SWRT 260 | Short Stories

July 14, 2022

person typing on MacBook Pro on brown wooden table during daytime photo

This week, Alida and Kathryn talk about short stories. Why, as novelists, do we love writing the short story? What can we learn by writing short stories that we maybe can’t by writing novels? What makes a short story great? It’s memorability. It’s a shift in the reader. Sound tough to achieve? Don’t let that stop you! Your writing skills will grow in leaps and bounds when you take on the short story.

VIDEO

AUDIO

SHOW NOTES

What we talked about:

Why we are loving short stories right now. (0:25)

Do short stories require the same form? (3:13)

You need a turning point at the end. (6:45)

Make the reader do the work. (10:25)

What struggles do we have? (12:35)

What do short stories free us up for? (16:47)

LINKS

Get Alida’s Writing Tips here.

Things we mentioned:

“Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff

Want more about these topics? Check out:

SWRT 12: Short Stories part 1
SWRT 13: Short Stories part 2
SWRT 14: Short Stories part 3
SWRT 063 Short Stories – How they differ from the Novel
SWRT 064 Story Collections, Novel-in-Stories, Serialization
SWRT 203 Short Stories

Have thoughts, questions, other examples? Join the conversation at the Story Works Writers Facebook group.

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About Your Hosts

Alida Winternheimer is an award-winning author with an MFA in writing from Hamline University. She pursues her fervor for all things story as a writing coach, developmental editor, and teacher. Three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize, she is also a notable in Best American Essays and winner of the Page Turner Award. Author of The Story Works Guide to Writing Fiction Series, Alida lives and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She camps, bikes, and kayaks in her free time. Unless it’s winter, in which case she drinks chai by the fire. You can find more at www.alidawinternheimer.com.

Kathryn Arnold writes fantasy and anything else that sparks her creativity from her home in Kingston, Washington. She currently earns her living as an insurance underwriting assistant, where she also creates marketing and web copy. When not writing, she plays (and teaches) piano and keyboard in a band (or two), and is working on starting a ministry team with her husband. You can find Kathryn at www.skyfirewords.com.

Robert Scanlon was born in Australia, but whisked off to England when only a baby. After many years complaining about the weather, he did the sensible thing and moved back to Australia. Despite a career in the music industry, followed by decades teaching public speaking, Robert is an introvert who adores reading. Robert grew up on a diet of sci-fi masters, eventually discovering he had read the library’s entire science fiction section. Now he has to write his own. Robert is the author of Constellation, book one of the Blood Empire space opera series. Find out more at www.RobertScanlon.com