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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.
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners’ minds. Tybalt is dead, and Romeo banished. That ‘banished,’ that one word ‘banished,’ Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalt’s death Was woe enough, if it had ended there. Or if sour woe delights in fellowship, And needly will be rank’d with other griefs, Why follow’d not, when she said Tybalt’s dead, Thy father or thy mother, nay or both, Which modern lamentation might have mov’d? But with a rear-ward following Tybalt’s death, ‘Romeo is banished’—to speak that word Is father, mother, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet, All slain, all dead. Romeo is banished, There is no end, no limit, measure, bound, In that word’s death, no words can that woe sound. Where is my father and my mother, Nurse? NURSE. Weeping and wailing over Tybalt’s corse. Will you go to them? I will bring you thither. JULIET. Wash they his wounds with tears. Mine shall be spent, When theirs are dry, for Romeo’s banishment. Take up those cords. Poor ropes, you are beguil’d, Both you and I; for Romeo is exil’d. He made you for a highway to my bed, But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed. Come cords, come Nurse, I’ll to my wedding bed, And death, not Romeo, take my maidenhead.
Other classics
August Strindberg
Inferno
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
Hjalmar Söderberg
Förvillelser
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Marcel Proust
Swann's Way
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Victoria Benedictsson
Modern
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Jane Austen
Emma
August Strindberg
Röda Rummet
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford
Marcel Proust
Within a Budding Grove
Louisa May Alcott
Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag Vol. 1
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and PunishmentWhy 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