Today I’d like to welcome author Stephen D. Rogers to the blog. Stephen is the author of SHOT TO DEATH and more than six hundred stories and poems. He’s the head writer at Crime Scene (where viewers solve interactive mysteries) and a popular writing instructor. For more information, you can visit his website, www.stephendrogers.com, where he tries to pull it all together.
People who think nothing of writing a novel but turn white when they’re asked to produce a short story often come to me looking for tips.
That’s understandable. A short story is not a novel in
miniature. A short story is not a chapter of a novel. A short story is not the novel’s poor illegitimate cousin. So what, exactly, is a short story?
A short story is a form as precisely designed as a poem or
an automatic weapon.
The power of a novel comes from a cumulative effect of many disparate ideas. The power of a short story comes from the cumulative effect of those same ideas boiled down to concentrated word choices. While a novelist may devote many chapters to a character’s college experience, the short story writer captures the flavor and result of that experience in a single word, a word that also moves the plot forward … and perhaps acts as a clue.
Writing a novel is a journey of discovery. Even if you have an outline, a stack of index cards, you learn about your character as you write the book. You learn what decisions your characters would make and what actions your character would take and you alter the story accordingly.
Writing a short story, you need to know all that before you begin so that you can layer in those qualities. The key to knowing “all that” (since most people don’t want to write a novel as research for a short story) is to know your characters.
Know their desires. what do your characters want? What do they want over the course of the story? What do they want in each scene? What do they want in every paragraph and sentence?
Know their motivations. Why do your characters have these desires? Why do your characters think they have these desires? How do the subconscious motivations and the alleged motivations play into each other?
Know their weaknesses. What keeps your characters from attaining their desires? What keeps your characters from addressing those weaknesses? How have those weaknesses made your characters what they are at the beginning of the story?
And, finally, know the consequences. What happens if your characters don’t get what they desire? What happens if none of their needs are met? What happens if they don’t learn their subconscious motivations and how to manage their weaknesses?
Knowing all that, writing the short story is fairly
straightforward. :)
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SHOT TO DEATH contains thirty-one stories of murder and mayhem.
“Terse tales of cops and robbers, private eyes and bad guys,
with an authentic New England setting.”
– Linda Barnes, Anthony Award winner and author of the Carlotta Carlyle series
“Put yourself in the hands of a master as you travel this
world of the dishonest, dysfunctional, and disappeared.
Rogers is the real deal–real writer, real story teller,
real tour guide to the dark side.”
– Kate Flora, author of the Edgar-nominated FINDING AMY and the Thea Kozak mysteries
“SHOT TO DEATH provides a riveting reminder that the short story form is the foundation of the mystery/thriller genre. There’s something in this assemblage of New England noir to suit every aficionado. Highly recommended!”
– Richard Helms, editor and publisher, The Back Alley Webzine
ELizabeth – Thanks for hosting Stephen.
Stephen – You do such an effective job of explaining the difference between a short story and a novel. They really are quite different formats. Your guiding questions for knowing characters are also really helpful. That ability to “telescope” a character’s history into a few words or a sentence is part of what makes short stories so powerful, I think.
Thanks, Stephen. That was very helpful, but I still turn white at the thought of writing a short story :)
Wonderful post. Until last year, I had never wrote a short story. Over the last year I’ve written two both won contest. Though I think I will stick to books as a career, I admit writing short stories are completely different than novels.
ann
Elizabeth – thanks for hosting Stephen.
Stephen – I love the short story, always have, and always will. And it is wonderful to find someone who gives short stories the respect they deserve. A short story is a work of art like any other story, only shorter.
I haven’t written short stories – but now it sounds like fun :)
The hardest thing I ever wrote was one of my short stories because I did know everything beforehand, and then the writing became a chore.
I much prefer writing novels. I have a lot of trouble keeping things short.
But I love reading short stories. You’d think I’d have absorbed some of the structure.
Elizabeth, thanks for sharing this interview with Stephen! I write mostly novel-length stories, but I have tried (unsuccessfully) to complete shorter projects. These are great tips that I will revisit when I go back to some of my short stories and try to work on them.
