Anton Chekhov's Writing Career
Six Principles of a Good Story
1886: The Turning Point
Writing Style
Background
- Chekhov often expressed his ideas about writing in letters to his family and also his peers.
- On May 10, 1886, Chekhov wrote a letter to his brother Alexander, who is also a writer. The letter noted six principles of a good story.
1)Absence of lengthy verbiage of a political-social-economic nature;
2)Total objectivity;
3)Truthful descriptions of persons and objects;
4)Extreme brevity;
5)Audacity and originality (flee the stereotype)
6)Compassion
Chekhov became a physician in 1886. He had his own private practice and also worked at the public hospital in Moscow.
Chekhov loved to learn about people and help them, the more money he made from writing, the more patients he treated without charging a fee.
From the success of his writing Chekhov elevated himself and his family out of poverty. All the money he earned came from his writing.
Grigorovich wrote him a letter that recognized his talents as a writer. He also introduced him to the publisher of the New Times which was a very influential newspaper. During 1886 Chekhov published 166 works. He became a very popular literary figure in Russia.
- From the beginning of his writing career, Anton Chekhov was recognized for his originality. Writer Leo Tolstoy called Chekhov, “an incomparable artist…an artist of life.”
- Chekhov mainly wrote about ordinary things that happened and the relationships of people that lived in small towns and villages.
- He used a variety of different writing techniques including pacing and
word choice to create his characters and reveal their changing moods.
- Chekhov had his own unique writing style, he started a new literary form that was described as impressionistic by other writers of his time.
- Chekhov's plays focus more on character and mood rather than action in the plot
- His subjects are often very lonely people that are self absorbed and in despair
- Chekhov's plays don't usually have a clear conflict or resolution.
- He wanted his plays to be "just as complicated and just as simple as real life is"
Q:Name a book or a movie that demonstrates Chekhov's six principles.
Early Writings
Q&A
You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible."
- How does a writer's personal life affect their work?
- Chekhov started writing short humorous sketches to support his family and to pay off his student debt.
- These early writings were short stories about everyday Russian life
- He wrote under pseudonyms, such as Antosha Chekhonte and “Man without a Spleen”
- How do you think Chekhov's career as a doctor influenced his writing?
"If you are afraid of loneliness, don't marry."
"The university brings out all abilities including incapability."
"Any idiot can face a crisis, it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."