Mastering The Short Story :: essays research papers

Mastering The Short Story     Although I perceive Paul Darcy Boles to be an uppity, egotistic, andsomewhat euphorically rambling old man from his style of writing, there is somebeneficial information for someone wishing to create a commercially viable shortstory. However, I feel that creating a story with the tendency of marketability is agrave mistake that ruins count slight numbers of otherwise perfectly enjoyableworks of literature. It is no surprise that this style of writing is beingtaught to the virgin generation, which promises to be far more creative than itspredecessors.     Boles first advice is to follow Chekhovs observation "The art ofwriting is the art of abbreviation." A story of 3000 words or less has no needfor excessive 1 paragraph descriptions. "Todays reader" (whoever that is) hasno need for the descriptive style found in older works. So oft for AlistairMacLeod.     A lot of immensene ss is put on not stringing random sentences together.Each sentence should be aimed towards a specific goal. The sum total of thesesentences is your story. Boles views a sentence as a factor in a mathematicalequation. He also gets almost romantic about the sentence as a living, sentientbeing. Once you shovel the pop-lit drivel where it belongs, you are free toapply his suggestions to your own work.     It is a good idea to check your story for too much(prenominal) obvious meaning. Notonly will this make the story shorter and clearer, the hidden meanings imbeddedin the story will have a chance to be probed and discovered. As well, avoid"signpost" sentences that could easily be replaced by more legitimateconversations or actions.     A lot of emphasis is put on simulating a adept of "in-ness" that is,giving your work a believable lived in feeling. When reading the story, oneshould have a clear picture of the environment around i ts characters, and it isof imperial importance that it is realistic.     In conclusion, Boles discusses the important of a strong beginning and