Excellent information on short stories. It actually helped take the edge off the prospect of writing some :)
Thanks so much for the comment on my blog yesterday! I appreciate the encouragement and look forward to returning with stories in tow!
Happy Friday!
Jen
When I was younger, I wrote mainly short stories, but after five novels and a non-fiction, I would find it challenging to do so now.
Stephen, thanks so much for coming by today! I appreciate your tips since I’ve always been an avid short story and flash fiction reader, but they’re hard for me to write.
Everytime I try and write a short story it ends up as the beginning of a novel. This is wonderful, Stephen. Some of us like a hundred yard dash and some of us like a marathon! I can’t write short stories but I can write poetry. Life is weird, I like it!
Might be good practice for me to try a short story.
Hey Margot,
I always look for the few words about a character which tell not only that story but the story of the person’s whole life.
Stephen
Hey Ann,
Congratulations on your two wins!
Stephen
Hey Rayna,
In these “faster, faster, faster” times, I’m surprised the short story hasn’t become even more popular.
Stephen
Hey Lorel,
Maybe you should channel those feelings and write a ghost story. :)
Stephen
Jemi,
I’ll expect to see something by Apr 1.
Stephen
Hey Diane,
But sometimes challenge is good. Strengthens the muscles, and the resolve.
Stephen
Hey Elizabeth,
Well, since you got to read this before anybody else, I expect to see your story by the end of the day.
Stephen
Hey Jan,
Yes, poetry is yet again another art form. Variety is good. :)
Stephen
Alex,
To the contrary, all the other writing you’ve done has been practice for writing a short story. :)
Stephen
Elizabeth and Stephen, great interview. You’re a wealth of information. Writing short stories is fun. That’s how I started back in high school. We had 50 minutes to write a 3-5 page story. Challenging, but rewarding. This exercise benefited me greatly.
Stephen Tremp
Great observations, Stephen. Thanks.
Thank you for the advice, Stephen. I am always looking for ways to improve my short stories.
Very scary that first time. My writing style starts with the characters and follows them to see what they do. As a result my story tends to grow as I write, and I don’t really know many of the things you point out that I ought to know at the beginning. I notice lately an interest in the 6-word story. Never thought I could do that, then I had one just leap into my head.
I wrote about my own experiences writing short stories on my blog.
Marc Vun Kannon
http://marcvunkannon.blogspot.com/
Hey Stephen,
There’s a lot of fun to be had writing short stories.
Stephen
Hey Terry,
When I know everything before hand, I’m free to focus on tuning the language. It’s when people flounder that the writing becomes dull.
Stephen
Hey Marc,
One nice thing about writing is that different strokes work for different folks. Which is not so nice when you’re looking for advice, and everyone says to do A when B is what works for you.
Whatever works for you works for you.
Stephen
Hey Julie,
Best of luck with your revisited stories, although it may be easier to just start from scratch. :)
Stephen
Hey Jen,
I’m glad my thoughts were helpful. Good luck!
Stephen
Thanks Elizabeth and Stephen!
I’ve wondered about crafting short stories. There is a definite appeal for me, but I was lost on the actual construction.
This post cleared it up well!
No wonder I can’t write a short story! Seriously though, great way to delineate the difference–I’m with Terry–MUCH easier to write a novel–I am just not great at the precision required in short format, and am entirely too twisted to do a plot that stays in a handful of pages. I definitely admire those who do it well, though!
Hey Watery,
Just remember that the precision you learn writing short carries over into everything else.
Stephen
Hey Carol,
Any observations that don’t work for you, someone hacked my post and added them. :)
Stephen
Hey Janel,
The most important method of improving is to just keep writing them.
Stephen
I like reading short stories, and I like the challenge of writing them. I’ve tried a few for the children’s market (like for Highlights magazine), haven’t found success in publication, yet, but will keep trying.
Hey Tamika,
I hope my thoughts help!
Stephen
Hey Mary,
That’s the key: keep trying.
I wrote for mumble-mumble years before I sold anything.
Stephen