It could be.
After ingesting a healthy dose of NaNovels over the past month I thought I'd look at how other, more highly regarded, writers attempt to put their thoughts into words. To do a more even comparison I should, of course, have compared novels to novels, but this is me we're talking about. Instead, I finally cracked The Story and Its Writer - An Introduction to Short Fiction edited by Ann Charters (6th Ed).
Oh my.
I'd purchased this rather large book sometime late last year. It's about 1800 pages, those thin ones that always remind me of Bibles, and contains about fifteen hundred pages of stories. Then, commentaries. I've made a slight dent so far, and every story new to me is also the best I've read, ever.
I like how that works.
I have much to learn. I hope that my hobbled brain can remain facile enough to create a work or two that will please me and others. I know I've forgotten much, that the synapses are clogged with sludge or have lost tenuous connections to others, but perhaps enough remains to do some good. I know I can write, and at times even do so well, but I admit I've lost that step or two. Maybe what's left is enough, and maybe I can fake it.
"Words were the surfaces..." -- Sherwood Anderson.
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3 comments:
I'm learning that I have the Writing Attention Span of a gnat. I'm going to work on a few short stories, simultaneously, and see if...what was I saying?
I have the same collection of shorts, but I can't remember which edition. Short stories are great. I read the one in The New Yorker each week just to keep up with what's hot. I too have thought about writing short stories, but haven't had much success with the form. I wrote some short pieces last year (2004) ala Pekar (except without the pictures) and that seemed to help me break out of this traditional mode of what I think a short story should be. If you guys come up with a couple of good stories, you should submit them to Phaneron. ;)
The edition may not matter, but I don't know if other editors chose other works.
What I love most about short stories is how pure they can be. A single thought, one element, one sharply focused point. And, I think it's possible because of the nature to write a perfect one (not that I ever will).
I know it's easy to look down at them, but they're incredibly hard to do well, and in some ways I find novels a helluva lot easier.
But, if you look at my samples, I don't do them as well as I'd like.
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