About Eça de Queirós
José Maria Eça de Queirós (1845–1900) was a Portuguese novelist and diplomat, the leading writer of Portuguese realism. He served as consul in Havana, Newcastle, Bristol and Paris, and wrote O Crime do Padre Amaro (1875), O Primo Basílio (1878) and Os Maias (1888). Cartas de Inglaterra (1905) collects letters he wrote from England for the Gazeta de Notícias of Rio de Janeiro.
Works by Eça de Queirós
1 essay to practice
Eça de Queirós’s writing style
Eça builds scenes from precise, often comic detail and comments on them with a light, ironic voice. His sentences are long but easy to follow, with a taste for the vivid adjective and the unexpected comparison.
How to write like Eça de Queirós
Pick one of Eça de Queirós’s essays and retype it word for word. Copying slows you down enough to notice how each sentence is built: where it starts, how long it runs and which words carry the weight. Keep the style notes above in mind as you type, then write a paragraph of your own in the same voice. New to this? Read what copywork is and how to do it.