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 The
Short Story
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Presenter of the Writing Scotland
television series, Carl MacDougall, offers advice on the art of short-story composition.
Chekhov said a good story was a glance from which the reader could tell what went
before and what will come after, and at its best a short story does that and more.
But it's also erratic; as soon as one attempts a definition, the substance slips
away. There are many fine stories, particularly by Scots, which do not meet Chekhov's
criteria. I have therefore confined myself to some obvious starting points and
suggestions.
I am continually amazed by the number of people who say they want to write short
stories, yet do not read short story writers. This arrogance beggars belief. Consider
its implications in any other field.
So the first and most obvious thing is that anyone who wants to write short stories
should read short stories, and not just by acknowledged masters Ð Anton Chekhov,
Guy de Maupassant, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor,
Nadine Gordimer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Munro, William Trevor and so on
- but also by writers at the start of their careers, for, more than anything,
their works will set your standard. Nor should contemporary Scottish writers be
ignored. They will tell you more about this country than any newspaper or television
feature.
Anthologies can usually be relied on for a general introduction, though a new
writer will get less from a specialised than a general anthology, which is to
say, more from an anthology of Scottish writing than from an anthology of gay
writers, more from an anthology of American writers than from a book of stories
about the sea, simply because you will meet a wider range of subjects and voices.
And be adventurous. Try Eastern European or Latin American anthologies, as well
as the more recognisable, standard texts.
And when you read, take the pieces apart. Analyse the work. Anyone can do it,
analysis can be done without academic expertise, which, in some cases, can be
a hindrance, for we are asking how rather than why these pieces work. Dismantle
the stories, read till the narrative takes over, then ask how the writer achieves
the effects, look for a passage you found especially good, and break it down,
asking, always asking how it works. There are no special tricks. The mechanics
of a short story are always obvious. It isn't magic. All you have to do is consider
the evidence.
- Look at openings, being especially careful to notice how short story writers
compress information, how short stories are neither synopses nor anecdotes;
- Look at the importance story writers give to details and what they can reveal;
- Look for the distinguishing features of a story, the things that make it
work, precision being the most deluding and difficult feature;
- Look at the importance of voice and characterisation and the ways in which
they are used;
- Look at the ways a writer can impart knowledge indirectly, how something
is shown rather than told, how backstory is largely irrelevant, how dialogue which
is used for anything other than moving the story forward is usually redundant
and how an atmosphere is established and maintained;
- Look at the way short story writers use imagination as a means of discovery
rather than invention;
- And read short stories, not forgetting the estimable Voltaire, who said,
"If you want to be a writer then for God's sake write," while remaining aware
of Dr. Johnson's evaluation: "Your manuscript is both good and original; but that
part that is good is not original and the part that is original is not good."
And here are a few anthologies, which can be a starting point, a developmental
tool or simply read for pleasure:
The Devil and The Giro: The Scottish Short Story (Canongate) Edited
by Carl MacDougall;
The Granta Book of the American Short Story(Granta) Edited by Richard
Ford;
The Penguin Book of Modern Women's Short Stories (Penguin) Edited
by Susan Hill;
Cowboys, Indians and Commuters: The Penguin Book of New American Voices
(Penguin) Edited by Jay McInerney;
The Penguin Book of Latin American Short Stories (Penguin) Edited
by Thomas Colchie;
Descriptions of a Struggle: The Picador Book of Contemporary East European
Prose (Picador) Edited by Michael March.
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