Episode Description:
In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Marcelo Mendes’s “The Automatic Author” an as yet unpublished literary science fiction short story. They discuss short stories, economy of words, where to start your story, and ways to evoke feelings.
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Show Notes
“You think writing 100,000 words is tough? That shaping them into a coherent and meaningful story is challenging?
Try writing 1000 words sometime. Or 5,000. With the same goal.
Try writing a short story.
As paradoxical as it may seem, short stories are harder to wrap your head around than a novel. And harder yet to successfully pull off.
”
Editorial Mission—Write a Short Story
Drafting short stories is one way to explore and practice all the elements of story in rapid succession is to play with short stories. Write a short story and focus on an element of storytelling that is most challenging for you. Experiment! This is not your work in progress with which your heart is indelibly entwined. Have some fun and take risks.
Other Information
Here’s a great blog post from Karen Woodward about different ways to structure a short story.
