Lessons from Anne

When I think about writing, I keep coming back to one book for examples of good writing: Anne of Green Gables. I can’t find many faults with the book and there are many technical aspects I love to point out. This had me wondering if I could craft a writing lesson from each chapter in the book. The book has 38 chapters so I if I add one lesson at the beginning and another at the end I’ll have 40 lessons total. For now though, I just have concepts for the first ten.

I’m far enough into this to realize I like this idea. There should be books that analyze the craft of a book chapter by chapter.

• The Book As A Whole: How to write episodic chapters that weave together several plot threads.
• Chapter I: Use an outsider to set the stage for your story.
• Chapter II: Use character voice to create quotable moments.
• Chapter III: The real beginning of a story happens when the concept feels personal.
• Chapter IV: How to write characters who don’t know what they think (yet).
• Chapter V: Reading between the lines using subtext in dialogue.
• Chapter VI: Craft a dilemma that forces a character to pick between two hard options.
• Chapter VII: Use pacing and coherence patterns to let the story breathe.
• Chapter VIII: Use contrast to define a relationship and its baseline.
• Chapter IX: How to write believable, relatable conflict with emotional truth.