The Art of the Short Story

Posted by Postado por Dulce on às 17:23 | |

The Art of the Short Story

The Art of the Short Story

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 07:06 PM PDT

Today we are looking at the views and thoughts of two authors regarding short stories. One author is very well known; you can listen to him on the Youtube video below and the second is not as well known yet but has two books published. His account is included below as a special excerpt for the post.

Short stories are a comprised novel. Instead of sixty plus thousand words to tell your story with you only have approximately twenty thousand. That may sound like a lot but it is not. There is very little room for error or even a wasted word. It truly is an art and craft to write a functioning short story; one that grabs the attention, holds the attention and delivers a strong ending. At one point in time short stories were in high demand but now they seem to be losing their luster. Why? I'm not sure but it may have to do with the true complexity and skill involved in writing one. I believe the demand from publishers has dwindled because of the difficulty involved in collecting enough short stories to publish an anthology. So, what does author Simon Marshland have to say about short stories? Well, let's see:
The short story went into decline when so many of the magazines that supported them died. That is not to say there are not short story magazines around from the prestigious New Yorker and possibly Harper's to the leading newcomer Amazon for online stories. But in the main the rest of them now cater for science fiction and horror which narrows the horizons for most aspiring short story writers. That said there are a number of online publishers of short stories but few of them pay and for those that do the remuneration is hardly worthwhile.



Many dismiss the short story in favour of the novel which is understandable for in comparative terms one is a full blown dinner while the other is just a snack. That said the creation of a good short story requires just as much skill as a novel, possibly even more, as there is less room for mistakes. A novel can survive a sloppy passage or run the risk of boring the reader provided his interest is recaptured in the next chapter. While the short story can afford no such luxury, for it must grab the readers attention at the very start, hold it through the middle and satisfy it with a solid conclusion often within the confines of two to three thousand words. The novel is a mansion in comparison with many rooms some magnificent and some more mundane, whereas the short story though a humble cottage must be spic and span throughout with great pictures and highly polished copperware.


Masters of the short story include Poe, Fitzgerald, Flannery, O'Connor, Hemingway, Carver, Cheever and O'Henry. But every writer should give it a try, if nothing else it will enhance their writing discipline and probably improve their paragraphs. I have tried to emulate these great writers in my own humble way with a published ebook called A Case of Black Rock and other stories on Kindle where readers can sample it for free. Hopefully some will like what they read and go on to buy the book which of course is the reason for this blog.
Simon makes some really good observations regarding the differences between novels and short stories. It is clear that he has a good understanding about the structure of a short story which makes his new book all the more compelling. If you have ever read any of his work you will agree that short stories will fit his style well.

Next we hear from one of the most prolific authors of all time. It might surprise some to find out that he got his start with short stories. It is also interesting to hear his passion, love and appreciation of the short story. Let's take a moment and listen to the thoughts of Stephen King:



If anything we have learned that short stories have a very valid place in the writing world. I, for one, am encouraged by that thought because writing short stories can only sharpen our writing skills. We should not turn away from writing short stories; perhaps they can even help with writer's block or help develop novels as King mentioned in his video. Do you write short stories? Do you enjoy writing them or reading them?

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