Thursday, 1 November 2012

Short-Story Writing

One vital point in their construction.

The beginning to the short story is what hair is to a woman's appearance. An ugly or unbecoming hairstyle sat on the head of an otherwise beautiful lady gives much the same first impression about her overall appearance as does a poor, inartistic, or overwrought opening to a short story.

Never explain or apologize.

A short story that begins with an explanation or an apology is unpardonably inartistic and dull; while the writer who starts with a bit of overwhelming excitement is very soon obliged to climb down to sobriety in order to "begin." The master story-tellers put a great deal of art into their openings. In their minds, evidently, they conceive and perceive their plots in the most lucid way, and then proceed to give them out with a like lucidity, beginning with a deft, concise "pen-and-ink" sketch of either an out standing character or the setting, or else of character and setting combined.

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