![]() Kino, in Murakami’s story, confronts the hurt he’s bottled up at his spouse’s betrayal at last. Doree confronts a traumatic past at the scene of an accident, being present in a way she could not before. In the Murakami and Munro examples above, for example, the protagonists undergo transformations. Many of the best short stories, however, develop characters well. ![]() ![]() Develop short story charactersĬharacter development may seem reserved for longer story forms. Because we come to understand their origins and emotions. She teases out gradual, sometimes subtle revelations that deepen our empathy towards characters. Munro is a master of creating compelling human situations. We learn of a traumatic event in Doree’s past, and the story subtly builds to another crisis moment that offers a kind of redemption, a chance to face life’s accidents head-on. Only as Munro’s story unfolds do we learn the compelling background situation, the tragic reason Doree appreciates work that tires her out so she can sleep. Alice Munro, ‘Dimension’, available here. She liked the work-it occupied her thoughts to a certain extent and tired her out so that she could sleep at night. She scrubbed bathrooms and stripped and made beds and vacuumed rugs and wiped mirrors. ![]() Munro doesn’t make it immediately obvious what Doree, her protagonist’s starting situation is. Many great short stories begin with a character in a compelling initial situation that is gradually made clearer over the course of the story.Īlice Munro’s short story Dimension is one of the best short stories when it comes to hard-hitting surprises. This will help you flesh out your vision for your story. To find a premise for a short story, it’s helpful to try to write a logline, a two-line ‘concept’ or summary for your unwritten story. Murakami’s premise is interesting because it contains dramatic and unexpected events (the spousal infidelity, Kino opening a bar, the arrival of the snakes). The bar becomes the setting for strange events – a mysterious regular who takes on rowdy patrons, an unnerving tryst between Kino and a scarred woman, a cat that disappears after snakes start appearing in the streets around the bar. These are some elements.Ĭhoosing an interesting premise ensures you have a foundation that allows these interesting elements to emerge.įor example, in Haruki Murakami’s dream-like short story Kino, a man opens a bar and flees his feelings after walking in on his wife cheating on him with a colleague. Intrigue, mystery and suspense tension, immersive setting, memorable characters. What makes a story good? We attempt to answer this question in our article here. Read as a reader first, simply enjoying the story, then read closely, asking questions about the author’s style and other choices. Read story compilations and single-author collections. Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales are rich with beautiful description and moral fables about broad concepts such as ‘love’ or ‘sacrifice’. And to learn something from their craft.Īlice Munro, for example, excels in writing stories about ordinary lives unfolding in her native Canada, and the moments of disruption that alter a life forever.įranz Kafka excels in ‘mood’, in creating claustrophobia, mystery, alienation. It’s easier to see at a glance what this particular author’s skill is. Reading different short story authors gives us great insights into the varied strengths authors have. A partial list includes Alice Munro (recipient of the Nobel Prize for a body of work only consisting of short stories), William Baldwin, Anton Chekhov, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges, H.P. Many authors have been hailed as masters of the short story medium. Let’s explore this fun story format further: 1. Learn from the great short story writers.How do you write the best short story you can? Read 7 ideas: How to write the best short story possible: The best short story anthologies and collections show us how a brief snapshot can excite us, move us, surprise us, make us laugh.
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