Charlie Jane is the author of the essay collection Never Say You Can’t Survive along with the short story collection Even Greater Mistakes. 

Her other books include The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney’s, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Teen Vogue, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and other places. 

Her TED Talk, “Go Ahead, Dream About the Future” got 700,000 views in its first week. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

In this episode Charlie Jane Anders and I discuss:

• What makes something an “idea” versus a “story” and how to tell the difference.
• How to keep short stories contained while making them rich and deep.
• Why she believes endings are hard and what she does to cross the finish line.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Charlie Jane Anders 

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Victories Greater Than Death, the first book in a new young-adult trilogy released in April 2021, along with the short story Even Greater Mistakes and the essay collection Never Say You Can’t Survive. Her other books include The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney’s, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Teen Vogue, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and other places. Her TED Talk, “Go Ahead, Dream About the Future” got 700,000 views in its first week. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram.

Even Greater Mistakes

In her short story collection, Even Greater Mistakes, Charlie Jane Anders upends genre cliches and revitalizes classic tropes with heartfelt and pants-wettingly funny social commentary.

The woman who can see all possible futures is dating the man who can see the one and only foreordained future.

A wildly popular slapstick filmmaker is drawn, against his better judgment, into working with a fascist militia, against a background of social collapse.

Two friends must embark on an Epic Quest To Capture The Weapon That Threatens The Galaxy, or else they’ll never achieve their dream of opening a restaurant.

The stories in this collection, by their very outrageousness, achieve a heightened realism unlike any other. Anders once again proves she is one of the strongest voices in modern science fiction, the writer called by Andrew Sean Greer, “this generation’s Le Guin.”

Never Say You Can’t Survive

From Charlie Jane Anders, the award-winning author of novels such as All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night, this is one of the most practical guides to storytelling that you will ever read.

The world is on fire.

So tell your story.

Things are scary right now. We’re all being swept along by a tidal wave of history, and it’s easy to feel helpless. But we’re not helpless: we have minds, and imaginations, and the ability to visualize other worlds and valiant struggles. And writing can be an act of resistance that reminds us that other futures and other ways of living are possible.

Full of memoir, personal anecdote, and insight about how to flourish during the present emergency, Never Say You Can’t Survive is the perfect manual for creativity in unprecedented times.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via these Amazon affiliate links for Even Greater Mistakes and Never Say You Can’t Survive, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 390

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 390: Idea to Premise to Story: Crafting a Dynamic Short Story – Interview with Charlie Jane Anders appeared first on DIY MFA.

J.L. Torres is the author of a novel, The Accidental Native, as well as the short collection The Family Terrorist and Other Stories, a collection of poetry, Boricua Passport, and Migrations, a short story collection that won the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. 

He has published stories and poems in numerous journals and magazines including The North American Review, Denver Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Eckleburg Review, Puerto del Sol, Las Americas Review, and the anthology Growing Up Latino. 

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the South Bronx, he currently lives in Plattsburgh, New York. In addition to the Ph.D., he also holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. 

He co-founded the Saranac Review and served as its Editor for many years. On a more personal note has no known hobbies, has never been in prison or any gangs, has never had quirky and funky jobs and is notoriously inept with tools.

In this episode J.L. Torres and I discuss:

• Writing for two audiences and how world building plays a major role in that process.
• What factors he considers when selecting the order of stories for a collection.
• His definition of “voice” and why it is so important in keeping readers engaged.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About J.L. Torres

J.L. Torres is the author of a novel, The Accidental Native; The Family Terrorist and Other Stories; the collection of poetry, Boricua Passport, and Migrations, the winner of the inaugural Tomás Rivera Book Prize. He has published stories and poems in numerous journals and magazines including The North American Review, Denver Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Eckleburg Review, Puerto del Sol, Las Americas Review, and the anthology Growing Up Latino. 

Born in Puerto Rico, raised in the South Bronx, he lives in Plattsburgh, New York. Besides the Ph.D., he holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from Columbia University. He co-founded the Saranac Review and served as its Editor for many years. He has no known hobbies, has never been in prison or any gangs, has never had quirky and funky jobs, and is notoriously inept with tools.

You can find J.L. on his website or follow him on Twitter.

