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The Writing of Fiction (1925)

av Edith Wharton

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
1786151,965 (3.47)4
A rare work of nonfiction from Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction contains timeless advice on writing and reading well from the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer Prize--now with a new introduction by Brandon Taylor. In 1921, Edith Wharton won a Pulitzer Prize for her first novel, The Age of Innocence. Over the course of her career, she would continue to produce beloved, bestselling work--from The House of Mirth to The Custom of the Country--and gained a reputation for her incisive critiques of her upper-class social circle. To each new generation of readers, her work remains fresh, formally remarkable, and endlessly entertaining. The Writing of Fiction is a window into Wharton's mind as she ponders the intertwined arts of writing and reading. Wharton provides invaluable insight on the the subjects of character, the challenge of finely-tuned short stories, the construction of a novel, and more. Beyond a treatise on craft, The Writing of Fiction is a sweeping meditation by a masterful practitioner and a rare chance to experience the inimitable voice of one of America's most influential novelists. Not only a valuable treatise on the art of writing, The Writing of Fiction also allows readers to experience the inimitable but seldom heard voice of one of America's most important and beloved writers and includes a final chapter on the pros and cons of Marcel Proust.… (mer)
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Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. She won for The Age of Innocence in 1920; it was her twelfth novel. First published in 1925, her advice is still current today and will interest readers as well as writers of fiction.
Part literary analysis, part writing recommendations, this is not an indexed guide on how to write but more Wharton’s thoughts on writing fiction. At the beginning she reviews the development of ‘modern fiction’ that she says began when the action of the novel was ‘transferred from the street to the soul’; moving through the trend for providing a ‘slice of life’ via the French realists to the early twentieth century ‘stream of consciousness’. The early chapter is a little dry but the meat of this book is in three chapters: ‘Telling a Short Story’, ‘Constructing a Novel’, and ‘Character and Situation in the Novel’.
Wharton’s main points have lasted the test of time. Dialogue should be used sparingly. Originality is about vision, not about technique. Minor characters should all serve a purpose, or be cut. All novelists will to a degree write the autobiographical, Wharton says, but to be a truly creative novelist one must see the story as a whole and not as revolving solely around one central character [ie the novelist himself]. There is sound advice about the length of a novel, which she says needs to be determined by the subject. “The novelist should not concern himself beforehand with the abstract question of length, he should not decide in advance whether he is going to write a long or a short novel; but in the act of composition he must never cease to bear in mind that one should always be able to say of a novel: ‘It might have been longer,’ never: ‘It need not have been so long.’
This is a slim book that made me consider my own writing. It also left me determined to finally tackle the classics I have never read, including War and Peace and Père Goriot.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )
  Sandradan1 | Nov 13, 2019 |
¡Si es que ya lo dice el propio editor! «Unos principios no suficientes» para comprender la creación de la obra literaria. No, no son suficientes. Apenas se adivina la capacidad crítica de Wharton. No hay nada que me moleste más que un libreto construido a través de conferencias transcritas o retazos de artículos sueltos. Demasiado corto, demasiado insuficiente. ( )
  serranouaille | May 11, 2013 |
¡Si es que ya lo dice el propio editor! «Unos principios no suficientes» para comprender la creación de la obra literaria. No, no son suficientes. Apenas se adivina la capacidad crítica de Wharton. No hay nada que me moleste más que un libreto construido a través de conferencias transcritas o retazos de artículos sueltos. Demasiado corto, demasiado insuficiente. ( )
  serranouaille | May 11, 2013 |
Il s’agit d’un essai de Edith Wharton sur les règles de la fiction comme son titre l’indique. Il est suivi d’un court texte de l’auteure sur la profonde estime qu’elle porte à Marcel Proust (elle démontre ici tout le génie qu’il possédait malgré quelques parties plus faibles d’après elle). Le texte de Marcel Proust, je n’en parlerai pas vu que je n’ai pas lu À la recherche du temps perdu, même si elle donne franchement envie de s’y mettre (elle aussi devrais-je dire).

La premier partie du livre est décomposée en quatre parties : généralités, mener un récit, construire un roman et personnage et situation dans le roman. Dans ces quatre parties, une chose frappe c’est la certitude qu’Edith Wharton a qu’elle a raison. En tout cas, c’est l’impression que cela donne mais ce n’est pas du tout comme cela qu’elle l’expose. Elle a énormément réfléchit à son Art et elle souligne l’importance de le faire pour les jeunes écrivains (voir les extraits en dessous), elle a aussi beaucoup lu. Elle en a tiré quelques consignes pour à son avis faire un roman réussi. Elle distingue les génies et le reste des écrivains (parce qu’on n’est pas tous des génies) et elle parle bien de romans réussis et non de chef d’œuvre. Je me garderai bien de faire un résumé de ses conseils (je ne les ai pas notés à vrai dire) mais j’ai trouvé que c’est intéressant car le discours se présente d’un manière logique, construite et claire (c’est ce qu’elle prône). Tout cela est illustré par des exemples pris dans la grande littérature française et anglaise (voire américaine et russe) du 19ième siècle (il y a quand même Jane Austen) et du début 20ième siècle.

