tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post2364303941096614353..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: To cut a long story short . . . . Kathleen Jones on short fictionKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-11515332335305288612013-10-15T07:05:35.970+01:002013-10-15T07:05:35.970+01:00Hi Dennis, I'm not sure you'll get to see ...Hi Dennis, I'm not sure you'll get to see this comment, but I'll write it anyway in order to work out a bit of my thinking. I managed to get hold of a secondhand copy of Jan Mark's <i>In Black and White </i> and have now read almost all the stories - thanks again for the suggestion! You're right that they're very well written - pacing, dialect, word choice, etc. Of course they're of their time - and not just the English currency - so they might not easily find a wide readership today, but this in itself wouldn't bother me. No, the real problem I see is that they're lightweight in the way that an Alice Munro short story, say, is not. Perhaps I'm being unfair by comparing apples to oranges, but as a writer I'm happy to go back and give them a second or third look to study just how they're constructed, but as a reader, I frankly wouldn't bother. Furthermore, they're all written to a similar pattern and soon become rather predictable. Also - but this may be a question of personal taste - I like my ghost (and horror) stories to have a strong psychological element. The things we're most afraid of, I feel, are the dark sides of our humanity.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-59956658967048288642013-10-06T13:12:14.956+01:002013-10-06T13:12:14.956+01:00Thanks for all your feedback and recommendations. ...Thanks for all your feedback and recommendations. Have just been told about a site that lists most short story outlets.<br />http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.taniahershman.com%2F2013%2F09%2Fuk-and-irish-lit-mags-list-sept-2013.html&h=6AQEzAX2O<br />Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4410069028988801832013-10-06T10:51:32.303+01:002013-10-06T10:51:32.303+01:00Thanks, Dennis. Will do.Thanks, Dennis. Will do.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-53904534010379359492013-10-06T10:50:48.014+01:002013-10-06T10:50:48.014+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-61453321275376344582013-10-06T10:22:49.709+01:002013-10-06T10:22:49.709+01:00Lee, of Jan Mark's,I would try 'Feet',...Lee, of Jan Mark's,I would try 'Feet', 'Nothing to be afraid of' (ghost stories for younger kids)and 'In Black and White.'Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-67388052286580239722013-10-05T16:04:08.799+01:002013-10-05T16:04:08.799+01:00Very interesting piece of analysis and many thanks...Very interesting piece of analysis and many thanks for the mention!I love the short story form, but tend to think that story ideas come from a different part of my brain. Lee's right, I think. When began to write stories and plays I stopped writing poems and have only very occasionally gone back to that form but I still write stories from time to time. Interestingly enough I'm just about to have a small collection of four short stories published in eBook form by the Hearst Corporation - they are experimenting with releasing mini collections of stories on all platforms and then promoting them to their magazine readers - so it does seem to me as though things are changing, or at least the mainstream perception of short stories and their marketability is changing. (Love the piece about Italy as well - want to BE there!) Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-75833448548596837222013-10-05T12:22:04.763+01:002013-10-05T12:22:04.763+01:00It's great that people are realising that ther...It's great that people are realising that there are great short stories within the self-publishing world (the difficulty of getting them published in the mainstream combined with the fact that writing them is a completely different skill from writing novels so that being a great novelist says nothing about one's shorts - when it comes to difference, I should point out that whilst some of my novels are experimental, I've never written an experimental short - they are all on the spectrum from lyrical literary to transgressive - means that there are probably more great self-published short writers than novelists). It's very sad that the NAtional Short Story Award isn't one of themDan Hollowayhttp://danholloway.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-33702766688050697702013-10-05T11:12:35.489+01:002013-10-05T11:12:35.489+01:00Heheh, Al, and I sometimes think my novels would w...Heheh, Al, and I sometimes think my novels would work a lot better as a series of short stories!<br /><br />Jan Mark--yes, a writer who is sadly missed. But I didn't know she felt that way about short stories, and I've never read any of hers, so I'll have to get hold of a collection. Any suggestions?Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-5434015514634073782013-10-05T10:51:25.200+01:002013-10-05T10:51:25.200+01:00I love reading short stories, but somehow whenever...I love reading short stories, but somehow whenever I try my hand at them they threaten to turn into novels!Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625543235578144620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-77301697493999793542013-10-05T10:50:12.207+01:002013-10-05T10:50:12.207+01:00By the way, when I say 'two collections of my ...By the way, when I say 'two collections of my own', I don't mean the two selections on Kindle.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-946979366292174472013-10-05T10:46:29.505+01:002013-10-05T10:46:29.505+01:00I think - and know from experience - that the shor...I think - and know from experience - that the short story is a more difficult form than the novel. Jan Mark, consummate short story writer, said it was 'virtuoso' writing' and she was right. Be that as it may, I've written scores, published two collections of my own and edited two anthologies for OUP, so it's not entirely a female-centred scene. Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-2061118866154051772013-10-05T10:10:50.772+01:002013-10-05T10:10:50.772+01:00I agree Jo - and not just meaningless but actuall...I agree Jo - and not just meaningless but actually sexist - if you turn it round and have a man say it ..... <br />Lee I like your definition of a short story as 'the narrative equivalent of lyric poetry'. I write a lot of poetry and I think the two are linked. Prose poetry is flash fiction/auto/biography!<br />Will check out your new post when it's up.<br />Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-80882905878383050812013-10-05T10:08:13.348+01:002013-10-05T10:08:13.348+01:00Short stories may suit our lives today, but the be...Short stories may suit our lives today, but the best of them are not good because they're <i>short</i>. They function in different ways to longer forms of fiction -- especially in terms of compression and layering. Plot is secondary, sometimes almost irrelevant. I like to think of the short story as the narrative equivalent of lyric poetry. That is to say, I'm not interested in a quick fix -- a short story that you read once, think 'clever' or 'nicer twist', and promptly forget. <br /><br />And yes, I do write them on occasion. I'm about to post a new one, in fact. Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-27158859220701216292013-10-05T09:49:34.276+01:002013-10-05T09:49:34.276+01:00I love short stories - both to write and to read. ...I love short stories - both to write and to read. Maybe Mariella Frostrup was struggling to think of something to say - her comment is completely meaningless!JOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03127111575563904349noreply@blogger.com