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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.
Walden
by Henry David Thoreau
Walden; or, Life in the Woods is a book by transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau. The work is part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and—to some degree—a manual for self-reliance. It reflects Thoreau’s attempt to live a simpler life surrounded by nature, and it critiques the complexities of contemporary society and the impact of the Industrial Revolution.
extent of the globe. I feel more like a citizen of the world at the sight of the palm-leaf which will cover so many flaxen New England heads the next summer, the Manilla hemp and cocoa-nut husks, the old junk, gunny bags, scrap iron, and rusty nails. This car-load of torn sails is more legible and interesting now than if they should be wrought into paper and printed books. Who can write so graphically the history of the storms they have weathered as these rents have done? They are proof-sheets which need no correction. Here goes lumber from the Maine woods, which did not go out to sea in the last freshet, risen four dollars on the thousand because of what did go out or was split up; pine, spruce, cedar,—first, second, third, and fourth qualities, so lately all of one quality, to wave over the bear, and moose, and caribou. Next rolls Thomaston lime, a prime lot, which will get far among the hills before it gets slacked. These rags in bales, of all hues and qualities, the lowest condition to which cotton and linen descend, the final result of dress,—of patterns which are now no longer
Other classics
Ernest Hemingway
In Our Time
Marcel Proust
Swann's Way
August Strindberg
Röda Rummet
William Shakespeare
Romeo and Juliet
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Crime and Punishment
Jane Austen
Emma
August Strindberg
Inferno
Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis
Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway
Marcel Proust
Within a Budding Grove
Hjalmar Söderberg
Förvillelser
Emily Brontë
Wuthering Heights
Victoria Benedictsson
Modern
Louisa May Alcott
Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag Vol. 1
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
Cranford
Herman Melville
Moby-Dick; or, The WhaleWhy 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