The Long and the Short of It

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


At a Southern Writers authors event a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking with several novelists about their approaches to writing (you'll read about many of them in upcoming issues of Southern Writers).  When I spoke with one author in particular who writes both novels and short stories, I sought his perspectives on writing for the two different formats.

When I learned that his first step in creating his novels was to create a detailed outline, I asked if he plots out his short stories as well. "No," he replied with instant enthusiasm.  Short stories, he explained, are his opportunity to run free. When he begins a novel, he knows how it will end before the opening scene.  For a short story, he lets his characters take him wherever they want to go.

At first glance, one might think the short story would be the one warranting advance planning, since the novel by its sheer length could afford to let its characters wander off course a bit.  I'm even reminded of Abraham Lincoln's famed reply when asked to give an impromptu speech: 

"If I am to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now."

However, the short story—unlike the novel—isn't required to conform to the traditional three-act format we expect from a novel.  The hero's journey as explained by Aristotle, Joseph Campbell, Christopher Vogler and others will probably always have some influence on long-form stories, but the short story can afford to carve its own path. A simple contemplation of a single theme? A beginning-to-end chronicle? The sky's the limit with a short story.

By the same token, there are authors who outline their short stories while letting their novel characters cast their own fates to the wind.  Indeed, going back and forth between the two approaches (outlining versus not) seems like an excellent way to exercise both sides of a creative brain.

There are many good books to help take the guesswork out of outlining, such as K.M. Weiland's Structuring Your Novel, and even if flying by the seat of your pants is your preferred writing method, it's good to know the rules so you can break them with confidence.

Whatever your chosen approach, we invite you to forge a potentially new path by entering Southern Writers' 4th annual Short Story Fiction contest.  By popular demand, we've doubled the 1200-word limit and you can now let your imagination run wild up to 2500 words. The deadline is August 1st, 2015.

Visit http://www.southernwritersmagazine.com/shorts for all the details, and good luck!  With a $500 grand prize, there's never been a better time to get short with us.

Swinging In On a Vine

After putting the September issue to bed, Gary is taking a much deserved day off. Help us welcome his guest poster,  Vicki Moss, Editor-at-Large.

Have you ever swung into the writing jungle for a critique and disagreed with comments or some of the advice? If so, did you revise the manuscript or hold to your original wording?

I remember for the longest I didn’t want to enter contests or have someone critique my work for fear of what might be said. Traveling across country once to attend a writing conference, I was exhausted. Midnight approached. Fourteen toughened writers sat around a table as an author critiqued their work. I was fifteenth. A writer newbie. As the night dragged on, I kept thinking, why did I send my manuscript in? These people are such prolific bards. My manuscript is horrid. How can I slip my story out of the pile and roach-squeeze beneath the door crack? If only I could toss coffee on my words so they would be illegible.  

At last, my manuscript, “My Bugs Bunny Bad Hair Trip,” was pulled from the pile. The well-published author who had critiqued our work read a couple of paragraphs, waved her arm and belted out, “Who cares!”

Ouch.

Why don’t you tell me what you really think!

After a nightmare like that, did I ever go back to another conference for a critique?

You betcha.

And received even more criticism.

But the next time, I’d changed my mental attitude and my cowardly lion carcass had become as tough as elephant hide.  

It took me awhile to realize that a critique was subjective.

Some may not like what I write—others may love what I pen.    The trick was to discern which suggestions were to be written in stone. Only I, as author, knew what audience I was trying to reach.

Of course, there were basics that needed to be adhered to like plot, story arc, beginning a story with a hook and also ending a chapter with a hook to keep the reader engrossed and turning pages.

Rules.

And I could break some of those once I knew them.  

What really cleared smoke from my eyes was when I sent three manuscripts to a contest. Each manuscript was critiqued by two judges. For two of the manuscripts, the judges made similar comments. No brainer.

Revision—expedient.   

On the third manuscript, the judges were polar opposites on the critique and scores. After carefully reading through comments from both, it was obvious one judge wasn’t as experienced at critiquing. So, some suggestions I kept; others I tossed.  

Sometimes, I had to use intuition, especially if a judge didn’t have my synopsis and had no way of knowing where my story was headed. On one occasion, a judge told me I had to change a certain line. Did I want to change the line and have a better chance at winning the contest…or did I stick with my inherent beliefs?

I adhered to my beliefs.

The article won first place. Later, I expanded the story leaving in the same line and the story won first place in a different venue.

What I’ve learned in summation:

• Grow skin thick as an elephant's hide
• Open your writing to critique
• Revise, revise, revise
• Never fear - writing is subjective

Give a Tarzan yell and rally 'round my new motto: "Bring on the poisonous blow darts and the kettle water on to boil-I'm swinging in on a vine."