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Practice your writing by typing out classic literature. This method not only enhances your understanding of rhythm, structure, and nuances but also connects you deeply with the timeless flow of literary history.This is a BETA version.
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career, tells the story of two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare’s most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays today.
Nor bide th’encounter of assailing eyes, Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold: O she’s rich in beauty, only poor That when she dies, with beauty dies her store. BENVOLIO. Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste? ROMEO. She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste; For beauty starv’d with her severity, Cuts beauty off from all posterity. She is too fair, too wise; wisely too fair, To merit bliss by making me despair. She hath forsworn to love, and in that vow Do I live dead, that live to tell it now. BENVOLIO. Be rul’d by me, forget to think of her. ROMEO. O teach me how I should forget to think. BENVOLIO. By giving liberty unto thine eyes; Examine other beauties. ROMEO. ’Tis the way To call hers, exquisite, in question more. These happy masks that kiss fair ladies’ brows, Being black, puts us in mind they hide the fair; He that is strucken blind cannot forget The precious treasure of his eyesight lost. Show me a mistress that is passing fair, What doth her beauty serve but as a note Where I may read who pass’d that passing fair? Farewell, thou canst not teach me to forget.
Other classics
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Hjalmar Söderberg
Förvillelser
Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment
Marcel Proust
Within a Budding Grove
Victoria Benedictsson
Modern
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
August Strindberg
Röda Rummet
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Jane Austen
Emma
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
August Strindberg
Inferno
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Louisa May Alcott
Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag Vol. 1
Marcel Proust
Swann's WayWhy Type a Masterpiece?
Typing out classical literature is not just an exercise in patience; it's a deeply immersive way to understand the rhythm, structure, and nuances of great writing. By manually reproducing the works of renowned authors, you engage with the text on a level that reading alone cannot offer. This method allows you to feel the flow of sentences, the choice of words, and the intricate construction of paragraphs that make these works timeless.
Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can't use the wrong words.
– Virginia Woolf
literati is a unique platform where writers can select from a vast collection of public domain classics to type out. This practice is akin to a musician playing pieces by the masters to internalize the elements of composition and performance. Just as the musician learns the subtleties of each note and chord, the writer learns the power of each word and sentence.
Prose is like hair; it shines with combing.
– Gustave Flaubert
Engaging directly with masterpieces allows writers to absorb the rhythm of the text, the ebb and flow of its pacing, and the beauty of its imagery. It cultivates an appreciation for the craft of writing and provides invaluable lessons in how to construct compelling narratives, develop characters, and evoke emotions in readers. Happy typing!
The only truth is music.
– Jack Kerouac