Migrations 

A ‘sucio’ goes to an underground clinic for therapy to end his machista ways and is accidentally transitioned. Ex-gangbangers gone straight deal with a troubled, gifted son drawn to the gangsta lifestyle promoted by an emerging music called hip hop. Dead and stuck “between somewhere and nowhere,” Roberto Clemente, the great Puerto Rican baseball icon, soon confronts the reason for his predicament. These are a few of the characters in J.L. Torres’s second story collection, Migrations, the inaugural winner of the Tomás Rivera Book Prize.

These stories take us inside the lives of self-exiles, unhomed, and unhinged people, estranged from loved ones, family, culture, and collective history. Despite the effects of colonization of the body and mind, Puerto Ricans have survived beyond geography and form an integral part of the American mosaic.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 389

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 389: A Master Class on Short Fiction, Voice, and Opening Lines – Interview with J.L. Torres appeared first on DIY MFA.

RB Frank is witty, versatile, and packs a punch in a limited number of words. Purely out of curiosity, after becoming a true fan of her work, I looked up her author website a little over a year ago and discovered that she had also self-published a collection of short horror stories, Bite Size Reads. It was no surprise to me to discover the book is brilliantly executed.

Read on to learn what pulls RB Frank toward short-form writing, why she chose to self-publish her collection of stories, and her tips on how to get your own stories out into the world.

You are such a gifted writer! What are some of the aspects of short fiction that appeal to you?

I have to say the most appealing thing is the immediacy. There isn’t a lot of buildup so the reader is thrown into the story. To wrap up a story in a few hundred words instead of 70,000 gives the reader a faster sense of accomplishment.

There are times when you want a longer story, to languish by a pool and delve into another world. And then there are times when you say I can only read three pages before I fall asleep tonight.

I’m a fan of your collection of short stories, Bite Size Reads. What factors did you consider when you decided to self-publish the book?

The biggest factor was the freedom to produce the book the way I wanted it. There was a specific format I had in mind, where I grouped the stories by the amount of time it would take a reader to get through them.

I also knew I would have total control over the content, and that within a matter of days I could begin selling the collection, as opposed to waiting a year and a half (or more) to see it finished.

You recently released the book with a new cover. What was the deciding factor to move forward on that?

I had several comments from readers, wishing the cover was a little creepier! One particular story (“The Orchard”) always seemed to come up in conversation, so I took that as guidance for the redesign.

Once I made the decision to move forward with the new cover based on reader feedback, it was done within just a few days. That’s another reason having self-published the collection has worked in my favor.

Did you work with a cover designer for this project? If so, what was that process like for you?

For the original cover, I did work with a cover designer. However, I’ve learned a lot since then and was able to design the second cover myself, according to my new vision.

Did you work with a developmental editor and/or copy editor on Bite Size Reads?

The short answer is no, but I should have! I’ve gone in and made edits over time to get the book where it is today.

It’s absolutely true that you do not see your own mistakes, and errors get passed you. A copy editor would have saved me a lot of heartache.

What publishing and sales platforms have you used for the collection, and what has the experience been like for you?

To print the book I used Create Space, which is the publishing arm of Amazon. The site is incredibly user-friendly and the customer service is wonderful. Someone is always available to help.

What’s so amazing about Amazon is that once you are done with the book, in 24 hours it is up for sale. It also gives you the option to expand distribution for worldwide sales. The book has sold in at least 10 other countries. It’s so much fun when I go to look at the sales report and I see people all over the world buying and reading it.

I also have it up on KDP which is Kindle Direct Publishing. There’s a learning curve with eBooks, especially if you want to do things like link your table of contents to certain areas in the book. But YouTube is a Godsend! You can find a tutorial for virtually anything, and that is exactly what I did. Once I had it properly formatted, KDP offered a pretty simple process and has been a great resource for me.

What (if anything) would you do differently with your next collection?

The only thing I would do differently is to plan on working with a quality copy editor.

One thing I would not change is the formatting of the collection. I’ve gotten great feedback from my readers that they enjoy having the stories sorted by the length of time it will take them to read each one.

I know you maintain an author website and are active on social media. What marketing efforts have proven to be the most fruitful for you and your creative work?

Instagram has worked really well for me. I have a good core group of followers who I’ve built a relationship with.

Word of mouth from people I know and others who I don’t know has proven to be incredibly helpful as well. As an indie author, building that reputation is everything.

I’m not great at tooting my own horn and selling, so I’ve tried to focus on building relationships and letting readers see who I am.

