Project Gutenberg's Short Story Writing, by Charles Raymond Barrett
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Title: Short Story Writing
A Practical Treatise on the Art of The Short Story
Author: Charles Raymond Barrett
Release Date: February 6, 2007 [EBook #20526]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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SHORT STORY WRITING
A Practical Treatise on the Art of the Short Story
By Charles Raymond Barrett, Ph. B.
[Illustration]
(_FOURTH THOUSAND_)
New York: The Baker and Taylor Co.
33-37 E. 17th Street, Union Square North
Copyrighted, 1898, by Charles Raymond Barrett
Copyrighted, 1900, by Charles Raymond Barrett
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
I
THE SHORT STORY
II
SHORT STORIES CLASSIFIED
III
THE PLOT
IV
TITLES GOOD AND BAD
V
THE USE OF FACTS
VI
THE CHARACTERS
VII
METHODS OF NARRATION
VIII
THE BEGINNING
IX
THE STORY PROPER
X
CLIMAX AND CONCLUSION
XI
THE STYLE
XII
THE LABOR OF AUTHORSHIP
XIII
THE QUEST OF A MARKET
APPENDIX
"THE AMBITIOUS GUEST"
PREFACE
This book is an attempt to put into definite form the principles
observed by the masters of the short story in the practice of their art.
It is the result of a careful study of their work, of some indifferent
attempts to imitate them, and of the critical examination of several
thousands of short stories written by amateurs. It is designed to be of
practical assistance to the novice in short story writing, from the
moment the tale is dimly conceived until it is completed and ready for
the editor's judgment.
The rules and principles here presented embody not what I conceive to be
right, but what the great masters of the short story have thought to be
right, and what they have proved to be at least successful. I speak only
as a delver into the secrets of other men; and if I se
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