Writing Short Stories

Workshop 3Moving on – Groups and Competitions

July 7 2105

Agenda / Objectives for today (1)• Reminder of what we did in W1 and W2• Stories and collections to read (3)• Brief reminder of "Top Tips" and Chekhov’s 6 Principles (6)• Notes from W2 – character, opening lines, endings (2)

• Setting up a writing group (10)• Practice discussing a sample short story (6+10+10)• Submitting for competitions, magazines, anthologies (5)• Editing sources (2)• Websites for further information (including 3x slides)• Questions? (5)

W1 Reading Short Stories – Greats• Anton Chekhov – Misery

http://commapress.co.uk/resources/online-short-stories/misery-anton-chekhov

• James Joyce – Evelinehttp://www.online-literature.com/james_joyce/959/

• Franz Kafka – The Metamorphosis http://www.kafka.org/index.php?id=162,164,0,0,1,0

• Katherine Mansfield – The Flyhttp://commapress.co.uk/resources/online-short-stories/the-fly

• Ernest Hemingway – Hills Like White Elephantshttp://liternet.bg/publish24/e_hemingway/hills.htm

• Flannery O’Connor – A Good man is Hard to Findhttp://www.openculture.com/2012/05/rare_1959_audio_flannery_oconnor_reads_a_good_man_is_hard_to_find.html

• JD Salinger – A Perfect day for Bananafishhttp://www.nyx.net/~kbanker/chautauqua/jd.htm

• William Trevor – The Ballroom of Romance• Raymond Carver – Cathedral• John Cheever - Reunion

W1 Reading Short Stories – Contemporary

20 Recommended authors

• Rodge Glass (EHU)• Ailsa Cox (EHU)• Carys Bray (EHU)• Kirsty Gunn Infidelity (won EH prize 2014)• Kevin Barry Dark Lies the Island (EH prize 2013)• Anneliese Mackintosh• Hilary Mantel• Helen Simpson• David Constantine• Zoe Lambert• John McGregor• John Burnside• Rachel Trezise• Miranda July• Michel Faber• Wells Tower• Adam Marek• Ethan Coen• Alice Munro• Margaret Atwood

Publishers and anthologies

• Comma Press http://commapress.co.uk/ – Biopunk – science link – various other anthologies – read their entire catalogue

• Unthank - Unthology 1,2,3,4,5,6, (7)• Granta – various anthologies (UK)• McSweeney – new writers (USA)• Salt – annual winners of Scott Prize• Freight – several new writers

W1 Top Tips (not rules)1. NARRATIVE Have a beginning a middle and an end. First and last paragraphs are critical.

2. PLOT The plot arc can be simple in a short story. Start just before the key incident. Often one event only.

3. CHARACTER It is widely accepted that short stories are about the lost and lonely, “submerged populations.”

4. MOTIVE What motivates people? Sex or money. Stories are about what someone wants/needs/ lacks.

5. CONFLICT What stops the protagonist getting what they want? What could go wrong? Conflict = emotion.

6. POINT OF VIEW Be consistent. Who is holding the camera? Show how others react not just the viewpoint of the protagonist.

7. SO WHAT? Write something you would read. The contract with the writer is that the reader expects to be told something.

8. QUESTIONS WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY Like all journalism use these as prompts.

9. SHOW DON’T TELL Action is usually better than exposition. Avoid saying what people feel. What does anger, sadness, look like?

10. DIALOGUE Make it sound real. Short. Read it aloud. Dialogue must reveal character or plot. Avoid “As you know, Bob.”

11. DESCRIPTION Don’t overdo it. Use concrete and specific details. Unusual images can be very effective. Use all the senses.

12. THERE ARE NO RULES Characters in stories can do anything. They can fly, be invisible, time travel. One impossibility is best.

13. HOOKS (often start) Show some action first. Make the reader a promise. Ask a question.

14. TWISTS (often end) The Oh My God! Can be external or internal (modern.)

15. OWNERSHIP Write what you know. Better still write something only you could have written. AND Sell your heart

(Acknowledgment: Half of this list comes from a lecture by Professor George Green at Lancaster University)

You’ve got to sell your heartLate-1938, eager to gain some feedback on her work, aspiring young author Frances Turnbull sent a copy of her latest story to celebrated novelist and friend of the family, F. Scott Fitzgerald. (Source: F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters; November 9, 1938

Dear Frances:

I've read the story carefully and, Frances, I'm afraid the price for doing professional work is a good deal higher than you are prepared to pay at present. You've got to sell your heart, your strongest reactions, not the little minor things that only touch you lightly, the little experiences that you might tell at dinner. This is especially true when you begin to write, when you have not yet developed the tricks of interesting people on paper, when you have none of the technique which it takes time to learn. When, in short, you have only your emotions to sell.

