Quick Guide to Writing Short Stories
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Schaum's Quick Guide to Writing Great Short Stories Other Books in Schaum's Quick Guide Series include: SCHAUM'S QUICK GUIDE TO BUSINESS FORMULAS SCHAUM'S QUICK GUIDE TO WRITING GREAT ESSAYS SCHAUM'S QUICK GUIDE TO GREAT PRESENTATION SKILLS Schaum's Quick Guide to Writing Great Short Stories Margaret Lucke McGraw-Hill New York San Francisco Washington, D.C. Auckland Bogota Caracas Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan Montreal New Delhi San Juan Singapore Sydney Tokyo Toronto Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-067035 [ED-Insert correct #] Lucke, Margaret. Schaum's quick guide to writing great short stories / Margaret Lucke. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-07-039077-0 1. Short story-Technique. I. Title. PN3373.L77 1998 808.3'l-dc21 98-31510 CIP McGraw-Hill A Division of The McGraw Hill Companies Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 1234567890 DOC/DOC 90321098 ISBN 0-07-039077-0 The sponsoring editor for this book was Mary Loebig-Giles, the editing supervisor was Fred Dahl, the designer was Inkwell Publishing Services, and the production supervisor was Sherri Souffrance. It was set in Stone Serif by Inkwell Publishing Services. Printed and bound by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. McGraw-Hill books are available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use in corporate training sessions. For more information, please write to the Director of Special Sales, McGraw-Hill, 11 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011. Or contact your local bookstore. This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper containing a minimum of 50% recycled, de-inked fiber. To Scott, as he explores the magic of creative expression Contents 1. Writing a Short Story—Getting Started 1 What Is a Short Story? 2 Finding a Story to Write 5 A Short Story's Basic Ingredients 10 Sitting Down to Write 12 Exercises: Generating Ideas 19 2. Characters—How to Create People Who Live and Breathe on the Page 21 Choosing a Protagonist 22 Choosing a Point of View 23 Bringing Your Characters to Life 29 Tip Sheet: Three-Dimensional Characters 39 Character's Bio Chart 41 Giving Your Characters a Voice 42 Tip Sheet: Dialogue 49 Exercises: Creating Characters 51 3. Conflict—How to Devise a Story That Readers Won't Want to Put Down 55 How Conflict Works in a Short Story 56 The Protagonist's Predicament 57 Bad Guys, Hurricanes, and Fatal Flaws 60 Conflict Equals Suspense 63 Exercises: Finding Story Conflict 66 vii 4. Plot and Structure—How to Shape Your Story and Keep It Moving Forward 69 What Is a Plot? 69 Four Characteristics of a Plot 72 Building the Narrative Structure 79 Beginnings, Middles, and Ends 83 Chart: Narrative Structure 84 Scenes: The Building Blocks of a Plot 92 Stories without Plots 94 Exercises: Constructing a Plot 96 5. Setting and Atmosphere—How to Bring Readers into a Vivid Story World 99 Choosing Your Setting 101 Bringing Your Setting to Life 107 Tip Sheet: Three-Dimensional Settings 115 Exercises: Making a Setting Vivid 118 6. Narrative Voice—How to Develop Your Individual Voice As a Writer 121 What Is Voice? 122 Making Your Voice Stronger 124 Making Your Voice Your Own 132 Tip Sheet: Narrative Voice 134 Exercises: Discovering and Developing Your Voice 138 Appendix A: Suggested Reading—Exploring the Realm of Short Stories 143 Appendix B: When Your Story Is Written—A Quick Guide to Submitting Manuscripts for Publication 147 Appendix C: How to Format Your Manuscript 153 Index 157 viii Acknowledgments I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to: The students in my writing classes, who have challenged and inspired me with their questions, their insights, and their wonderful stories. My writer colleagues and friends, with whose encouragement I have discovered so much about what I know about writing. To men- tion only a few: Dave Bischoff, Lawrence Block, Janet Dawson, Susan Dunlap, Syd Field, Suzanne Gold, Jonnie Jacobs, Theo Kuhlmann, Bette Golden Lamb, J.J. Lamb, Janet LaPierre, George Leonard, Lynn MacDonald, Larry Menkin, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Shelley Singer, Laurel Trivelpiece, Penny Warner, Mary Wings, Judith Yamamoto, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. There are many more, and I value them all. Mary Loebig Giles and Don Gastwirth, who gave me the oppor- tunity to write this book. Charlie and Agness, who have been supportive, patient, and gen- erous throughout the process, as they always are. Margaret Lucke ix Schaum's