I’ve been reading a lot of short stories lately, as I’ve been writing some in my spare time. I’ve come to the conclusion that the short story is an odd beast. To tell you the truth, I never much liked short stories, and am only reading them now because writing a short story is more manageable than penning a novel, and reading short stories is a great way to teach myself pacing and style.
Personally, I like my novels Big and Fat. Short stories are rarely satisfying; if I like the story, it’s over too soon. I enjoyed a few of the stories I’ve read, but for every one I enjoy, I read three or four that I don’t. Too often it seems that a short story is a writing exercises more than anything else – a way for an author to explore an idea or emotion that may not be suitable or enough to carry an entire book. As such, they’re interesting as literary devices, but I simply can’t get excited about the milieu as a whole.
I’ve also never met anyone who really likes the damn things. Plenty of short fiction magazines are published; few, however, are aimed at the public as a whole. Instead, they’re literary journals, projects for English majors, or someone’s pet magazine.
Does anyone read these things outside of academia? Am I missing something by not cultivating a taste for short fiction?
I positively ADORE the short story! Some reasons: They’re a complete concept that can be read in one sitting. I believe the choice of words has to be more exacting than in a novel, because you have much less time to say what you want to say, so you can’t afford wasted words. Most short stories feel much more realistic than novels. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but events occur in much they same way they happen in real life. Snapshots that are strung together to create a life story. These perfect little gems are my favorite reading. Pick up the Best Short Stories of (current year). I’ve collected the last 15 years or so. Of course, some years are better than others, but they are consistently excellent reads.
I like short stories. I get really wrapped up in a good novel, so much that I don’t even like to get up to eat, or go to bed. Short stories are ideal for the work week, so I can read one here and one there and put the book away until later.
I devour short stories, voraciously. Specifically short SF, but I will be tempted by other genres occasionally.
For me, I think it really caught on when I was commuting by train every day - if I took a full-blown novel, I’d have to bookmark the page, then I’d find it would take me a while to get the story back into my head, etc…
I love short stories. Anthologies are some of my favorite things. The style suits certain genres better than others, though. Fantasy short stories? Meh. Epics, please. Scifi? That works. Just long enough to explain whatever head-twisting concept the writer has in mind. Mystery? Millions of Sherlock Holmes fans can’t be wrong.
I like them too, and also have a bookcase full of them.
Anthologies (like the annual Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror) are a good way to get a taste of a new writer.
Although I gotta admit, it doesn’t always work. Some writers (and stories) seem better suited to the short story format. The impact can be diminished when a story is drawn out.
I enjoy short stories immensely, and like someone else posted, I love them for midweek reading when I can’t take the chance of staying up all night to finish a novel I just can’t put down. But the structure, the pay off, the humour of short stories appeals to me in a way that novels just don’t.
Add me to the list of people who adore short stories. Especially horror stories–it’s really hard to do a good job building or sustaining a mood throughout a novel-length work.
FWIW, Tim Powers mentioned that one reason he doesn’t write many short stories is because they’re about as hard to write as a novel but you don’t get paid as much.
I prefer novels to short stories, but sometimes, when life is too hectic to read a full book quickly, I get a book filled with short stories.
The great Roger Zelazny once said that if you want to write short story, just write the last chapter of a novel. Not being a writer, I dunno if that works, but he was one of the best.
Science fiction is practically made for short stories. Long SF books always seem padded to me; most interesting concepts can be explained in the space of 10,000 words easily. I can think of many writers who are better in short form than long–Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King. However, I think that the short story form is dying out in today’s market, and I’ll give you my take on why.
There are some short story magazines aimed at the public–genre magazines especially have a fairly large audience of non-English majors and amateur writers. Part of why literary short fiction mags are unpopular is because they are overpriced; McSweeney’s and similar magazines are as expensive as a paperback book. Few people want to pay ten dollars to read a bunch of people they’ve never heard of. Genre magazines are cheaper, but I see genre mags going in the same direction; an issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction is only a few dollars cheaper than a paperback book, and it isn’t bound as nicely as a book. If they were given the option of buying a two dollar magazine full of nobodies in addition to buying a book by a favorite author, many people would buy the magazine, and possibly open themselves up to new writers. However, a five dollar magazine filled with nobodies is a bigger gamble, and most people won’t take it. People will spend a little money on something they might not like, but not a lot of money.
And that’s where the celebrity factor comes in. Most of the large genre mags publish short stories by writers who have new books out, so they can plug the book along with the story. But writing a good piece of short fiction is much different than writing a novel–the pacing is different, characterization must be handled differently. It’s not just a novel compressed into 10,000 words; it’s a whole different art form. I can usually tell even before reading the bios which short stories were written by people who usually plug away at epic fantasy and which were written by short story writers. Usually, the epic writers can’t write a good short story. If they filled the magazine with competent short story writers–stories that don’t read like a chapter pulled from the middle of a fantasy novel–the magazine would be higher quality. However, there aren’t very many people out there who are only famous for their short stories (Ellison is an exception), so the magazine gets quickly filled with novelists who only write stories for the publicity and have no respect for the very different demands of the form. So then you’re faced with the current short story market, which is rather pitiful at best.
As Philip K. Dick said once, a short story is built up around one interesting idea, whereas a novel is intended to plunge you into a whole other world. If you read in order to escape into that other world, then it makes sense not to like short stories. But if you like to be hit with some amazing ideas in a short amount of time, then short stories should be your game.
It is heartening, however, to hear that at least SOME people like the genre. I tend to agree with the people who like sci-fi and alternative reality shorts; I like those as well. I also really like Steven King’s short fiction.
continuity eror writes:
Oh don’t I know it! I got about 5 critiques on my last story that basically said “Loved the chapter, let me know when you’re done with the book!” :smack:
I tend to prefer books of short stories by one author. Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison and Welcome to the Monkey House by Vonnegut are good examples.
And therein lies my problem with many short stories. So few writers can write them well enough that they stand on their own. Either they leave myriad details hanging, or they force a denouement. When I have read good ones, I have been totally impressed. I know a lady who writes incredibly (you’ll be hearing a lot more about her around next June) and her short stories are amazingly well-done. I won’t do a linkie, but I urge you to do a Google search for “Louise Arnold” + “smallest details”
Outta curiosity, have you read any short stories by folks like Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith? Because they’re known as early “world-builders”, and they did it with short stories.
Love them. Particular favorites:
Stephan King – I prefer his short stories to his novels for the most part
Kurt Vonnegut – Welcome to the Monkey House is a particular favorite. There is also Bagombo Snuff Box, a similar collection from 2000 or so. I don’t care for Vonnegut’s novels, BTW. His stories were written to pay the bills and sold to magazines back in the day when all major magazines features lots of short fiction. So his stories are more commercial and more to my taste.
Shirley Jackson – everybody knows The Lottery, of course, and her novels, but Jackson also wrote for the magazines and there are several collections of her stories out there. I just yesterday finished the most recent collection An Ordinary Day, which was edited by two of her children and featured previously uncollected stories and a few that had been unpublished. Excellent stuff.
