Fiction Scribe

I sighed, looking at the computer screen and sticking my bottom lip out slightly. I stared at the red nearly covering every word on the five printed pages.

“But I don’t do short stories,” I said, pouting in what I hoped would be an adorable manner.

This happened a few days ago, and the scene has stuck in my mind. The fact is, I can write short stories, but it hasn’t been my main writing focus, so I still have a lot to learn when it comes to the art of the short.

Writing in itself is an art, but each form is also an art. Some forms we are comfortable with while others we aren’t so much. Naturally, we focus on what is comfortable and tend to avoid what makes us uncomfortable.

It’s my goal with this blog to explore all kinds of writing. Thus, when I get out of my areas I feel most comfortable, I interview. This time around, I will be interviewing my editor, my fiancé, the man who had held my hand as I’ve learned to walk in the realm of short stories.

Tell the readers a little about yourself.

I’ve always tried my hand at writing, since I was a kid. Had a go at writing a book when I was about nine. I had a few story starts written out with the intention of doing something more when I was ‘mature’ enough with enough experience of the world to be able to create something a little more in depth than my early attempts.

I bought a computer because I wanted to get away from the ‘re-type a page to change one word’ thing & within a few months the computer ate my life.

When did you start developing your love for short stories?

When I was very young I discovered books of short stories from the classics that had come with our encyclopedias. Stories of Baldur, Jason & others fueled an imagination that then found further fuel in Science Fiction.

What is it about short stories that is a draw for you?

I guess it’s the way everything has to be condensed. Not only does the author have to tell the story, but entire moods & settings have to be implied, entire plot lines have to unfold, make sense & come to a satisfying conclusion, all within the space of a few pages. Lots of short stories also have twists at the end to alter your perceptions or perspectives as well

What is your definition of a successful short story?

It’s succinct, it tells a worthwhile story, it is engaging & it creates the entire scene within its pages.

You like reading short stories - Do you favor writing in that form?

If I could find a venue, yes I think so. But these days short stories don’t seem to have the saleability they had way back when. Maybe once you’re an established writer, but the market of the pulps like Analog or books like Gollanz Short Stories seems to be gone

Who are your favorite short story authors?

Too many to list. Larry Niven writes some excellent ones, but mostly I prefer anthology-type books of short stories to get a variety.

Would you say a particular short story inspired you to write? If so, which one?

No, I think it was probably a book – Robert Heinlein’s Red Planet.

Do you have any guilty pleasures while writing?

Not that I’m aware of. Maybe choccy biscuits with coffee? But I don’t feel guilty about it.

Do you have a muse? If so, who or what is it?

I think maybe I have one but it’s been gone so long on walkabout I couldn’t tell you who or what it is. *grins*

Do I have an identifiable one? No I don’t think so; never personified it that much.

Any advice to short story writers? For writers in general?

Work at it – don’t think just because it’s only a few pages it doesn’t need as much attention as a novel – good short stories take MUCH more effort than a novel – you have to squeeze it all into a much tinier box!

Anything else you’d like to add?

SciFi short stories are, to me, the ultimate in writing. You have to create real characters, you have to have a tight plot, you have to get the science to be self-consistent, you have to create an entire universe in the background without having the room to describe it and you have to work to ensure there is only ONE required suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader.

Willing suspension of Disbelief – this is the point you want the reader to accept that makes your story feasible if not possible. There should, in good SciFi, be only one. eg. Faster Than Light travel is possible – given this point, the rest of the story becomes feasible. You should not require the reader to accept that PLUS that magic works PLUS that Unicorns only let virgins ride them etc.

Self-consistent science – it doesn’t have to be science, it might be magic. But whatever your story relies on, it needs to be internally consistent. If it’s magic, then work out how your magic would work & stick to the scenario! Your readers WILL notice when you don’t.

Thank you for your time.

As always, if you have any other questions you’d like answered, let me know.