Short Fiction

I grew up reading the short stories of Arthur C. Clarke.  Short story collections still exist, but most authors who write short fiction do so for literary journals.  Short stories don't reach the larger reading public to the degree that they used to.

Writing short fiction takes a lot of talent and discipline.  One must work on a smaller canvas, and that means plot, characterization, and pacing have to click off with great precision.  Most great writers from decades past began by writing short stories, and I am left wondering if so many very successful writers today have rambling, poorly constructed plots because they never cut their teeth on short fiction.  Maybe they simply haven't put in the hard work and discipline that it takes to write a really great short story.

Short stories were generally practiced by authors of literary fiction, and with literary fiction falling into the midlist (with notable exceptions), short fiction may be suffering because fewer writers wish to explore these traditional waters.  And then there are the millions of aspiring writers who want to pen the blockbuster novel.  They want to write thrillers and haul in millions of dollars.  They have tunnel vision and don't want to learn their craft and pay their dues.

It's a pity more people don't spend time writing short stories.  A real pity.

~ William Hammett 

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