transcends time and genre." She believes the writer who is concerned about what constitutes a well-constructed sentence is on the right path. Prose mentions the importance of mastering grammar and how it can improve the quality of a writer's sentence. In this chapter, she also discusses the use of long sentences, short sentences, and rhythm in prose.

  • Chapter Four: Paragraphs

Prose discusses that, just as with sentence construction, the writer who is concerned about paragraph construction is stepping in the right direction. She states that the writer who reads widely will discover there are no general rules for building a well-constructed paragraph, but "only individual examples to help point [the writer] in a direction in which [the writer] might want to go."

  • Chapter Five: Narration

When determining point of view, Prose says audience is an important factor. She gives examples from literature of point-of-view variations. First person and third person are discussed, and even an example of writing fiction in second person is given.

  • Chapter Six: Character

Using examples from the works of Heinrich von Kleist and Jane Austen, Prose discusses how writers can develop characterization. She mentions that Kleist, in his "The Marquise of O—" ignores physical description of the characters, but instead "tells us just as much as we need to know about his characters, then releases them into the narrative that doesn't stop spinning until the last sentence . . ." Excerpts from other pieces of literature are used to show how action, dialogue and even physical description can help develop characterization.

  • Chapter Seven: Dialogue

Prose begins this chapter by dispelling the advice that writers should improve and clean up dialogue so it sounds less caustic than actual speech. She believes this idea on dialogue can be taken too far and that dialogue can be used to reveal not only the words on the surface, but the many motivations and emotions of the characters underneath the words.

  • Chapter Eight: Details

Using examples from literature, Prose explains how one or two important details can leave a more memorable impression on the reader than a barrage of description.

  • Chapter Nine: Gestures

Prose argues that gestures performed by fictional characters should not be "physical clichés" but illuminations that move the narrative.

  • Chapter Ten: Learning from Chekhov

Prose gives examples of what she has learned from reading Anton Chekhov. As a creative writing teacher, she would disseminate advice to her students after reading their stories. As a fan of Chekhov, she would read his short stories and find examples of how he would successfully break the "rules" of fiction writing, contradicting something she recently told her students to do in their writing projects. Prose also discusses how Chekhov teaches the writer to write without judgment; she tells how Chekhov practiced not being the "judge of one's characters and their conversations but rather the unbiased observer."

  • Chapter Eleven: Reading for Courage

Prose discusses the fears writers may have: revealing too much of themselves in their writing; resisting the pressures that writers must write a certain way; determining whether or not the act of writing is worth it when one considers the state of the world. She concludes her book by stating that the writer may fear creating "weeds" instead of "roses." Continuing the metaphor, she says reading is a way for the writer to see how other gardeners grow their roses.

  • Books to Be Read Immediately

Prose includes a list of book recommendations, many of which have selections from those that are used as examples for the concepts she discusses.

Books to be Read

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Here are the books in mostly chronological order. The chapters in which they are discussed are in italics.

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