Cependant, deux petites choses ont retenu plus mon attention. La première est l’explication de comment on sait que l’on doit écrire une nouvelle plutôt qu’un roman. Cela ne m’a jamais paru bien clair de différencier longue nouvelle et court roman.

La seconde est sa détestation du “flux de conscience” car justement c’est la marque d’un désordre de l’esprit qui selon elle, empêche la mémorisation du livre par le lecteur (on ne mémorise que la sensation et pas l’intrigue ou bien le sentiment qui se cache derrière cette sensation). Comme je n’y connais rien en histoire littéraire, je pensais que la chef de fil de ce courant était Virginia Woolf mais apparemment non (d’un autre côté elle ne cite pas de noms). Cependant, maintenant, je me demande si elle avait lu Virginia Woolf ou elle ne l’aimait ou est-ce qu’elle ne l’avait pas lu (parce que cet essai et les livres de Virginia Woolf sont un peu contemporain tout de même). Si vous avez des infos, je suis preneuse.

En conclusion, je dirais qu’on ne peut qu’admiré la confiance qu’Edith Wharton avait en son jugement pour l’exprimer à la postérité d’une manière qui peut paraître à la première lecture péremptoire. Elle n’avait pas peur qu’on lui dise qu’elle avait loupé quelque chose. C’est pour cela que je dis “à la première lecture” car à mon avis elle nous livre sa vision et sa réflexion qu’elle essaye d’objectiver un maximum. ( )
  CecileB | Mar 31, 2012 |
The Writing of Fiction is a series of essays about the author's craft. She begins with a general discussion on the writing of fiction and then moves to several essays on short stories, more essays on constructing a novel, a good discussion on character and situation and concludes with a section on Marcel Proust.

I'm not going to cover all of the points in these essays. Rather I'd like to share some of the highlights I found interesting, plus share some quotes from the book so you will have a little taste for her writing.

I found her discussion of the difference between the short story and novels to be most interesting. According to Ms. Wharton, a novel, because of its length, allows for the development of characters and can better show the passing of time. The writer of the short story should emphasize what she calls, the situation or predicament.

"The chief technical difference between the short story and the novel may therefore be summed up by saying that situation is the main concern of the short story, character of the novel; and it follows that the effect produced by the short story depends almost entirely on its form, or presentation."

Short stories must be vivid and grab the reader from the very beginning. Good novels do the same but they have the luxury of length to develop the various aspects of the story to a great depth.

". . . the typical novel usually deals with the gradual unfolding of a succession of events divided by intervals of time, and in which many people, in addition to the principal characters, play more or less subordinate parts. No need now to take in sail and clear the decks; the novelist must carry as much canvas and as many passengers as his subject requires and his seamanship permits."

I could keep going in my comments and quotes of this slim little volume. It served my original objective of learning how this particular writer viewed her craft. It took me quite a few pages before I got into the rhythm and style of her writing. It was worth hanging in there until I understood her writing. One thing Ms. Wharton did was to fill me with a desire to read more short stories. ( )
1 rösta JoyfullyRetired | Feb 1, 2010 |
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Trattare della pratica della narrativa significa abbordare la più nuova, più fluida e meno codificata delle arti. L'esplorazione delle origini ha sempre qualcosa di affascinante; ma il tentativo di ricollegare il romanzo moderno alla leggenda di Giuseppe e i suoi fratelli rientra nel puro ambito della storia.
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A rare work of nonfiction from Edith Wharton, The Writing of Fiction contains timeless advice on writing and reading well from the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer Prize--now with a new introduction by Brandon Taylor. In 1921, Edith Wharton won a Pulitzer Prize for her first novel, The Age of Innocence. Over the course of her career, she would continue to produce beloved, bestselling work--from The House of Mirth to The Custom of the Country--and gained a reputation for her incisive critiques of her upper-class social circle. To each new generation of readers, her work remains fresh, formally remarkable, and endlessly entertaining. The Writing of Fiction is a window into Wharton's mind as she ponders the intertwined arts of writing and reading. Wharton provides invaluable insight on the the subjects of character, the challenge of finely-tuned short stories, the construction of a novel, and more. Beyond a treatise on craft, The Writing of Fiction is a sweeping meditation by a masterful practitioner and a rare chance to experience the inimitable voice of one of America's most influential novelists. Not only a valuable treatise on the art of writing, The Writing of Fiction also allows readers to experience the inimitable but seldom heard voice of one of America's most important and beloved writers and includes a final chapter on the pros and cons of Marcel Proust.

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