What are some of the resources (blogs, books, classes etc.) that have been helpful to you as an author of short-form work?

My favorite resource is On Writing by Steven King. My copy is dog-eared, highlighted and underlined. I once took out a notebook and rewrote chapters of the book just to help myself absorb it on a deeper level.

On Twitter, I follow a lot of writing accounts and agents. Agent posts are almost mini master classes on querying, grabbing the attention of your reader, and what makes a great first page. Twitter is both a networking platform and a learning resource for me.

One of the websites that helped me when I first began writing short fiction is called Indies Unlimited. It’s a fantastic resource. I think I participated in their flash fiction challenges for nearly two years to hone the craft.

What advice would you give a writer who is looking to self-publish a collection of short fiction for the first time?

Have an author platform (a website and social media account(s)) already in place. Start long before you intend to publish. Then when you do publish it’s not like you’re just starting out, your home base is already in place.

Tell us about the next project we can expect from RB Frank!

I was an early childhood teacher for a long time, and my first love is picture books. Right now, I’m concentrating on sending out about eight manuscripts to publishers. I’m still writing short fiction when something really strikes me, but for the moment picture books are taking the front seat.

Writing them seems to be coming a lot easier right now, and when I look at the arc of my craft over the last several years I feel that the short and flash fiction has prepared me for picture books. Most picture books are less than 500 words. Every word counts, every nuance, and every sentence. So, my writing has become much tighter, and I attribute that to having honed short fiction.

RB writes in between letting the dogs out and letting the dogs in (That’s very real). You can find her on Instagram @writingoutloud, Twitter @writingoutloud2, FB @RBFrankAuthor. She runs The Fiercesome Writer blog through her website.

Elise Holland is the editor of 2 Elizabeths, a literary magazine focused on poetry and short fiction, with an emphasis on romance and women’s fiction. Her work has been published in Writer’s Digest and has appeared on Jane Friedman’s blog. Find Elise online at 2Elizabeths.com.

The post Interview with RB Frank appeared first on DIY MFA.

1) The opportunities are plentiful

There are over 2,000 literary magazine editors waiting for submissions of short stories and personal essays this week. That means there’s room for a voice like yours, no matter what you like to write. Literary writers, humor writers, poetic writers, historical fiction writers, memoirists, sci-fi writers, speculative fiction writers—you name it—have a place for publication in the short form.

2) You can submit your work without a literary agent

Writing short is a terrific way for writers to break into traditional publishing before landing an agent. Short stories and personal essays are mailed from a writer’s desk directly to magazine editors. No third party necessary!

3) It’s a great way to experiment with an idea without making a huge commitment

Not sure if you’re going to include that car accident in your memoir? Try writing an essay about it first. See if you’ve got something universal to say about that tragic day. Another idea: Do you want to get to know one of your novel characters better? Set them in a short story and give them a problem to solve. Writing short will give you clarity about your book-project idea and it might just become something you sell to a magazine.

4) You gain resume material with each magazine byline

Magazine credits give you something to write in the bio section of query letters to literary agents and book publishers, plus they give you credibility when filling out those residency applications, grant proposals, and master class applications. You can also showcase your publishing credits on your website, your Twitter profile, and your Facebook page.

5) You might get noticed by a literary agent

One way to avoid the book-manuscript slush pile is to have a literary agent come to you. Yes—it really does happen. Literary agents and their assistants read literary magazines to discover new talent. And not only in the prose! I know of one writer who snagged the eye of an agent because the novel-in-progress she mentioned in her bio was exactly what the agent had been looking for.

Writing short is a terrific way to gain exposure in the industry while learning your craft. If you’d like to know more about how to succeed with creative shorts, Writing Short Stories and Personal Essays: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Work Published (Writer’s Digest Books) is a great place to start.

Windy Lynn Harris is the author of Writing & Selling Short Stories & Personal Essays: The Essential Guide to Getting Your Work Published (from Writer’s Digest Books) and the founder of Market Coaching for Creative Writers, a mentoring program that teaches writers how to get their short work published in magazines. She’s a prolific writer, a trusted mentor, and a frequent speaker at literary events. Her long list of short stories and personal essays have been published in literary, trade, and women’s magazines across the U.S. and Canada in places like The Literary Review, The Sunlight Press, and Literary Mama, among many other journals. She is also a developmental editor-for-hire, specializing in short stories and personal essays. She teaches the craft of writing in person and online. More about Windy at her website: www.windylynnharris.com.

