Did you ever read a story and want to sit down with the author and ask her why she did certain things in the story? I know that with the Internet, authors are more accessible but how would you approach an author you admire to ask such questions? Would she think you actually wanted to learn her process or would she think that you were just trying to tear her work apart? After all, she's been published at a level you might never reach.
I just finished a short story by an author who I really admire. I've read all her books and always look forward to the next one. So I was thrilled when I came across a short story written by her. As I read the story I wondered why she chose to write using another author's VERY famous character.
While the use of this character was a bit jarring, the story was engrossing and well plotted. Right up until the end when I felt like she was rushing so she could get the story out the door. I wondered why she told instead of showing us what could have been an action packed ending. Was she limited by a word count or did she just get tired of writing the short story, maybe afraid of taking it over the top? I so wanted to start pounding the keyboard and filling in the the parts she'd just skimmed over.
Even though I'll never ask her these questions, she did teach me an important writing lesson. She showed me how important it is to fill in the blanks so the reader can actually see what's going on instead of just reading about it after the fact. This is something that I do in my own writing, telling instead of showing.
Reading this story also brought home the lesson that you can learn just as much from poor writing as from great writing. The trick is making sure you incorporate the lessons learned into your own writing. I don't think a writer is ever done learning and if you run across one who believes they know everything about writing, it might be better to take their advice with a grain of salt.
And a quote today from Truman Capote:
"Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shadows, just as painting does, or music."
6 comments:
If a famous writer is worth his/her salt, I think he'd be happy to discuss the ins and outs of the *business* of writing. All of us not-yet-published writers, I think, have this rose-eyed vision of the life of a professional writer. It really is a business. There might even be projects where the professional writer, faced with, say, the next mortgage payment, will take on a project not near and dear to his heart *just to get paid* and maintain the lifestyle. I get those kinds of projects all the time in my tech writing day job.
All this is to say, I would approach a writer with honest questions, wanting to know why certain decisions were made. I know that many writers consider their stories to be their babies but being able to take criticism is essential to being a good writer. Learn from one's mistakes b/c we all make them. Like you said, if a writer thinks he makes no mistakes, that, in and of itself, is a lesson.
Rushing the ending is a hard one to avoid--esp. for short story writers who are always checking the word count.
Most writers do share the business side of writing and their process, Scott, but asking about a specific story might no be appreciated especially as its already been published in an anthology.
What really struck me was that I was doing the same thing with a story I was writing, avoiding a scene that I really wanted to write because of the dreaded word count. After reading this story I've pretty much decided to write the story as it needs to be written and damn the word count. I may never place it but at least I'll know I wrote the best story that I could.
Endings are always hard for me,too, Patti. I'm always trying to make sure I'm within the word count and that's the rushed ending rears its ugly head. I wish we had the freedom to tell our stories like they did in the forties and fifties, letting the story itself determine the length.
Question: as you are writing, do you have an eye on the word count or do you write the story and then wrangle down the story to fit the word count? It seems that writing while keeping an eye on the WC might constrain the writing at the creation stage. Just wondering...
That depends on what I'm writing, Scott. If I'm writing flash, I keep an eye on the word count because it's pretty hard to whittle a 1200 word story down to 700.
And when I'm submitting to places like FlashShot where the top count is 100 words, watching the word count is necessary.
Most of the zines have a top word count of 2000, so if I'm writing for a specific market I try to keep that in mind.
If a story is just flowing and I have no notion where I might send it, I tend to let it go. Once the story is finished, I check around for markets then cut or expand as needed.
Does it constrain the creative process? Only if I let. Writing flash forces me to find those one or two perfect words to tell the story instead of stringing out an entire paragraph to say the same thing. Its just a different form of creativy.
Since there are very few markets for stories that are longer than 2000 words and only a few for over 5000, short stories writers do have to keep an eye on the word count or be prepared to do a lot of cutting. For me, it's easier to flesh out a story than cut it down.
Post a Comment