The guys discuss the deceptively difficult genre for writers: the elusive short story. From Arthur C. Clarke to Philip K. Dick, and a few other notable short story penners in-between, they discuss how they’re using them to build their platforms, how to approach them as a writing tool, and how to write them.
Wikipedia’s word count rules:
- Short story: under 7,500 words
- Novelette: 7,500 – 17,500
- Novella: 17,500 – 40,000
- Novel: over 40,000
Links to great short fiction, and other helpful tidbits:
- Hills Like White Elephants – Ernest Hemingway
- How They Were Found – Matt Bell
- Lester Dent’s Master Plot Formula
What are your thoughts? How do you define a short story (or novella, or that weird novelette thing)? How do you write them? Any tips and tricks you have for us?
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