Reading Like a Writer
Encyclopedia
Reading Like a Writer is writing guide by Francine Prose
, published in 2006.
In this book — 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.
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.
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 suggest the following question be asked: "What is the writer trying to convey with this word?"
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
.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
Prose argues that gestures performed by fictional characters should not be "physical clichés" but illuminations that move the narrative.
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 judgement; she tells how Chekhov practiced not being the "judge of one's characters and their conversations but rather the unbiased observer."
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.
Prose includes a list of book recommendations, many of which have selections from those that are used as examples for the concepts she discusses.
Sophocles
Oedipus Rex
Anonymous
The Song of Roland
Miguel de Cervantes
Don Quixote
William Shakespeare
King Lear
John Milton
Paradise Lost
Samuel Richardson
Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded
Johnson
Samuel
The Life of Savage
Sentences
Gibbon
Edward
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Austen
Jane
Sense and Sensibility
Paragraphs
Character
Austen
Jane
Pride and Prejudice
Paragraphs
Character
Von Kleist
Heinrich
The Marquise of O---- and Other Stories
Sentences
Character
Stendhal
(empty)
The Red and the Black
Paragraphs
Balzac
Honore de
Cousin Bette
Gogol
Nikolai
Dead Souls: A Novel
Courage
Dickens
Charles
Dombey and Son
Narration
Dickens
Charles
Bleak House
Bronte
Emily
Wuthering Heights
Turgenev
Ivan Sergeevich
First Love
Eliot
George
Middlemarch
Character
Melville
Herman
Bartleby the Scriverner
Paragraphs
Melville
Herman
Moby Dick
Melville
Herman
Benito Cereno
Flaubert
Gustave
Madame Bovary
Courage
Flaubert
Gustave
A Sentimental Education
Character
Dostoyevsky
Fyodor
Crime and Punishment
Narration
Courage
Tolstoy
Leo
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
Tolstoy
Leo
The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
Courage
Tolstoy
Leo
Anna Karenina
Tolstoy
Leo
War and Peace
Tolstoy
Leo
Resurrection
Alcott
Lousia May
Little Women
Twain
Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Narration
Baldwin
James
Vintage Baldwin
Paragraphs
James
Henry
The Portrait of a Lady
Gesture
James
Henry
The Turn of the Screw
Narration
Chekhov
Anton
Tales of Anton Chekhov: Volumes 1-13
Detail
Gesture
Chekhov
Courage
Chekhov
Anton
A Life in Letters
Detail
Strunck
William
The Elements of Style, Illustrated
Sentences
Proust
Marcel
Swann's Way
Gesture
Stein
Gertrude
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
Sentences
Woolf
Virginia
On Being Ill
Sentences
Joyce
James
Dubliners
Sentences
Gesture
Kafka
Franz
Metamorphosis and Other Stories
Detail
Kafka
Franz
The Judgement
Gesture
Kafka
Franz
In the Penal Colony
Stout
Rex
Plot it Yourself
Paragraphs
Mansfield
Katherine
Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield
Words
Gesture
Chandler
Raymond
The Big Sleep
Sentences
Gesture
Akutagawa
Ryunosuke
Rashomon and Other Stories
Paustovsky
Konstantin
Years of Hope: The Story of a Life
Paragraphs
West
Rebecca
The Birds Fall Down
Sentences
West
Rebecca
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia
Sentences
Babel
Isaac
The Collected Stories
Paragraphs
Courage
Hartley
L.P.
