by Mark Twain
The one trait all writers have in common is that they read. The difference between the reading done by writers who write and the reading done by readers who read is in the quality of the writing that is read. That truth is self evident.
What is not so self evident is WHY writers read. Writers read in order that they might understand HOW to write. The better the writing is, the more intensely will the writer read it. Once you understand this you will realize that good writers select the best writing from the material they elect to continue reading.
Mark Twain's A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT is still being read because writers are still reading it. By 1889, when Mark Twain embarked upon the slick road to Camelot with the world's first soap opera, his talents had been greased to a peripatetic finesse.
He not only knew that lightning made more impact than a lonely lightning bug, he also knew how to let the reader know the sizzle was coming home to strike before there was a cloud scudding in the sky.
Mark Twain made fun of the whole world,
but he never made fun of the reader.
So the writer who is reading Mark Twain's writing is reading to learn how to make fun of the world while giving the reader a ring side seat on the outside. The writer who is reading Mark Twain's writing is reading the book many more times. The writer who is reading Mark Twain's writing is reading many of the paragraphs 10 and 20 times.
Of course, if you are one of those readers who read simply for enjoyment you wouldn't be reading this writing put here by a writer who is reading Mark Twain's writing to learn how to make fun of the world while giving the reader a ring side seat on the outside.
You'd be in there reading. Click HERE and get started.
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index * preface * explanation * Launcelot * Stranger * 1 * 2 * 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
As for us writers, we aren't that quick on the uptake, and we need more background.
Spark Notes on the book. Classic Notes
King Arthur's site, at Britannia. The Camelot Project Arthur, a Man for the Ages is heavily cross indexed.