Writers Write Is All About Writing
Writers Write Is All About Writing
O. Henry

Literary Birthday – 11 September – O. Henry

O. Henry was born on 11 September 1862 and died on 5 June 1910.

O. Henry Quotes

  1. Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
  2. All of us have to be prevaricators, hypocrites, and liars every day of our lives; otherwise the social structure would fall into pieces the first day. We must act in one another’s presence just as we must wear clothes. It is for the best.
  3. The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate.
  4. I wanted to paint a picture some day that people would stand before and forget that it was made of paint. I wanted it to creep into them like a bar of music and mushroom there like a soft bullet.
  5. I’ll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2.
  6. There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.
  7. A good story is like a bitter pill, with the sugar coating inside of it.

O. Henry was the pen name of American short-story writer William Sydney Porter. He became known for stories that romanticised everyday life, particularly the lives of ordinary people in New York City. His best-known stories include ‘The Gift of the Magi‘, ‘The Caballero’s Way’, ‘The Duplicity of Hargraves’, and ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’. His stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterisation, and clever twist endings. Porter’s most productive period began in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be closer to his publishers. He wrote 381 short stories there, including a story a week for more than a year for the New York World Sunday Magazine. He also wrote the novel Cabbages and Kings, in which he popularised the term ‘banana republic’. The prestigious O. Henry Award, given annually for outstanding short stories, is named after him.

Source for Image: W.M. Vanderweyde, New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Sydney_Porter_by_doubleday.jpg


by Amanda Patterson
Are you interested in more authors’ birthdays? Please click here: The Complete Author Birthday Calendar

Posted on: 11th September 2014
(6,855 views)