Short Fiction

Short fiction is a tricky subject that seems simpler than it is. Telling a story and writing a short story are two very different tasks. The stories from within the collection, Maps to Anywhere, show a few handy tricks for writing a better short story, tricks like; showing your audience what has occurred  instead of telling them whats happening. A sentence like John murdered Jane with the knife is much less enthralling than something along the lines of "John thrust into Jane, letting the dripping knife fall to the floor clanking moments before Jane herself struck." Another new pattern I've seen within these works is that the story does not need to start at the start or end at the end. There's a tendency of short stories to start with little background and reach the climax faster than most find appealing. And likewise many end on ambiguous unsatisfying notes. This technique makes the reader delve far deeper into the story. They must base a whole person with intentions and a background from only a few measly pages. but when mixed these two tricks force the reader to become far more active while reading it giving them something to think about. Not so shockingly this makes reading the story a lot more fun.these techniques can be applied to all story writing.

Fiction Packet

The writing of short stories is a difficult art. Putting an entire tale into a few short pages or sometimes only a few paragraphs is an exceptional feat. To do this only the most relevant of information can be placed within the story. The tricky part is deciphering what information is relevant. Nearly any information can be relevant but a number of themes must be followed. In the packet of Short stories that were read in class a few criteria were satisfied within each story; a mood was set, characters were in some way developed, and there was some “action” or conflict.

Let’s observe The Colonel. First the mood is set through highly detailed description of the setting. The author uses precise language to show the reader that the story is taking place in a high class setting with a slight unease to it. This makes it far more terrifying when the Colonel empties the ears onto the table, the primary action of the story. This action works to describe the colonel in tandem with the way that he treats his pet. The reading of short fiction can allow for a new perspective on the topic of novelty.