From George Singleton on The Urban Muse
On what people often get wrong in a short story.
- always spending way too much time on the setting for the first, oh, ten pages, before getting to the conflict.
With some younger writers it’s not having a g on their keyboard, so everyone’s spittin’, cussin’, hopin’, and prayin’--even the omniscient third-person narrator.
- For writers wishing to get published now, it might be good to stay away from trick O. Henry-type endings.
Also he says
The best pieces of advice I’ve ever received are probably “Comedy must be serious” and “Just tell the damn story.”
4 comments:
those youngsters with their bleedin missin Gs do my effin head in.
I wonder how they know they are the younger writers? Do you put your age on a submission when you're young or do the editors assume older writers don't/ can't/ won't ge' down wid de yout' a terday?
Missing g's -outrageous!And what in the name of all things sacred is a 'trick O Henry 'ending ?Just wanna make sure I use one in future.
O Henry was the pen name of an American short story writer at the turn of the last century. Any twist you can think of for a short story, he's already done so don't bother.
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