This is the experience of all writers. It was necessary for Dickens to put into Oliver Twist the child's passionate resentment at being abused and starved that had haunted his whole childhood. Ernest Hemingway's first stories "In Our Time" went right down to the bottom of all that he had ever felt and known. In "This Side of Paradise" I wrote about a love affair that was still bleeding as fresh as the skin wound on a haemophile.

The amateur, seeing how the professional having learned all that he'll ever learn about writing can take a trivial thing such as the most superficial reactions of three uncharacterized girls and make it witty and charming—the amateur thinks he or she can do the same. But the amateur can only realize his ability to transfer his emotions to another person by some such desperate and radical expedient as tearing your first tragic love story out of your heart and putting it on pages for people to see.

That, anyhow, is the price of admission. Whether you are prepared to pay it or, whether it coincides or conflicts with your attitude on what is "nice" is something for you to decide. But literature, even light literature, will accept nothing less from the neophyte. It is one of those professions that wants the "works." You wouldn't be interested in a soldier who was only a little brave.

In the light of this, it doesn't seem worthwhile to analyze why this story isn't saleable but I am too fond of you to kid you along about it, as one tends to do at my age. If you ever decide to tell your stories, no one would be more interested than,

Your old friend,

F. Scott Fitzgerald

W2 Chekov’s 6 Principles of a good story

1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of a socio-political nature 2. Total objectivity3. Truthful descriptions of persons and objects4. Extreme brevity 5. Audacity and originality: flee the stereotype6. Compassion

W2 Editing Checklist

• Writing style, quality, English• Plot, purpose, story• Character, point of view, voice• Description• Dialogue• Beginning• End• Impact

W2 Endings (outputs)

• Twists• Not obvious• Life goes on• Change• Conclusion v want more• Realisation – epiphany / internal change• Character-led (not plot-led)

W2 Character (outputs)

• Tragic• One well-rounded protagonist• Stereotypes (maybe okay for secondary people)• Complex• Engaging• Sympathetic / empathetic• Emotional• Marginalised• The idea can be a character

Setting up a Writing Group

• 5-8 is a probably the best number of members• Aim to look at 2- 4 pieces each time, rotate• Have a regular time, place, frequency – monthly?• Agree a submission time – a week before• Agree a word limit – say 2,000 words as a guide• Members must be committed / regular• Don’t bother with membership, subs etc.• Agree that truth is better than a compliment• Stick to discussing the text – don’t get personal

Practice – discuss a piece of writing

• Let’s look at a random start of a short story– Harmony and the Black – Amateur student, not published

• Read the story aloud (1,000 words - 5 minutes)• Discuss in two small groups of 4-5 10 mins– Use the editing checklist

• Share our thoughts in plenary 10 mins

Advice about competitions

• Writing – THERE ARE NO RULES• Submitting – FOLLOW THE RULES– Word length– Format, font etc– Biog / intro– Avoid name in story / anonymity

• Don’t aim too high at first• Check yourself – is it the best it could be?

Where to find competitions• http://www.christopherfielden.com/short-story-tips-and-writing-

advice/short-story-competitions.php• http://shortstops.info/• http://paulmcveigh.blogspot.co.uk/• http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/• http://www.thewordfactory.tv/site/june-round-up-of-news-and-

opportunities/• http://www.westlothianwriters.org.uk/competitions-and-submis

sions-june-2015/

• Follow these on twitter or add yourself to their mailing lists and you are unlikely to miss any short story competition, event or news.

• Writers and Artists Yearbook still exists

Some example competitionsBIG competitions:• The Bridport Prize• BBC Short Story• Sunday Times EFG• Costa• Fish (Ireland)• Bristol• Bath• Manchester

NB: • Expect to pay £5-£17.50• Don’t expect to win!• Forget Big Publisher Inc.

The MacGuffin https://macguffin.io/signup/

Other competitions:• Words With Jam (book)• Unthology (books) Unthank Books

o Open for submissions• Lancashire Evening Post Readers Story

o Limited editorial resource • Southport Writers Circle• Chorley & District Writers Circle• The Short Story

Magazines:• London Magazine• AMBIT• Aesthetica• Synaesthesia

Editing Services

• Best option – MA (at EHU for short stories)• Second choice – join / start a writing group• If no other option is available or for final review

before publishing or really stuck – pay a professional editor from £40. Examples:– https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/– http://www.hylandbyrne.com/ (Anneliese Mackintosh)– https://cwartistsway.wordpress.com/ (Sarah Dobbs)– http://www.wildlandliteraryeditors.com/– http://www.fictionfeedback.co.uk/ (JR is on their list)

Questions / Discussion

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