The hardest and easiest task in all writing is the story. It’s easy if you have a great idea. It’s impossible if you don’t. For me, the best short story ever written is The Book of Job. The most beautiful story is The Book of Ruth. The best modern short story is that of Hemingway. The old man and the sea.
Now you will say The old man and the sea it is a short novel. Well, you’re right and I’m right. Let’s keep it that way so we can stay friends. The old man and the sea it has all the necessary elements of a good short story, except, like you said, it’s too long if you put a length limit on short stories. My novels are “short” stories if you compare them based on length alone with War and peace. They do not have the elements of a story. Well, maybe the first chapter of Revenge on the Mogollon Rim it does.
In a novel you can wonder and yawn and your readers will not only enjoy it, they will forgive you. In the story, you have to stick to the point. The “point” is the whole point of the story.
Edgar Allen Poe was the best writer in Boston. I say it like that so as not to offend the other great writers. I hope it doesn’t offend Poe. I don’t want him to haunt me every night. Some of his poems are short stories that he doesn’t lengthen. His tales are strange but moving. He invented the crime novel.
Poe was found delirious in a Baltimore sewer and died on October 7, 1849 (see http://www.online-literature.com/poe/). Also, Hemingway shot himself on the highway a few miles from here. One should not take short story writing too seriously. That’s why I’ve remained a cheat writer. I call myself “Taylor Jones the Gimmick Writer” to remind myself of that fact.
Hemingway learned his writing techniques from the Kansas City Star. He said, “Those were the best rules I’ve ever learned for the writing business. I’ve never forgotten them.” Here are the rules: short sentences, short paragraphs, active verbs, authenticity, understanding, clarity, and immediacy. (See http://www.lostgeneration.com/childhood.htm.) Sit in a corner and memorize these rules. You will need them to write a good story.
A story usually has less than 35,000 words (much less). combine economy with Unit. I know this to be true because it says so in my old college text. Economy it means it is short. Long character descriptions are out. Long scene descriptions are out. Please, no panoramic war scenes. Unit it means you don’t leave anything “important”. It must be there briefly or implicitly. If I say a man is a railway worker, I don’t have to put overalls on him, do I?
you must remember emphasis Y subordination. My old text says so. In other words, “What’s hot and what’s not?” The emotions, the scenarios, the theme (only one allowed), must be perfectly fused. Here are some examples:
The Book of Ruth: A smart woman hooks a husband.
Heart of darkness: A Strange Jungle Tale by Joseph Conrad. Speaking of HUMOR! The horror!
Miss Bright: Katherine Mansfield tells of an old woman who lost her self-esteem due to the thoughtless comments of young people. This story is sad.
The murderers: Hemingway’s famous story about how Nick Adams is more concerned with death by murder than his chosen victim.
To Esmé-with Love and Misery: The story of a girl and a soldier. You have to read this JD Salinger story. Have a hankerchef ready.
The Book of Job: The devil messes with God’s servant, Job.
We are going to write a short story now.
First, get an idea, hook one end to the shady side of your barn and the other end to your mule walking south. Your idea is a wide elastic band. As the mule walks and stretches the band, the band narrows. When you reach what we engineers call your Elastic limit, It will break. Right before it breaks, it’s War and peace. When it is stretched, it is still a novel. Somewhere before that you have a short story.
Now think about the point of view. The first person is good. Poe liked this view. In any case, do not go beyond what the protagonist can see and hear with his own eyes. Remember this if you write in the third person like Hemingway did. You must not stand back and look at his story through a telescope. It must be intimate.
The protagonist is the main character. Who is the antagonist? He may need one in his story to be mean, nasty, cruel, uncaring, or have some other less-than-wonderful human trait. (You don’t need an antagonist in every short story. Most, but not all, stories are called “boring.”)
Well, let’s take an idea and execute it.
The sun beat down on the sodden field. Trevor was drenched from the rain, but now the hot sun was drying him rapidly. He slapped Bossy on the rump and said, “Let’s go to the barn, Bossy. If I don’t get you milked before daddy comes home, I’ll give you the stick.” That was when Trevor slipped on a beef patty and slid down the hill toward the irrigation ditch. Bossy stared at the irrigation ditch for a while, then brooded again.