The post #5onFri: Five Reasons to Write Short Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Raise your hand if you read poetry. How about short stories?

I so wish I could be a fly on the wall to see if anyone raised a hand. Some of you probably never think of poetry or short stories except as those dreaded things you had to read in high school.

Let’s face it, we writers dream about writing the Great American Novel. Or, if we’re willing to admit it out loud, dashing off the next blockbuster-novel-turned-into-blockbuster-movie. We’re focused on the big stuff–a novel–with little thought to its shorter, smaller counterparts. We write to be read. We want to be known for our elegant phrasing or visceral plots. Secretly we want to be famous and as a writer, fame (being known) only comes if you write a novel. Right?

Not necessarily. I’ll let you in on a secret. Writing a novel isn’t the only way to make a reputation as a writer. Poetry and other short writing forms help us broaden our writing skills. They can also get you noticed.

Short Forms Make Reputations, Too

I’m a librarian as well as a voracious and catholic reader. I’m a writer who loves short writing forms: poetry, short stories, essays and articles. I’m also the newest genre columnist at DIY MFA and those short forms are the reason.

Here’s how that happened. Music made me want to write poetry. The Way of the World by Earth, Wind and Fire, to be exact. My first poem, which leaned a bit too heavily on that album, was included in a countywide student poetry anthology. Despite the urging of my junior high English teacher, I didn’t write another poem. Why? I couldn’t choose another topic on which to write.

In high school I encountered a poem, Coleridge’s Kubla Khan,that set my whole body ringing. Everything about the poem — dream-tinged atmosphere, rhythm, and visceral images — fascinated me.  I especially latched onto the lines: “A damsel with a dulcimer / In a vision once I saw: / It was an Abyssinian maid / And on her dulcimer she played, / Singing of Mount Abora.”

Throughout school, the only black women I encountered in poetry were Phillis Wheatley and Coleridge’s Abyssinian maid.  Wheatley’s poetry was too formal and removed for my taste. Neither struck a chord of belonging in me. Without a place to begin writing, poetry danced out of my reach.

I graduated from high school; started college and got a library job. It was five years later that poetry truly claimed me. There, in the library on the cover of a just-returned book of poetry, I saw my face — a black woman’s face — reflected back to me. Nikki Giovanni’s face gazing out from her book, Black Feeling, Black Talk, shifted my view of what poetry is about and who creates it. Her poems were straight-forward and unapologetic in a voice familiar to me.  That was what I wanted to do; give substance to feelings not usually voiced. Finally, I had a guide; writing poems was within my reach. I collected more of Giovanni’s books and those of other black women poets like Maya Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks.

I joined a local poetry group and wrote poetry regularly. Writing led to performing poetry at cafes, libraries, universities and library conferences. Confidence in my developing writing skills as well as my growing reputation as a poet garnered other opportunities.  I was invited to write book reviews, copy for art exhibit-party brochures, articles on literature, newspaper columns, and poetry. Two other friends, poets KC Jarrett, the late Margery Cunningham and I formed a poetry troupe, Women of Words.

As counterpoint and accompaniment, I read widely and fell deeper in love with writers of my beloved poetry and short stories. Discovery of one author organically led to another; their names a litany of writing excellence. Nikky Finney. Sharon Olds. Sandra Cisneros. Andre Dubus. Raymond Carver. Lucille Clifton.

I dreamed of travel and new experiences to fuel my writing. I needed to see people like me doing the things I hoped to do.  I stumbled upon creative nonfiction author, Eddy L. Harris, while searching for travel narratives by people of color. His book, Native Stranger, spoke on belonging, nationality, race and art; about finding your place. Harris’ contemplative and elegant writing stuck bedrock in me.  Eager to find more narratives like his, I sent an ad to Transitions Abroad, an alternative travel magazine, hoping to connect with travelers of color.

Through its editor, I met travel journalist Elaine Lee. Through email, we discussed poetry, writing, travel and its challenges for women of color. Eventually we celebrated the acceptance of her proposal for Go Girl!: The Black Woman’s Guide to Travel and Adventure, a book of travel essays by women of color.

Our talks led to an invitation for me to submit an essay. For years, I tried to find my way into writing. I yearned to find stories about and by writers who looked like me. Astoundingly, my search led to my essay, The Kindness of Strangers, being published alongside works by Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Writing short forms gave me the experience (and courage) to apply for a spot on DIY MFA’s writing team.

