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.”
those youngsters with their bleedin missin Gs do my effin head in.
ReplyDeleteI 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?
ReplyDeleteMissing 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.
ReplyDeleteO 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.
ReplyDelete