Willa Cather

Of Plot, Authenticity, and Knowing Who We Are…

“A story should generate it’s own actions and emotions organically…A story should be authentic…made of stuff that has never been appropriated from other forms of narrative art…other stories…movies or television. Or it has it should be sufficiently re-processed through the author’s unique sensibilities so the resulting work has its own authenticity.”

–Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

A story should have it’s own unique characters and plot.

Well if this be the case why are writers encouraged to read for more than the experience of learning writing technique?

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