This question seems so simple but what is the art of creating a great short story?
I have no problem outlining, treating a huge sweeping heroic mythological epic, but I'm thinking partially thanks to some advice here, about trying some short stories?
What are some tips and tricks for keeping it short but including all the necessary ingredients for an engaging tale?
I mean its so easy to bring someone in when you can take 4 pages just talking about one character's history, but to make someone care about that character, a 3 part story with conflict and resolution, and deliver the goods on say 1-10 pages?
posted
Seriously, though, I tend to have the opposite problem. With the exception the fantasy trilogy I'm working on, all my stories are relatively short, and I have to look for ways to expand them. So I may not be the best person to give advice on this subject.
But I'm going to anyway.
With regard to creating characters without using a lot of space, there are two techniques you should consider.
The first is stereotype. Yes, the word has a negative connotation, but stereotypes can be very useful.
The reader has a brain full of sterotypical characters. Chances are that your character is similar to one of those stereotypes. Rather than write all the information about the character, get the reader to think of the stereotype, then add a few bits of information to tweak the stereotype into your unique character.
Which brings us to the second technique: evocative detail. Instead of giving a lot of details about the character, find a detail that implies a lot of other things about the character. Trust your reader to make the proper inferences.
posted
I started short stories as a way to get more practice. In a short story you have to try and achieve in the first few paragraphs what you could take a page or two in a novel. Getting the reader's attention and make them interested in the first 2 paragraphs isn't always easy, but it is very good practice.
Also it is a nice place to create ideas that don't have full novel potential, or a alternate person in a world you are concidering turning into a novel.
The other nice thing about short stories is the fact that they are much easier to finish writing. Even though I have yet to concider any of mine complete, I have at least reached the end. You will still end up editing them a few times.
posted
As William Faulkner said, the novelist is the failed short-story writer. What he means is this: writing short-stories is the hardest form of fiction to write. So be patient.
Also, some people are not short story writers and others are not novelists. Tad Williams is not a short story writer, and Harlen Ellison is not a novelist. Sure, each has written both kinds of fiction, but when you look at their bibliographies you certainly see that they lean to one form or the other. However, a lot of writers can do both. Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Isaac Asimov are a few examples.
So here's my point: you may be one of the rare writers who can only write long fiction. Don't fight it. That's just the way you are.
[This message has been edited by Balthasar (edited December 10, 2003).]
posted
PS -- If you are the kind of writer who can only write novels, be thankful. You can't make a living nowadays writing only short stories.
Posts: 130 | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
A character's action and interaction with other characters can be a great way of getting information across - the way a character relates to others, the choices that he/she makes, these things can tell as much about the character as paragraphs of back story. Every situation can be seen as an opportunity to communicate to the reader on many levels at once. Posts: 64 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I can relate to that, too. I think it's that I spent this time coming up with this idea and it's over in a few pages, the idea is spent, I'm done. I don't read short stories much either, I think for much the same reason. I just get into the world, the characters, and it's over.
I have another question, though. Every so often I try to write a short story and send it off to a magazine, just hoping to get an edge in the publishing world. I've also tried a couple contests, and I've failed all around. (I don't know how close I was at any point, maybe I shouldn't quit yet.) But I was wondering if a person has no short stories, no record, how easy is it to get a novel published?
I hope you aren't all thinking comic book writers are some kiddie pulp junk, I mean ol' Stan Lee and co have turned out some absolutely amazing ideas, and quite ellaborate detailed writing.
I have certain Xmen comics from every now and then over the years, and some of the story works was mind bogglingly epic and awesome carmmed into 30 pages??? What the? How the?
quote:But I was wondering if a person has no short stories, no record, how easy is it to get a novel published?
From what I've heard, it makes little difference. The only thing a publisher is conerned about beyond the quality of the novel you're presenting them with is whether or not you're likely to be able to produce more of the same or better quality: having published stories might help in this respect, but there are other ways (for instance giving a brief outline of your next project in the covering letter...).
I mostly write novel length, but I do occasionally write short stories. They tend to come in at the long end of the range (6-7k words).
The best way of keeping them short, I find, is to make sure your plot is concise. Your protagonist doesn't have time to spend ages trying to work out what needs to be done to solve his problem; he has to realise what needs doing quickly and get on with it.
Also, keeping the number of characters small helps. 4-5 is probably about the limit on what a short story can really support.
posted
Erick makes a valid point. Writing short stories require brief information. But keep in mind when writing your short story. In the story itself how long is the even or events taking place. Is the story focusing on an hour of an event like what leads up to a car crash and the crash itself, or does it focus on a few days like the story by Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher". Sometimes most people need to write novels instead it's just their nature.
Posts: 59 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
One of the best ways I've found to force myself to write short stories is to keep the time frame short. Can you write something where the whole time frame is between 30 minutes and four hours? I dared myself to do it, and while it isn't the greatest story ever (I'm still learning), I managed it. Sf/fantasy stories rarely do this, but the "great" classic writers do it all the time. I've read a story that took place in half a second (well, a guy is dying and a whole bunch of stuff flashes through his mind before that). If you find yourself struggling to keep your fiction short, this might be helpful to you.
Posts: 814 | Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Along the same lines as what has gone before... start as close to the end of the story as you can. Get or have your protagonist in deep trouble, or whatever, quickly. If you don't know the end, figure it out, then figure out what the good story is that leads to that ending. Also, you may be feeling like you need to explain a lot of stuff - but sf/f readers are in general smart and used to making inferences. Here, the "show, don't tell" rule can be a bit flexible - you can of course do a lot with show, but maybe there are a couple things you will just tell - that kind of exposition is quick!
I have not been a short story reader in many years - maybe not since middle school (and my 20 year hs reunion is this June!). So I've gone back to reading them - got copies of MF&SF, Asimov's, Analog... it really helps to see what others have done.
Also, Writer's Digest has a couple of volumes out on short story writing - Border's carries them - they are collections of articles that cover the different aspects of writing short stories. I just bought the 2nd one, and hope it will help me - at the rate my current "short" story is going it will be 25K - ugh!
posted
A short book that can help (at least, it helped clarify some things for me--and I sold the next short story I wrote after I finished reading it) is WRITING IN GENERAL AND THE SHORT STORY IN PARTICULAR by Rust Hills.
Posts: 8826 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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posted
And if you want to read some really great sf short stories (and I mean really good; there's only one in the whole collection that I've read that I didn't love), get a copy of Masterpieces: the Best Science Fiction of the Century, edited by OSC. Maps in a Mirror is also excellent.
Posts: 814 | Registered: Nov 2000
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