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The ReadDown

Vintage Shorts Writing Selections

Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month this year? Get inspired with writing advice from your favorite authors and thinkers in this curated selection of ebook shorts.

  1. 1
    The Writer Before the Page Book Cover Picture
    The Writer Before the Page Book Cover Picture
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    The Writer Before the Page

    by Toni Morrison

    In her elegant yet piercing style, one of our most celebrated and revered writers, Toni Morrison, interrogates the writer’s task and responsibility in two illuminating and essential pieces. Initially delivered as parts of lecture series and collected in The Source of Self-Regard, these pieces exhibit the depth with which Morrison probes the capacity and power of literature.
    The Writer Before the Page Book Cover Picture
    The Writer Before the Page Book Cover Picture
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  2. 2
    Common Errors Book Cover Picture
    Common Errors Book Cover Picture
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    Common Errors

    by John Gardner

    In this chapter from his classic instructive handbook, The Art of Fiction, John Gardner illustrates the principles and techniques of good writing.  Exemplified with detailed excerpts from classic works of literature, Gardner explores how to achieve vivid, sensuous prose and how to avoid clumsy writing.
    Common Errors Book Cover Picture
    Common Errors Book Cover Picture
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  3. 3
    The Writing Frame of Mind Book Cover Picture
    The Writing Frame of Mind Book Cover Picture
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    The Writing Frame of Mind

    by Anne Lamott

    To the enormous challenges of being a writer, Anne Lamott offers invaluable advice and encouragement, which more than a million scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities have been inspired by for a quarter century. In this selection from her essential volume, Bird by Bird, Lamott tenderly recommends and outlines the qualities that every writer should learn to hone: intuition, attention, morality, and more.
    The Writing Frame of Mind Book Cover Picture
    The Writing Frame of Mind Book Cover Picture
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  4. 4
    The Art of Noticing for Writers Book Cover Picture
    The Art of Noticing for Writers Book Cover Picture
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    The Art of Noticing for Writers

    by Rob Walker

    Becoming a first-class noticer is crucial to any creative process, but perhaps it is particularly crucial for a writer. In the era of white noise, when the ability to be present is often lost, Rob Walker’s provocations and exercises will enchant and delight, and help writers of all stripes develop an original point of view.
    The Art of Noticing for Writers Book Cover Picture
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  5. 5
    The Creative Self Book Cover Picture
    The Creative Self Book Cover Picture
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    The Creative Self

    by Oliver Sacks

    Susan Sontag read voraciously. Alexander Pope wrote “Imitations of English Poets.” Henri Poincaré sought distraction from the mathematical problems that occupied his mind. In these and other fascinating case studies, bestselling author Oliver Sacks seeks answers to the question of how creativity can be kindled and encouraged in a person’s life.
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  6. 6
    The Center Book Cover Picture
    The Center Book Cover Picture
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    The Center

    by Orhan Pamuk

    Taking us through his journey as a novelist and as a reader, Nobel Prize-winner Orhan Pamuk explores, with extraordinary insight, what constitutes what he calls “the center” of a work of fiction. Looking to works by writers as varied as Herman Melville and Virginia Woolf among many others, Pamuk examines the deeper reaches that emerge when we, as writers and readers, suspend our judgments and search for meaning inside the pages of a book, encouraging us all to do the same.
    The Center Book Cover Picture
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