The Go-Between
Gesture
Fitzgerald
F. Scott
The Great Gatsby
Words
Fitzgerald
F. Scott
Tender is the Night
Words
Hemingway
Ernest
The Sun Also Rises
Sentences
Hemingway
Ernest
A Moveable Feast
Sentences
Bowen
Elizabeth
The House in Paris
Detail
Nabokov
Vladimir
Lectures on Russian Literature
Chekhov
Nabokov
Vladimir
Lolita
Narration
Dialogue
Mandelstam
Nadezdha
Hope Against Hope: A Memoir
Words
Stead
Christina
The Man Who Loved Children
Dialogue
Green
Henry
Doting
Dialogue
Green
Henry
Loving
Dialogue
Beckett
Samuel
The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989
Gesture
Courage
Steegmuller
Francis
Flaubert and Madame Bovary: A Double Portrait
Bowles
Paul
Paul Bowles: Collected Stories and Later Writings
Cheever
John
The Stories of John Cheever
Sentences
Jarrell
Randall
Pictures from an Institution
Bowles
Jane
Two Serious Ladies
Narration
Dialogue
Rulfo
Juan
Pedro Paramo
Courage
Taylor
Peter
A Summons to Memphis
Narration
Salinger
J.D.
Franny and Zooey
Detail
Gaddis
William
The Recognitions
Gallant
Mavis
Paris Stories
Narration
Calviino
Italo
Cosmicomics
Fox
Paula
Desperate Characters
Paragraphs
Herbert
Zbigniew
Selected Poems
Courage
O'Connor
Flannery
Wise Blood
Narration
Gesture
O'Connor
Flannery
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Words
O'Connor
Flannery
Collected Stories
Detail
Yates
Richard
Revolutionary Road
Words
Marquez
Gabrial Garcia
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Paragraphs
Marquez
Gabrial Garcia
The Autumn of the Patriarch
Paragraphs
Trevor
William
The Collected Stories
Trevor
William
Fools of Fortune
Trevor
William
The Children of Dynmouth
Elkin
Stanley
Searches and Seizures
Sentences
Brodkey
Harold
Stories in an Almost Classical Mode
Narration
Dialogue
Barthelme
Donald
Sixty Stories
Munro
Alice
Selected Stories
Words
LeCarre
John
A Perfect Spy
Dialogue
Roth
Philip
American Pastoral
Sentences
Roth
Philip
Philip Roth: Novels and Stories 1959-1962
Gesture
Johnson
Diane
Persian Nights
Narration
Johnson
Diane
Le Divorce
Narration
Pynchon
Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Carver
Raymond
Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories
Sentences
Paragraphs
Carver
Raymond
Cathedral
Dybek
Stuart
I Sailed with Magellan
Narration
Williams
Joy
Escapes
Dialogue
Spencer
Scott
A Ship Made of Paper
O'Brien
Tim
The Things They Carried
Sentences
Baxter
Charles
Believers: A Novella and Stories
Gesture
Gates
David
The Wonders of the Invisible World: Stories
Dialogue
Johnson
Denis
Jesus' Son
Johnson
Denis
Angels
Paragraphs
Tolstaya
Tatyana
Sleepwalker in a Fog
Words
Wagner
Bruce
I'm Losing You
Character
McInerney
Jay
Bright Lights, Big City
Narration
Franzen
Jonathan
The Corrections
Paragraphs
Eisenberg
Deborah
The Stories (So Far) of Deborah Eisenberg
Narration
Price
Richard
Freedomland
Narration
St. Aubyn
Edward
Some Hope: A Trilogy
Gesture
St. Aubyn
Edward
Mother's Milk
Dialogue
Wood
James
Broken Estates: Essays on Literature and Belief
Diaz
Junot
Drown
Gesture
Shteyngart
Gary
The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Paragraphs
Packer
ZZ
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
Gesture
Francine Prose
Francine Prose is an American writer. Since March 2007 she has been the president of PEN American Center. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991....
, published in 2006.
In this book — 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
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and dialogue
Dialogue (fiction)
Dialogue in fiction is a verbal exchange between two or more characters. If there is only one character, who is talking to himself in his mind, it is known as interior monologue.-Identifiers:...
, can be mastered.
Summary
- 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 suggest 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
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
and how it can improve the quality of a writer's sentence
Sentence (linguistics)
In the field of linguistics, a sentence is an expression in natural language, and often defined to indicate a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that generally bear minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it...
