Seven masters of the short story--Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates, Frank Conroy, Andre Dubus, Robert Coles, and C. Michael Curtis--give voice to the ongoing dialogue about the art and craft of writing short stories, discussing the techniques they use in writing fiction.
Don't overlook the On in the title of On Writing Short Stories. Though there is a chapter by its editor, Tom Bailey, on the elements of short fiction, the book explores a variety of issues of interest to short-story writers. Francine Prose grapples with the what-constitutes-a-short-story question: "Great short stories make us marvel at their integrity, their economy," she writes. "If we went at them with our blue pencils, we might find we had nothing to do." Joyce Carol Oates ponders reading as a writer, Andre Dubus contemplates the habit of writing, and Robert Coles explores "literatures as a means of understanding human affairs."
C. Michael Curtis, writer of 30 to 40 rejection letters daily as senior editor for The Atlantic Monthly, tells how best to ensure that your short-fiction submissions receive "friendly consideration." And University of Iowa Writers' Workshop director Frank Conroy weighs in on the writer's workshop and what he sees as the mistaken belief that workshops imprint themselves upon their students' work. "Art cannot be made by committee," he writes. "The student ... should not be looking for solutions from the other students or from the teacher. The student should be looking for problems in the text that he or she had not been aware of." Also here are writing exercises; a list of magazines, journals, and quarterlies that publish short fiction; and 18 classic short stories, including de Maupassant's "The String," Tillie Olsen's "I Stand Here Ironing," and Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried." --Jane Steinberg
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
On Writing Short Stories:
Although the basic bones are good, I was looking for something not JUST to teach me, but to capture my attention enough to hold me and help me with my craft. Sadly this was not the book for me. I have found others that are far easier to follow and I am a very strong reader with good comprehension. Maybe I fell short, or maybe not? I won't return it, but it gets two stars for the effort of the author trying to help.
The Craft of Short-Story Writing: The Basics:
Whenever asked to recommend one basic book on the craft of short-story writing, I choose Tom Bailey's A Short Story Writer's Companion and the anthology On Writing Short Stories edited by him. Okay, that makes two books; however, with the duplicate material excised, the two could easily be republished as one 350-page book. In this brief book (184 pages), Tom Bailey helps the beginning writer learn more about the craft of short-story writing than the textbooks like Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative... more info
An essential resource for short fiction writers:
Less a 'how to' book than an examination of the short story as an art form, ON WRITING SHORT STORIES is about showing rather than telling (just like good fiction itself). Particularly useful are its dissections of classic short stories, using them as case studies that aptly demonstrate what works in a story and why. The analysis of "The lady with the pet dog," and "Hills like white elephants" are both very useful. I found this book educational as a whose-who of short fiction authors, as well as a very... more info
Best book on writing...:
Pound for pound, this may be the best book on, about, or for aspiring writers. I have read at least 10 books on the craft of writing and a bunch on theory and technique... this book is right up there with the best of the best. If you couple this book with Raymond Carver's posthumous "Call if You Need Me" and mix in a few careful readings of any Richard Yates interview, you've got yourself some tough rope to tow. But if you want to be a strong writer, suck it up and do it anyway! I hold a BA in... more info
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