Rust
Hills begins Writing in General and
the Short Story in Particular by
drawing a
distinction between the story and the sketch. A successful short story,
he says
on his first page, will tell of something that happened to someone, and
it will
demonstrate a “more harmonious relationship of all its aspects than
will any
other literary art form, excepting perhaps lyric poetry.” At first,
this
doesn’t seem very helpful, as Hills also admits, but it will do.
Something
happening to someone means that a character in a story situation
is not
static.
In a story, changes are taking place, and at some point a moment will
arise in
which the implications of those changes for the characters will infect
the
reader. To be infected (or affected),
the reader must be made to worry
about
these particular characters. A sketch doesn’t worry the reader. A story
does
worry the reader.
Of
course, a story cannot merely worry.
It must also satisfy, in its total
action
as well as in its individual scenes and moments. The reader’s movement
between
worry and satisfaction experienced over the course of the entire story,
in
individual scenes, and in specific moments -- this movement is
vibration.
Well-played, vibrations harmonize. Well-played
(successful) means that
everything in the story contributes and nothing detracts from creating
in the
reader a single (harmonious) effect: a sinking heart or a soaring one,
as I
have heard it put.
This
is probably about the shortest way to say it: worry the reader; satisfy
the
reader. The statement encapsulates a great deal of what I think Hills
is
saying. It is crucial to writing successful stories, and it applies
equally to
fiction, nonfiction, drama, and any other form a story might take,
regardless of length.
Our
only mission is to publish good things. A successful story invites
re-reading.
It delights the reader, and the reader loves it.
Gregory Napp, Editor
Sam Ruddick,
Assistant Editor
Lindsay Walker, Assistant Editor
Angshuman Chakraborty, Assistant Editor
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of featured authors.
Likewise, any views expressed by featured authors do not necessarily
reflect
those of the editor(s).
Copyright
© 2006-2008
971 MENU