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Overview
On Writing Short Stories, Second Edition, explores the art and craft of writing short fiction by bringing together nine original essays by professional writers and thirty-three examples of short fiction. The first section features original essays by well-known authors—including Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andre Dubus—that guide students through the process of writing. Focusing on the characteristics and craft of the short story and its writer, these essays take students from the workshopping process all the way through to the experience of working with agents and publishers. The second part of the text is an anthology of stories—many referred to in the essays—that give students dynamic examples of technique brought to life.
In this second edition, author-editor Tom Bailey brings the text up-to-date with new and revised essays, alongside classic pieces by Robert Coles and Frank Conroy and a foreword by Tobias Wolff.
New to This Edition
* Includes new and revised essays: Two new essays on workshopping by award-winning fiction writers Robert Boswell ("After the Workshop: Transitional Drafts") and Antonya Nelson ("Whose Story Is It? The Anonymous Workshop") introduce the latest techniques in the process. C. Michael Curtis updates his essay on "Publishers and Publishing" in order to take into account the rise of electronic and online publishing.
* Offers an expanded, diversified anthology of thirty-three stories, including works by short-short fiction and non-Western authors. New selections include works by such well-known authors at Jhumpa Lahiri and ZZ Packer.
* The essay on craft is accompanied by writing exercises that push students to develop their craft as they work through the writing process.
Synopsis
On Writing Short Stories is a unique collection of original essays by seven professional writers. It is the only text of its kind to offer writing advice from such authors, editors, and instructors as Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates, Frank Conroy, Andre Dubus, Robert Coles, Tom Bailey, and C. Michael Curtis, with a foreword by Tobias Wolff. These experts give voice—voices—to a dialogue about the art and craft of writing short stories.
Respecting writers' autonomy, On Writing Short Stories does not offer a rigidly systematic apparatus for learning to write short stories. Instead it asks what makes a short story, analyzes various aspects of craft, discusses process and revision, and also pauses to wonder why people write short stories at all. It considers the importance of reading and of peer critique in workshops as integral components of the learning process and offers advice on how to get short stories published.
Ideal for courses and workshops in creative writing, On Writing Short Stories also includes an engaging selection of eighteen short stories, both classic and contemporary, for discussion and analysis. These stories stretch the limits of narrative fiction; reading them will help students create a scaffolding for the short story form. Writing exercises are incorporated to help students put the craft into practice for themselves. A list of addresses and editors of magazines, journals, and quarterlies that publish short fiction is also included for writers who are ready to begin submitting their work for consideration.