Quick Guide to Writing Great Short Stories Chapter 1 Writing the Short Story Getting Started Once upon a time—what a magical phrase. It offers an irresistible invitation: Settle back and listen. I'm going to tell you a story. Few pleasures are as basic and satisfying as hearing a good story—unless it's the pleasure of writing one. The concept of stories must have been invented as soon as human whoops and squeals turned into language. Stories have been found recorded on papyrus from ancient Egypt and in the fragments of documents that were compiled to become the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. It's possible that the smudgy cave paintings of prehistoric eras were made to illustrate tales told around cooking fires about the trials and tribulations of the sea- son's hunt. Civilizations around the globe have used stories to preserve history define heroes, and explain the caprices of the gods. The impulse to tell stories is no less strong today. Writers write for two reasons. One is that they have some- thing they want to say. The other, equally compelling motive is that they have something they want to find out. Writing is a mode of exploration. Through stories we can examine and come to terms with our own ideas, insights, and experiences. In the process of writing a story, we achieve a little better understand- ing of our world, our fellows, and ourselves. When someone reads what we write, we can share a bit of that understanding. What's more, writing a story can be great fun. So sharpen your pencils or fire up your computer, and let's get started. 1 What Is a Short Story? We begin with a couple of dictionary definitions. The first defines a story as "the telling of a happening or a series of connected events." Another definition of a short story is "a narrative...designed to inter- est, amuse, or inform the hearer or reader." These are the first of many definitions we'll encounter in the course of this book. Each definition has its uses, although none completely captures the essence of what a short story is. When taken together, they will all contribute to your sense of what constitutes a short story and what makes one story satis- fying to read while another is less so. We will concentrate on the traditional story—the kind that derives its power from characters, actions, and plot; that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Not all short stories are like this. An advantage of the short story form is that its brevity allows variations and experiments that would be difficult to sus- tain throughout the much longer course of a novel. A short story writer can focus on sketching a character, presenting a slice of life, playing with language, or evoking a mood. Many excellent stories written and published today achieve their impact from the way the author assembles a mosaic of images or jagged fragments of experience, instead of telling an old-fash- ioned tale. But the traditional story provides the best vantage point for examining the craft of short story writing. The best way to get a solid feel for the short story as a lit- erary form is to learn from the stories themselves. Become a voracious and eclectic reader. Read stories in abundance. Read literary stories and stories from a variety of genres—mystery, sci- ence fiction, fantasy, horror, romance. Read classic stories by acknowledged masters and recently published works by writers whose reputations are still developing. Read traditional stories and experimental ones. You will gain an intuitive sense of how to make a story work. Then do the three things that are essential to becoming a short story writer: 1. Write. 2. Write some more. 3. Keep on writing. 2 FICTION VERSUS REALITY When you write a short story you use the raw material of your imagination, your experience, and your observations about how life works to construct a small but complete and self-con- tained world. You create a sort of parallel universe that resem- bles the real world but differs from it in significant ways. Your world may mirror the real one so closely that we as readers accept it as the one we walk around in every day, or it may devi- ate markedly, especially if you are writing science fiction or fan- tasy. As the writer, your job is to make your world so vivid and true that readers believe in it, no matter how preposterous it may be when compared to reality. Two things distinguish a short story world from the actual one: In real life, events occur haphazardly, while in fiction they have a purpose. Because of that, a short story doesn't leave us hanging, perplexed about the outcome, the way life does.