I'm wondering how my writing would change if I read only short stories for awhile, say three or four months. Don't get me wrong, I love novels, but when I'm in the middle of reading one, I tend to get caught up in the entire world presented in it, including all its complexities and structure. Then when I sit down to work on one of my stories, I get a little overwhelmed with the possibilities of ideas, structure, character, etc. I know and understand that you don't have the room in a short story to explore an entire world, but I'm wondering if a tighter focus in my reading would provide some boundaries in my writing, which right now tends to roam all over the place.
Speaking of writing, another 500 words on my "dead people" story. Really it's more of a graveyard story than a dead people story. It took me awhile to explore what's going on in the narrator's head and after some false starts, the story has shown me where it needs to go. Now it's flowing pretty well.
Not much going on this weekend, but my good friend John and I will be attending Capclave next weekend, which will be a nice warm-up for World Fantasy next month.
1 comment:
Hello Andy!
How are you? I was attracted to your blog by the image of the dust jacket of Haruki Murakami. I've long been a fan of the Japanese writers. Yukio Mishima being a particular favourite and the more contemporary Kazuo Ishiguro. I've also been an avid reader of the great American literary giants like John Updike, Philip Roth, Isaac Bashevic Singer and Saul Bellow et al.(We saw Updike being interviewed by a BBC radio presenter at our local Literary Festival at Hay-on-Wye in Wales, UK a couple of years ago. He's quite frail now.)
I'm actually an artist who who dabbles in writing and I'm currently engaged in completeing some short stories I started a while ago and didn't finish. I was interested in what you wrote about the characters taking over and things 'starting to flow'. This is very true. It's brilliant when the damn is unblocked!! It sounds like you've got some good stuff on the boil. I think it's a good idea to read short stories. After all one reads to stimulate one's own thought process. Guy de Maupassant and Chekov wrote some fabulous, thought- provoking short stories. A good short story can be just as valuable and stimulating as a novel.
I've published one of my short stories in serial form on my blog. It's called 'The Inheritance Powder' and is filed under bloglit. If you ever get the time or the inclination you're welcome to peruse it. Or if you could do with a laugh you can check out my art web site at www.artwanted.com/margarita
I enjoyed reading your blogs. You have a very acccessible style that makes one want to continue reading.
Great stuff! Take care.
Best Wishes from Rusty in Wales, UK.
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