This is perhaps the most-requested topic that arrives in the Storyfix inbox.
Which frankly makes me a little nervous.
Because I don’t write short stories. At least not anymore. I have written a few and published a handful, but I do read them on occasion. Which is to say, I’m no expert on this little corner of the writing world.
Short stories are hard to get right. But they do have structure — much to the surprise of some — and that makes it an important realm to explore.
And so, this post will reflect not only my own take — consider it an informed opinion — but the collective sum of a bunch of research.
That said, I have a lot to put on the table for you to consider.
Also coming next week…
The Belated Arrival of my new ebook, “Get Your Bad Self Published.”
It’s a primer on making your writing dream come true. Like much of what you read here, this is the whole tough truth, stripped of workshop rhetoric and false hope. What sells, what doesn’t, why, how to land an agent, how to master the tools of doing so, and a bunch of other no-nonsense stuff about turning pro.
Until then… write something great this weekend.
6 Responses
Pretty cool example of story structure (after the boring article about actors and how much weight they lose) in movie-preview form at this link:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-christian-bale-frighteningly-skinny-fighter.html
Looking forward to the post on short story structure.
Count me among those eagerly awaiting Monday’s post. Your story structure information helped me actually finish my first piece–a short story– in years.
“This is perhaps the most-requested topic that arrives in the Storyfix inbox.”
Not a bad piece of marketing information. If the short story finds its way to the Kindle the SS world could be off and running.
Awesome, Larry! I can’t wait to read that post… and I can’t wait for your eBook, which I just had to pre-order 🙂
Ahhh, looking forward to it.
I’ve got three shorts in under review at Asimov’s Sci Fi mag, a 1500 word, 3000 word and 8000 word. I essentially followed the structure you espouse for longer (novel-length) works, but obviously shortened the time frame.
In fact, an editor of a local SciFi mag liked the longer one, but, and this is a direct quote, “….you are writing it like a movie script…” and he felt he needed to help me tighten it up. (They’ve subsequently gone out of business)
So, with some interest I await your post.
Cheers,
Tony
Hey Larry
I’ll be looking out for your post on the short story – my preferred creative writing choice. Short and quick :o)
Cheers
Colin