An Introduction

The Art of Writing Short Stories

Aims

• Get a brief overview of the development of short stories

• Look at a few short stories and discuss why they are successful.

• Consider how the structure and style might help you with your coursework.

Introduction: A story of Subversion• Short stories are different from novels – obviously!

• But probably not in the way you think!

• Short stories evoke myth, mysteries and strangeness.

• They evolved at precise historical moments of transition – the ‘shock points’ of human history.

• The short story began with tales told around camp fires; were legends, prose poems, fables…

• The ancient and medieval tales in ‘The Arabian Nights’, Boccaccio’s ‘The Decameron’ and Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and the fairy tales collected by 17th century Charles Parrault and then later in the 19th century by the Brothers Grimm are all part of a rich tradition of modern stories.

What makes a short story?• In contrast to the novel, the short story is concentrated, intense, subtle and suggestive.

• Stories present a moment in time, sometimes described as a slice-of-life, a frozen moment, fleeting sensation, fragmentary impression, a powerful image. It has also been described as a snap-shot.

• The father of the modern short story is probably Edgar Allan Poe – who maintained that the best short story dealt with a ‘unity of effect’ – everything in the story led up to one specific thing/event.

• Every story has a moment of distress, a moment that can’t quite be understood, but in this moment, the inner world of the self is revealed.

• But it is also incomplete – like something glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. It is for the reader to reflect on- to ponder, to fill in the blanks!

Some short Stories!