. In this chapter, she also discusses the use of long sentences, short sentences, and rhythm in prose
Prose
Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
.
- 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
Fiction writing
Fiction writing is any kind of writing that is not factual. Fictional writing most often takes the form of a story meant to convey an author's point of view or simply to entertain...
in second person is given.
- Chapter Six: Character
Using examples from the works of Heinrich von Kleist
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
and Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, 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
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. 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 judgement; 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
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
, 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
Here are the books in mostly chronological order. The chapters in which they are discussed are in italics.Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
Oedipus Rex
Anonymous
The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland is the oldest surviving major work of French literature. It exists in various manuscript versions which testify to its enormous and enduring popularity in the 12th to 14th centuries...
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel, is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written...
Don Quixote
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
John Milton
Paradise Lost
Samuel Richardson
Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded
Johnson
Samuel
The Life of Savage
Sentences
Gibbon
Edward
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Austen
Jane
Sense and Sensibility
Paragraphs
Character
Austen
Jane
Pride and Prejudice
Paragraphs
Character
Von Kleist
Heinrich
The Marquise of O---- and Other Stories
Sentences
Character
Stendhal
(empty)
The Red and the Black
Paragraphs
Balzac
Honore de
Cousin Bette
Gogol
Nikolai
Dead Souls: A Novel
Courage
Dickens
Charles
Dombey and Son
Narration
Dickens
Charles
Bleak House
Bronte
Emily
Wuthering Heights
Turgenev
Ivan Sergeevich
First Love
Eliot
George
Middlemarch
Character
Melville
Herman
Bartleby the Scriverner
Paragraphs
Melville
Herman
Moby Dick
Melville
Herman
Benito Cereno
Flaubert
Gustave
Madame Bovary
Courage
Flaubert
Gustave
A Sentimental Education
Character
Dostoyevsky
Fyodor
Crime and Punishment
Narration
Courage
Tolstoy
Leo
The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories
Tolstoy
Leo
The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories
Courage
Tolstoy
Leo
Anna Karenina
Tolstoy
Leo
War and Peace
Tolstoy
Leo
Resurrection
Alcott
Lousia May
Little Women
Twain
Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Narration
Baldwin
James
Vintage Baldwin
Paragraphs
James
Henry
The Portrait of a Lady
Gesture
James
Henry
The Turn of the Screw
Narration
Chekhov
Anton
Tales of Anton Chekhov: Volumes 1-13
Detail
Gesture
Chekhov
Courage
Chekhov
Anton
A Life in Letters
Detail
Strunck
William
The Elements of Style, Illustrated
Sentences
Proust
Marcel
Swann's Way
Gesture
Stein
Gertrude
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
Sentences
Woolf
Virginia
On Being Ill
Sentences
Joyce
James
Dubliners
Sentences
Gesture
Kafka
Franz
Metamorphosis and Other Stories
Detail
Kafka
Franz
The Judgement
Gesture
Kafka
Franz
In the Penal Colony
Stout
Rex
Plot it Yourself
Paragraphs
Mansfield
Katherine
Collected Stories of Katherine Mansfield
Words
Gesture
Chandler
Raymond
The Big Sleep
Sentences
Gesture
Akutagawa
Ryunosuke
Rashomon and Other Stories
Paustovsky
Konstantin
Years of Hope: The Story of a Life
Paragraphs
West
Rebecca
The Birds Fall Down
Sentences
West
Rebecca
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia
Sentences
Babel
Isaac
The Collected Stories
Paragraphs
Courage
Hartley
L.P.
