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Author Topic: The Art Of Story
TheUbiquitousMrLovegrove
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I might have talked about this book a while back, but if I have, then I do no harm in bring it up again.

If you write short stories and want to gain insight as to how to write a better short story, I think it seems logical that your best bet would be to read really good short stories and study their structure.

Thus I suggest that everyone who is interested in short stories read the collection "The Art Of Story" a large volume of short stories from around the world.

Quite simply, the book restored my faith in writing.

[This message has been edited by TheUbiquitousMrLovegrove (edited February 25, 2001).]


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JP Carney
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TUML, is this a how-to with shorts from around the world as examples of different elements, or a collection? Are the authors well known "best sellers", or just good writers? Is it new and still in print?

It sounds intriguing, and your testament really makes me want to go out and get it.

JP


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TheUbiquitousMrLovegrove
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"The Art Of Story" is simply a collection of mainstream (well, and no so mainstream) literary fiction from around the world. There are no bestsellers in this volume, just really good writers from America, South Africa, Russia, England, Japan, Viet Nam, South America, Spain... A couple of famous authors, but nobody from any recent bestsellers list.

It's very new, (1999-2000 I think).

In the later part of 1999 and the first half of 2000, I was consumed with writing short stories. I was determined to learn how to write good ones, and "break into the market" so there for a while all I read was short stories, not the first novel entered my hands.

I had a subscription to F&SF for about a year, which I canceled after reading the second story by Steven Tem Rasnic which made it into the pages of the magazine. The man writes on the level of a 4th grader and his plotting is worse, so i was furious and canceled my subscription.

Then I tried a couple of horror and sci-fi anathologies.. "the best of.." and such. By the time I was finished i was so discouraged and depressed at the general state of the sci-fi and horror and fantasy genre (in short fiction) I was about ready to go crawl under a rock and die.

So in my local library i found this large volume of traditional short stories, that the book proclaimed to be the best the world had to offer, and like I said.. it completely revived my faith in the writers ability to touch people (in very few pages).

Not only did I love nearly every story in the book, I learned quiet a bit about the way short stories are composed. Sometimes it was hard studying their structure with a technical eye because I'd just get swept away in them...

Anyway.. like I said... it's just a great read, and if you read it with the intent to gain insight to a stories structure, it will only help your understanding.


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Khavanon
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That sounds intriguing. I just picked up "The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke" and I am enjoying every bit of it because not only can I see the ideas that were had many decades ago, but I get to experience his own evolution as a writer. The diversity of his stories are also quite amazing.
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JP Carney
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Okay, TUML, you did it. I've been intrigued by your posts, and inspired by your recommendation of The Art of the Story.

BUT! I couldn't remember the name of the book when I was at the bookstore last night, so I ended up going home with The Art of the Tale. It's edited by the same guy, and is a collection of stories from Post WW II to 1985 (the book was published in 1986) from authors around the world. It wasn't until I hopped onto Amazon this morning that I realized that you were talking about Daniel Halpern's newest anthology.

As TUML said, The Art of the Story is a collection of stories from authors born after 1937, likely very contemporary including stories right up to the turn of the century (it was published in 2000), and I would imagine that any stories that were written in the period '45 to '85 contained in the newer book would be those he had to cut from the first.

So, with that, I will be reading the older anthology, hopefully with as much awe and inspiration as the newer did for you. I really appreciate the recommendation, as, for now, I want to concentrate on shorts. What better way to learn the craft than to read a cross section of some of the best.

In addition to reading The Art of the Tale, I'm also reading Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective, which like the Arthur C. Clarke collection Khavanon mentioned, shows the maturation of a great writer. Oh, and I'm also reading Maps in a Mirror by our very own Mr. Card -- another great source for fine examples of the craft to study.

All of this leads me to a question. As writers we're told to do two things: write and read. With all this reading, how does one find time to write??? <grin>


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