On Writing Short Stories

by Tom Bailey

Book Overview

On Writing Short Stories is a unique collection of original essays by seven professional writers. It is the only text of its kind to offer writing advice from such authors, editors, and instructors as Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates, Frank Conroy, Andre Dubus, Robert Coles, Tom Bailey, and C. Michael Curtis, with a foreword by Tobias Wolff. These experts give voice--voices--to a dialogue about the art and craft of writing short stories.
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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195122720
• ISBN13: 9780195122725
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The Craft of Short-Story Writing: The Basics

Whenever asked to recommend one basic book on the craft of short-story writing, I choose Tom Bailey's A Short Story Writer's Companion and the anthology On Writing Short Stories edited by him. Okay, that makes two books; however, with the duplicate material excised, the two could easily be republished as one 350-page book. In this brief book (184 pages), Tom Bailey helps the beginning writer learn more about the craft of short-story writing than the textbooks like Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway (434 pages) and the recent textbook "The Making of a Story" by Alice LaPlante (672 pages). These three craft-writers include several of the same short stories -- such as Flannery O'Connor's "Everything That Rises Must Converge," Tobias Wolff's "Bullet in the Brain," Tim O' Brien's "The Things They Carried." However, Tom Bailey comments on the craft elements of each story in much greater detail, making it an excellent self-teaching book. Bailey introduces quotes from the stories so lucidly that his book is accessible even without the anthology. With his superior strategy of providing more detailed craft analyses of carefully chosen stories, he instructs more in fewer pages. Moreover, unlike Burroway and LaPlante, Bailey presents one of his own published stories, "Snow Dreams," to illustrate the writing, copyediting, and publishing processes. And a very well-written story it is, indicating that Bailey is master of not only the craft but also the art of short-story writing. -- C J Singh ================================== More details? The anthology edited by Bailey, ON WRITING SHORT STORIES, comprises all of the stories he analyzes in detail in his A SHORT-STORY WRITER'S COMPANION. Eighteen stories: Among them are nineteenth-century classics (Maupassant's "The Strings," Chekov's "The Lady with the Pet Dog"); twentieth-century classics (Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Carver's "Cathedral"); contemporary stories (Cynthia Ozick's "The Shawl," John Updike's "A & P," Joyce Carol Oates's "Heat," Susan Minot's "Lust," Louise Erdrich's "Saint Marie"). The anthology also presents illuminating essays by: Francine Prose, "What Makes a Short Story?"; Joyce Carol Oates, "Reading as a Writer--The Artist as Craftsman"; Andre Dubus, "The Habit of Writing"; Frank Conroy "The Writer's Workshop"; and C. Michael Curtis, "Publishers and Publishing." Conroy's essay demystifies the Iowa Writer's Workshop model that continues to prevail in MFA programs in Creative Writing.

An essential resource for short fiction writers

Less a 'how to' book than an examination of the short story as an art form, ON WRITING SHORT STORIES is about showing rather than telling (just like good fiction itself). Particularly useful are its dissections of classic short stories, using them as case studies that aptly demonstrate what works in a story and why. The analysis of "The lady with the pet dog," and "Hills like white elephants" are both very useful. I found this book educational as a whose-who of short fiction authors, as well as a very complete examination of what makes a short story from the perspective of both technical style, format, and the intangible qualities of good fiction. Worth reading if for no other reason that it contains an excellent collection of short fiction from A-list writers, ON WRITING SHORT STORIES is an enthusiastic look at the art of writing, and a perfect resource for anyone desiring to take the next step themselves.

Best book on writing...

Pound for pound, this may be the best book on, about, or for aspiring writers. I have read at least 10 books on the craft of writing and a bunch on theory and technique... this book is right up there with the best of the best. If you couple this book with Raymond Carver's posthumous "Call if You Need Me" and mix in a few careful readings of any Richard Yates interview, you've got yourself some tough rope to tow. But if you want to be a strong writer, suck it up and do it anyway! I hold a BA in fiction writing. I also tend to write literary realist fiction. If you are of the same mind, this book will help you tremendously. It is brutal in it's explanation of what to steer clear of and what to include, but that is how it should be. If you take writing very seriously, and want to take it to the next level, this book is a great start. You can't go wrong when you have advice from C. Michael Curtis (Fiction Editor of the most prominent publication in America) and Frank Conroy (Chairman to the most prestegious writing institute in America.) Pay attention folks. This is the real deal. Add in some very helpful workshop activites from one Tom Bailey (only a head writing professor at Harvard) and some very heartfelt tips from a true master like Dubus... Forget about it! "On becoming a Novelist" was good. "ABCs of Reading" was good. "The Lonely Voice" was decent. Forster's guidance was revolutionary, but this book is perfect for now. Go buy it and then read all the Carver and Yates and Dubus and Wolff you can get your grubby little hands on. You'll be a better writer for it. Trust me!

Lessons to take to heart

"On Writing Short Stories" is a masterful introduction to the craft of short stories. Editor Tom Bailey (an accomplished writer himself) has compiled some of the best essays by well-known authors that not only serve as inspiration but also as a fine learning tool for young writers.The twelve stories included within this book are some of the seminal tales that any writer must be familiar with: Updike's "A & P", Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Tobias Wolff's "Bullet to the Brain," and "A Father's Story" by the much too under-read Andrew Dubus. Bailey points at the genius of these stories in his own chapter "Character, Plot, Setting and Time, Metaphor and Voice," parts of which he expanded into his book "A Short Story Writer's Companion."Also of note are essays by Mike Curtis who contribute a frank but ultimately moving lesson on the pain or rejection letters-and no one knows this better than the fiction editor of The Atlantic Monthly. The essay by Dubus is one of the best pieces on writing that I've read and illustrates the necessity of "the habit of writing" through his illustrious and gentle prose. Bailey's pulled off a collection of essays on and about short stories that are not only an introduction for young writers but also have lessons that even the more seasoned veteran can take to heart.

On Writing Short Stories

If you are looking for a guide through the mire of writing short fiction, you can't go wrong with this book! The editors really knew what they were doing when they chose the contributors as I found the comments by published authors very insightful, and the selection of short stories includes some of the best ever written.