REVIEW: Writing Short Stories: A Routledge Writer’s Guide

To begin my project of a collection of short stories, I sought out some of the newest and highly recommended books on the subject. This was my favorite. Written by Ailsa Cox, Reader in Creative Writing and English at Edge Hill University, UK, the book is short and to the point—a characteristic I am sure was not lost on the author. This is the second edition which includes “up-to-date coverage of emerging technologies and a new glossary of key terms and techniques.”
This 176-page book comprises seven chapters, each followed by a set of anywhere from seven to nine exercises.

1.  “Spinning a yarn,” which explores the characteristics of story-telling and short narrative. This chapter acts as an introduction and overview, discussing (with examples from Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, and others), suspense, tall tales, mysteries, and plot and structure.
2. “Capturing the moment” examines short stories that rely more on imagery than plot, discussing subjects such as modernism, epiphany, open endings, stream of consciousness, and the use of creative syntax. Examples come from Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, William Trevor, and others.
3. “Humor, character and dialogue.” This chapter studies irony, characterization, anecdotal writing, parody, and satire, using examples from Patrick McCabe, Garrison Keillor, and others.
4. “The fantastic,” as you might guess, examines genres of myth, altered reality, and parallel worlds, using examples from stories by Franz Kafka, Angeles Carter, and Jorge Luis Borges.
5. “What if?” explores the genre of speculative fiction or science fiction, and various ways to approach the genre (the unknown, utopia/dystopia, cyberpunk, and more ), examples come from the writings of H. G. Wells, William Gibson, Ray Bradbury, and others.
6. “Reality” considers styles of writing that mimic journalism, social observation, memories, and minimalism and dirty reality. Examples are drawn from the writings of Alice Munro, Guy de Maupassant, and more.
7. The final chapter, “Love, death and desire,” deals with love stories and examines those that revolve around desire, adultery, recognition, and the opportunity to deal with literary experimentation in the genre (examples from the works of Gabriel García Márquez, Anton Chekhov, and Ali Smith).

As you can see from this summary of the content, the book is practical, unlike many that deal only with theory and descriptiveness. Using examples from literature ground theory in concrete. The activities enable the reader to become an active participant. The conciseness of each chapter and the examples avoid leaving a reader buried under a mountain of theoretical information with little grasp of the essentials. Lest the conciseness leave one with only a cursory understanding, the author has also included an extensive bibliography for further studies, a glossary, an index, and a “Resources” section of print and online magazines, prizes, and organizations and databases.

Even if you are not a writer, but a reader who enjoys short stories and wants to learn more about the craft, this is a worthwhile read. For writers, this is a wonderful resource of orientation, practice, and resources.