I don't think that I like short stories much

[Nikia]

I recently read the Best American Short Stories of 2005 and Best American Non Required Reading of 2005. While some of the stories were alright, I wasn't excited or emotional about any of them in the way that I am with a good novel. They just seem to focus so much on details but yet don't really show us much. They seem superficial to me.
I am trying to write again. I was trying to write short stories, but they didn't seem to be working. I suppose if I don't like that form of art much, I shouldn't really be trying it anyway.
Are there short story enthusiasts here? Are there things that I don't understand about this art form? Are there better short stories out there? I vaguely remember reading a couple good short stories in the past from earlier time periods or different countries. Should I write short stories anyway, ones that are more exciting and emotional or is there a rule against that? I am thinking that I should have taken the intro English class in college rather than skipping to the intermediate classes that focused on the authors and content of the literature rather than detailing the art forms themselves.
Are there others who agree with me about the short story being an inferior art form compared to the novel?

[miss_american_pie]

1. I think it's a matter of taste

And you should write what you're passionate about.

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Nikia!

I hear what you're saying! There are no rules about short stories not being passionate, exciting and/or emotional.

I too have recently started writing, and I find that writing a short story to be much easier for me than a full-length novel. Right now, I do not have a novel in me. I just cannot envision the complex story line that would be necessary to do a good novel.

But I can envision a short story! I actually have a fragment that stands on its own in the Writer's Forum: The Game. Someday I plan to embed it in a longer work, once I figure out just where I want my characters to go.

Write what you know, and what you feel passionate about! Then you will have an easier time of it....

That advice has worked well for me.....

:hi:

[Nikia]

12. You put emotion and excitement into that story

That's cool. Good luck with your writing.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. I thank you so much!

I had fun writing it.....

[AllegroRondo]

3. They are very different art forms

a famous author (wish I could remember who....) described them this way:

In a novel, you throw a bunch of words at the reader and hope some of them stick. In a short story, you have to pick and choose your words carefully to make them all stick.

I'm a longtime fan of the short story, starting with Poe and Bradbury. The really good writers can wring emotion out of the shortest pieces. Bradbury, especially his early sci-fi stuff, could set up a plot and make the entire thing flip upside down with only a couple well chosen words. I just admire the work that makes that possible.

[Nikia]

14. I think I remember reading Poe in high school English

I thought those stories were cool. Do contemporary writers write short stories like that though?

[XemaSab]

20. "The fever tree"

is a collection of short stories by Ruth Rendell, and there's some good stuff in there.

[WCGreen]

4. Dennis Lehane..

The guy who wrote Mystic River....

His short story was cool....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Seems to me that short stories make excellent movies....

Look at "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." The author is Steven King.....

It was the perfect length for the movie. I saw the movie first, and then read the short story (he called it a novella). There was hardly any material edited out of the story so it would fit the movie length.


:hi:

[ghostsofgiants]

7. Memento is another good example of a short story adapted to film

[jonnyblitz]

11. Brokeback Mountain is based on a very short story.

the movie is about 2 hours. :hi:

[Nikia]

15. I saw the Shawshank Redemption

I thought that it was a good movie. I also like Steven King's novels, but am usually disappointed if I then see the movie. I probably should check out the story.

[WCGreen]

18. Lehane wrote a story for the collection....

I thought it okay..

A little much in some places...

But it was a pretty good year for stories...

[Call Me Wesley]

5. To write short stories

are the basics of any writing, in my humble opinion. Learn to condense first before you start to fill the pages of a novel. Read poems.

Of course, that's just me. ;)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=4747632

[IntravenousDemilo]

8. And I've never had the patience to sit down with and finish a novel,

except on very rare occasions, like Perfume. I get bored very quickly and short stories are just about the right length for me. We seem to have a Jack Sprat thing going on here. Wanna share a library? You can have the novels, and I'll take the other stuff.

[SoCalDem]

10. A professor accused me of buying my books by the pound

I LOVE long books.. ...of course now that my vision is dicey, I don;t read all that much anymore..so I buy books for my son:)

[IntravenousDemilo]

13. You know, Dickens was paid by the word.

And it shows, too. How many pages is Dombey and Son after all?

Yeesh. Needless to say, he died a very wealthy man.

And Lord of the Rings? Oh, please, I got 30 pages into it and I started screaming at the book, "SOMETHING HAPPEN!!!" Nothing happened. I have no idea how it ends, or for that matter, much about anything in it after the first couple of chapters.

I do love reading, though, and I have loved it since I was two. Especially short stories, because they often start right in the middle of the action. And I'm so glad your son is one of the readers, because children who don't read are pretty boring to be around.

[Nikia]

16. I like long books too

Yes, I really like reading War and Peace.

[skygazer]

9. I enjoy short stories

Well written short stories give you a nice meal in a short, easily digestable form. If there seems to be no substance, then maybe it's not so well written as it could be.

I write a lot of short stories - I find the form to be particularly good for character studies, stories of a person going through some kind of life changing or affirming experience. Rather than following them through a long period of their life, the form gives me the ability to follow them through one important phase of it. You can delve into your character pretty well that way, at least I can, because I'm not so concerned with the outer as with the inner life of the person.

Or maybe I'm just talking out my ass again. :silly:

[Nikia]

17. These were allegedly the best short stories of the year

I suppose that doesn't mean that they really are the best stories.
I see what you are saying about the characters. I suppose that a single critical experience can mean as much a story of several experiences. I'll try reading more with that focus.

[oneighty]

21. Go to

thenecessarylanguage.com

There are stories and poems written by DUers. It is a new site.

Self promotion by 180.

The site is open to all DU writers that wish to submit a script.

180