Con Report: ConCarolinas 2017 Art of the Short Story

I moderated this panel on Saturday afternoon, with panelists: 

• Bobby Nash
• Robert Bevan
• JD Blackrose (Joelle Riezes)
• Melissa Gilbert
• Tonia Brown 

These are mostly my prep notes.

Hemingway said it was no accident that the Gettysburg Address was so short.

Mario Puzo said, "If I'd had longer, this would have been shorter."

Panel Introductions

I asked the audience: are you all writers or readers?

If all readers, we'll talk more about examples of good writing than how to

What do you see as the critical differences between writing short stories vs longer works?

How do you think about short story structure?

• Plot has a beginning, middle, end
• Reversals (backstory), recognitions
• Tension/pacing
• Setting
• Characterization
• Motivation

Strong opening is even more important than for a novel!

Set the tone

Grab the reader and pull them in

Build curiosity

Roberto Bolaño, Chilean author, said "It is best to write short stories three or five at a time. If one has the energy, write them nine or fifteen at a time."

I asked the panelists: Do you write stand alone or related stories? Do you write several at once, or one here and there?

Let's talk about the short story market 

Can you make any money - significant income - with short stories?

Lots of themed anthologies recently:

• Athena's Daughters
• Temporally Out of Order
• Dance Like a Monkey in honor and support of CJ Henderson
• Big Bad I and Big Bad II - main characters are villains
• And of course a couple of Weird Wild West and Lawless Lands - over 400 stories submitted between the two of them!

Magazines like Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and so many more

4-5 or 10 cents a word - not going to get rich, but you *can* get published and get recognition

Look for anthology calls

• Horrortree.com
• Duotrope $50 annual subscription 
• Search on Facebook for "open calls"
• The Grinder -Diabological Plots

Examples of great short stories in the genre

Master: Edgar Alan Poe

Gardner Dozois' "The Year's Best science fiction" collections

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, James Tiptree Jr (Alice Sheldon)

Isaac Asimov

Nine Billion Names of God, Arthur C Clarke 

Google "speculative fiction short stories" for links to lists

Resources:

http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/stephen-king-and-the-art-of-the-short-story/

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20526/20526-h/20526-h.htm

Short Story Writing, Charles Raymond Barrett, 1898

The Art of the Short Story

http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/how-to-let-plot-guide-your-short-story

http://writetodone.com/short-stories-the-art-of-the-start/