Writing short stories : a writers' and artists' companion / Courttia Newland and Tania Hershman ; series editors, Carole Angier and Sally Cline.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Newland, Courttia, author.

Hershman, Tania, author.

Contributor:

Angier, Carole, 1943- editor.

Cline, Sally, editor.

Series:

Writers' and artists' companions.

Writers' and artists' companions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--Study and teaching.

Fiction.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (305 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, [2015]

Summary:

teach at the world famous Arvon Foundation writing course and have distilled the essence of their course into this practical handbook with contributions from leading writers.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Part 1

The history of the shortstory

Further reading

Crime, tricks and tales:genre and the short story

The shorter end of shortstories - boundaries withpoetry

Stories: those little slicesof life

Discovering short stories

Why write short stories?

Where do stories come from?

What is a short story?

Reflections on writing andon books on writing

Reflections on the what,when, how, why and whereof it for me

When

Why

How

How Tania Hershman achieved her dream and gota book

How (2), what, when (2) and where

Why (2): why do I write at all?

What do I write?

Reflections on the evolutionof a short story

The evolution of a shortstory: 'Under the Tree'

First draft

Second draft

Third draft

Fourth draft

Permission and structure

Fifth draft

Sixth and seventh drafts and submission

Summing up

Reflections: permissionand risk

Part 2

On being brief

Whose epiphany?

On generosity

Voice

On short story endings

On short stories

Tension in fiction

On the life and afterlife of the short story

Short stories - 'experimental' shorts

Other countries

The experimental short story or experimentingwith the short story

Setting

Lost stories

Katherine Mansfield

The short story

Judging the BBC National Short Story Award

Tips and tales

A paranoid vision

Absence

Part 3

Editing and revising

When to edit

The sifting stage

The writing

The revision funnel

Tenses

Step into a world -thoughts on structure

The story (real time)

Plot (rearranged time)

How do graphic novels use time?

When does structure work best?.

Character and plot - the basic components ofscenes

Writer's tools

Building a scene

Structure and how to use it

Use of breaks in text

Sections

Examples of experimental structure

What gets left outand minimalism

Traditional short stories

What readers already know

What readers don't need to know but you do

What readers need to know about in fantasticalstories

Pre-empt and explain

Show not tell

Minimalist short stories

Speaking their minds -character and voice

What the character knows and feels

Empathy and respect for your characters

The components of characters

Writing flash fiction,liberation throughconstraint

Hint from Robert Shapard

Hint from David Gaffney

Definition from Tara Masih

Advantages of writing flash fiction

Effect of flash fiction on readers

Liberation through constraint

Exercises using constraints

A brief history of time inthe short story

Flashbacks

Another perspective - pointof view in the story

Key question 1

Key question 2

Choosing your view

Voice and dialogue, usingscenes

Why use dialogue?

Using a narrator

Experimenting andexperimental short stories

The meaning of 'experiment' and 'experimental'

Examples of journals and presses specially forexperimental fiction

Why experiment in short stories?

Experiments with linear structure

Playing with language

Close reading of 'BetweenMy Father and the King' byJanet Frame

Between My Father and the King

Publishing short stories

History of marketing short stories

Today's markets

Magazines

Radio stories

Competitions and awards

Multi-author anthologies

Live lit events.

Dealing with rejection

A few online resources

Short story festivals

Short story competitions- how to make your storystand out

Harvesting - on writingyour collection

What is a collection?

Taking a break

Why assemble a collection?

Ways to interlink short stories

Geography

Single narrative

Tradition

A social group

Short story collections -how do they work and howto get one published?

Approaching a publisher

Via established agents

Via small publishers

Enter story collection contests

Tania's experience

Self-publishing

60 favourite short stories

50 favourite collections

A note on craft andcritique : writing is not ademocracy

From beginning to end

Mining memory

Finding the voice

Plotting with holes

Write what you see

Endings

How does viewpoint work?

Where to start - ideas andinspiration

Ways to find inspiration on your own

Ways to find inspiration with others

Online writing with friends

Where to start: titles,beginnings and endings

Openings

Tension

Good endings

Movement and syncopationin fiction : writing the longshort story

Taking the journey

Picking moments

The difference between looking and seeing

Movement creates anticipation, or delayedattacks

Movement as communication

Why?

Working it out

The push and pull - character vs plot

Plot versus story - where'sthe tension?

Bibliography

The history of the short story

Books - theory

Early short story collections

Short stories

Articles in print and online

Crime, tricks and tales: genre and the short story

Early short stories and collections

Short stories and short story collections

Novels.

Literary journals

The shorter end of short stories - boundaries withpoetry

Books

Articles in print and onli

Stories: those little slices of life

Novels

Reflections on writing and on books on writing

Reflections on the what, when, how, why andwhere of it for me

Articles

Reflections on the evolution of a short story

The evolution of a short story: 'Under the Tree'

Journals

Reflections: permission and risk

A note on craft and critique: writing is not ademocracy

Where to start - ideas and inspiration

Where to start: titles, beginnings and endings

Movement and syncopation in fiction: writing thelong short story

Plot versus story - where's the tension?

Step into a world - thoughts on structure

Poetry, short stories and short story collections

What gets left out and minimalism

Speaking their minds - character and voice

Writing flash fiction, liberation through constraint

Collections of flash fiction

Books on flash fiction

A brief history of time in the short story

Another perspective - point of view in the story

Experimenting and experimental short stories

Journals and publishers

Publishing short stories.

Websites

Harvesting - on writing your collection

Short story collections - how do they work andhow to get one published?

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-4742-5729-1

1-4742-5730-5

OCLC:

1024263158