The Go-Between
Gesture
Fitzgerald
F. Scott
The Great Gatsby
Words
Fitzgerald
F. Scott
Tender is the Night
Words
Hemingway
Ernest
The Sun Also Rises
Sentences
Hemingway
Ernest
A Moveable Feast
Sentences
Bowen
Elizabeth
The House in Paris
Detail
Nabokov
Vladimir
Lectures on Russian Literature
Chekhov
Nabokov
Vladimir
Lolita
Narration
Dialogue
Mandelstam
Nadezdha
Hope Against Hope: A Memoir
Words
Stead
Christina
The Man Who Loved Children
Dialogue
Green
Henry
Doting
Dialogue
Green
Henry
Loving
Dialogue
Beckett
Samuel
The Complete Short Prose, 1929-1989
Gesture
Courage
Steegmuller
Francis
Flaubert and Madame Bovary: A Double Portrait
Bowles
Paul
Paul Bowles: Collected Stories and Later Writings
Cheever
John
The Stories of John Cheever
Sentences
Jarrell
Randall
Pictures from an Institution
Bowles
Jane
Two Serious Ladies
Narration
Dialogue
Rulfo
Juan
Pedro Paramo
Courage
Taylor
Peter
A Summons to Memphis
Narration
Salinger
J.D.
Franny and Zooey
Detail
Gaddis
William
The Recognitions
Gallant
Mavis
Paris Stories
Narration
Calviino
Italo
Cosmicomics
Fox
Paula
Desperate Characters
Paragraphs
Herbert
Zbigniew
Selected Poems
Courage
O'Connor
Flannery
Wise Blood
Narration
Gesture
O'Connor
Flannery
A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories
Words
O'Connor
Flannery
Collected Stories
Detail
Yates
Richard
Revolutionary Road
Words
Marquez
Gabrial Garcia
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Paragraphs
Marquez
Gabrial Garcia
The Autumn of the Patriarch
Paragraphs
Trevor
William
The Collected Stories
Trevor
William
Fools of Fortune
Trevor
William
The Children of Dynmouth
Elkin
Stanley
Searches and Seizures
Sentences
Brodkey
Harold
Stories in an Almost Classical Mode
Narration
Dialogue
Barthelme
Donald
Sixty Stories
Sixty Stories (book)
Sixty Stories collects sixty of Donald Barthelme's short stories, several of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. The book was first published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1981.-Stories:...
Munro
Alice
Selected Stories
Words
LeCarre
John
A Perfect Spy
Dialogue
Roth
Philip
American Pastoral
Sentences
Roth
Philip
Philip Roth: Novels and Stories 1959-1962
Gesture
Johnson
Diane
Persian Nights
Narration
Johnson
Diane
Le Divorce
Narration
Pynchon
Thomas
Gravity's Rainbow
Carver
Raymond
Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories
Sentences
Paragraphs
Carver
Raymond
Cathedral
Dybek
Stuart
I Sailed with Magellan
Narration
Williams
Joy
Escapes
Dialogue
Spencer
Scott
A Ship Made of Paper
O'Brien
Tim
The Things They Carried
Sentences
Baxter
Charles
Believers: A Novella and Stories
Gesture
Gates
David
The Wonders of the Invisible World: Stories
Dialogue
Johnson
Denis
Jesus' Son
Johnson
Denis
Angels
Paragraphs
Tolstaya
Tatyana
Sleepwalker in a Fog
Words
Wagner
Bruce
I'm Losing You
Character
McInerney
Jay
Bright Lights, Big City
Narration
Franzen
Jonathan
The Corrections
Paragraphs
Eisenberg
Deborah
The Stories (So Far) of Deborah Eisenberg
Narration
Price
Richard
Freedomland
Narration
St. Aubyn
Edward
Some Hope: A Trilogy
Gesture
St. Aubyn
Edward
Mother's Milk
Dialogue
Wood
James
Broken Estates: Essays on Literature and Belief
Diaz
Junot
Drown
Gesture
Shteyngart
Gary
The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Paragraphs
Packer
ZZ
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
Gesture
External links
- New York Times Review
- Review at About.com
- Quotes by Francine Prose at Wikiquote
- Report and photos from reading at Strand (Nov 2006)
- The Quarterly Conversation review