If You Don't Write Fiction

Cushing, Charles Phelps, 1884-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0

Word count: 106K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.If You Don't Write Fiction by Charles Phelps CushingAuthor: Cushing, Charles Phelps, 1884-,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Sep 8, 2008

Editor's review

This book by Charles Phelps Cushing discusses the problem of writing when one does not write fiction and belongs to the category of language and literature. It is aimed not at fiction writers but at people who need to express themselves in non-fiction: how to organize material, control style, and make words serve clear communication. The book reflects the early twentieth-century concern with the practicalities of writing; its language and examples bear the mark of their time, but its discussion of structure, proportion, and awareness of the reader still has reference value. For today's readers who wish to improve expository, review, or practical writing, it can serve as an old-fashioned but practical reminder: writing is first of all about making the reader understand. As a public domain e-book, it is short and inexpensive to obtain, making it suitable for selecting relevant chapters for use in writing practice rather than reading straight through.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Working professionals who need to improve non-fiction writing skills
Readers of language and literature interested in early twentieth-century ideas about writing
Students hoping to improve expository and review writing
Learners who like to draw writing methods from old texts

Not a good fit for

Creators who mainly want to learn fiction techniques and fictional narrative
Readers expecting contemporary writing-guide-style steps and templates
Readers unaccustomed to early English expression and period examples

Reading tips

Browse the table of contents first and select chapters relevant to your current writing task for close reading; there is no need to read the whole book.
After each section, revise a draft of your own in light of it, practicing as you read.
Note which examples are outdated and which principles still apply, distinguishing period limitations from general methods.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

The title says "if you don't write fiction"—so what is it about?

According to the available information, the book belongs to language and literature and discusses writing when one is not engaged in fiction writing. It can be understood as a discussion of writing for non-fiction expression, focused on how to write material clearly and in an organized way, rather than teaching techniques of fictional narrative.

Are the methods in this book still applicable today?

The discussion of structure, clarity, and awareness of the reader still has reference value, but the language habits and examples bear the mark of the early twentieth century. It is advisable to look at principles and examples separately and take the parts that can still guide writing today, rather than copying all of the wording.

Is it suitable for reading from beginning to end?

Not necessarily. It is better used as a writing reference book to consult as needed: first look at the table of contents to identify chapters relevant to your current task, and immediately apply what you read to revising your own draft. Reading straight through can distract because of the period examples, while targeted close reading is more efficient.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Cushing, Charles Phelps, 1884- Author

Charles Phelps Cushing (born 1884) is an American author about whom little biographical information is available. The records held here confirm only his name, year of birth, and a single work; his nationality, education, career, and the full range of his writing lack reliable documentation, and public information is very limited. The representative work listed is titled If You Don't Write Fiction. Judging from the title, the book appears to address the subject of fiction writing in a light, perhaps gently admonishing tone, likely aimed at readers interested in trying their hand at imaginative writing and touching on the thresholds, methods, or mindset involved. Given the limited material, it is not possible to determine whether the book is a guide, an essay, or some other form, nor would it be appropriate to speculate about its length, publication context, or reception. Overall, Cushing appears in Chinese-language library records only through this one work, and his style and influence await further documentation before assessment.