Write as |
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.
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
by Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is a novel by Herman Melville, published in 1851. It narrates the voyage of the Pequod, a whaling ship commanded by Captain Ahab, who is driven by an obsessive quest to kill Moby Dick, the white whale that on a previous voyage destroyed his ship and severed his leg at the knee. It is a profound and complex work that explores themes of vengeance, the quest for knowledge, and the nature of good and evil.
This being told to Queequeg, he at once complied, and again politely motioned me to get into bed—rolling over to one side as much as to say—I wont touch a leg of ye. “Good night, landlord,” said I, “you may go.” I turned in, and never slept better in my life. CHAPTER IV. THE COUNTERPANE Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had been his wife. The counterpane was of patchwork, full of odd little parti-colored squares and triangles; and this arm of his tattooed all over with an interminable Cretan labyrinth of a figure, no two parts of which were of one precise shade—owing I suppose to his keeping his arm at sea unmethodically in sun and shade, his shirt sleeves irregularly rolled up at various times—this same arm of his, I say, looked for all the world like a strip of that same patchwork quilt. Indeed, partly lying on it as the arm did when I first awoke, I could hardly tell it from the quilt, they so blended their hues together; and it was only by the sense of weight and pressure that I could tell that Queequeg was hugging me.
Other classics
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Marcel Proust
Swann's Way
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
Hjalmar Söderberg
Förvillelser
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
Marcel Proust
Within a Budding Grove
Louisa May Alcott
Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag Vol. 1
August Strindberg
Röda Rummet
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Jane Austen
Emma
Victoria Benedictsson
Modern
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
August Strindberg
InfernoWhy 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