The Short Story Workshop

TW: disease, cancer
This story is a little unusual, but memorable. We discuss what it does right and what it does wrong, as well as the creepiest kinds of monsters and how to tie a story together.

This masterful story is dripping with sarcasm, dry humour and character. We look at what makes its first (and last) lines so great, how we might approach beginnings and endings ourselves, and how to create humourous characters.

Mentioned article from The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/sep/14/saki-my-hero-naomi-alderman

This week we talk about various short story collections and how to construct a good one. Here's a list of the books we mentioned:
The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Salt Slow by Julia Armfield
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link

There's no story this week - instead, we bring you a discussion about the craft of writing. We talk about the dual approaches of planning or 'pantsing' and why the writing community has it all wrong.

This week's story is the classic be-careful-what-you-wish-for story The Monkey's Paw. We discuss why sensible characters are no fun, blending genres and challenging fate.

I'm all alone, there's no one here beside me~
Matt reads his story amidst the silence that serves as the foundation of creativity.

It's Halloween, so here's a horror story that's shockingly relevant almost 180 years after its publication. We talk about the various interpretations of this story and Poe's 'unity of effect', one of the most important defining features of short stories as a form.

This classic romance story is from the once controversial but now loved writer Kate Chopin. We discuss settings for romance stories, how to make a story linger in the reader's head, and how to marry both external and internal plot lines.

Story of the Week page as mentioned: https://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2021/02/a-shameful-affair.html

We discuss this cheery story about why there isn't a mermaid at this one lake or something. We talk about ways to build conflict and character quickly in romance and the mystery that is Charles Weathers Bump.

This uniquely structured story paints an intriguing scene and then unravels the details from several different perspectives. We discuss its unique structure and the different characters it illuminates.