But What About Me?

By now you’re thinking that sounds good for you, Brenda, but what about me? How do I use poetry and other short forms for my writing?

First, read poetry and short stories. If you don’t know where to start, pick up any copy of The Best American Short Stories or The Best American Poetry. I suggest starting with The Best American Short Stories 2012, particularly Roxane Gay’s short story, North Country. Her story — lucid and frank — drew me in; I saw pieces of myself in the writing.

Read the anthology with a small notebook and your favorite writing instrument by your side. You’ll want to read with an eye for well-constructed turns of phrase, passages with visceral descriptions and so. Make notes of what catches your interest. You’ll need to use the following Steven Pinker quote as your guide: “Writers acquire their technique by spotting, savoring, and reverse-engineering examples of good prose.”

If you haven’t a clue of what Pinker is talking about, the blog Great Writers Steal, run by Kenneth Nichols, examines writing across genres to discover what about each piece is worth “stealing” for your own writing. Great Writers Steal points out specifics about technique, tone and other things the author successfully conveyed. There’s a good analysis on Gay’s writing in North County:  https://www.greatwriterssteal.com/2013/03/23/what-can-we-steal-from-roxane-gays-north-country/

In upcoming columns, I’ll share poems and short stories, literature’s mild-mannered superheroes, as blueprints to help hone your writing skills. Together, with a detour or two, we’ll learn to weave their subtle lessons in voice, characterization and place into creating our own poems, short stories, and novels. We’ll explore techniques to reading widely — spontaneously and planned — that will work towards your writing goals.

Join me as I delve into DIY MFA’s new column, Writing Small.

Brenda Joyce Patterson is a poet, writer, librarian, and lover of short writing forms. Her poetry and flash fiction have been published in Vayavya, Gravel Magazine, and Melancholy Hyperbole. Along with works by Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Alice Walker, her travel essay “The Kindness of Strangers” appeared in Go Girl: The Black Woman’s Guide to Travel and Adventure.

The post Opening Doors Through Poetry and Short Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Guess what can help. I’ll give you a minute.

You got it! flash fiction.

At least half of my blog is comprised of flash fiction pieces. I whip them up in response to prompts, to get to know characters better, and to test out plot ideas and writing styles. What better way to do all of that than to write it out, then put it into the world for feedback?

The top benefits of sharing flash fiction on a writer blog are:

• Readers have a chance to sample your work
• You can solicit feedback from readers
• People can easily share your work
• You have something to post about on your social media accounts

There are many ways to keep your audience engaged on your blog. To keep readers coming back for more of your flash fiction, you need to bring consistency of both quality and timing. Maybe you write short pieces on weekends, so you can post them, properly polished, on Tuesdays. Become a part of your readers’ routines, and you can only do that if you have a routine yourself, and you stick with it.

You can get creative with your flash fiction, and come up with ways to amp up the excitement about your weekly posts. Maybe you’d like to focus on one character for six weeks. Just make sure the character is one your readers will want to keep up with. You may create a flash fiction serial, and use cliffhangers to keep them coming back. The possibilities are endless. With just a few hundred words, you can feel free to experiment. Be daring. Test out the craziest ideas that come to you. Remember that you don’t have to commit to any of them long-term. If something doesn’t work for you, your readers, or your blog, let it go and try something else.

Engage With Your Readers

Your reader engagement can skyrocket if you position your flash fiction posts in the ideal way. Ask your readers what they think about John. Ask them if he should end up with Kate or Nancy, and why. Give them the opportunity to communicate with you. This can increase their buy-in to your story, and develop a stronger connection to you as a writer. If you are working on a manuscript for publication, you can use your flash fiction to drop hints about plot twists, and get your audience excited about your upcoming work.

When you post your flash fiction pieces, be sure to tag them appropriately, and use a special category for them. It’s also a good idea to create a quick link option for people visiting your website or blog to go straight to your short pieces. Make it easy for them to find your stories, and move from one to the next.

Promote Your Work

Of course, you can’t forget to promote your shiny new flash fiction pieces on your social media accounts. Share a link along with a teaser line, or even the prompt you used to write it. Give your followers reasons to read it by giving away just enough to pique their interests, but leave enough out to draw them to the link. You want clicks to your blog, readers’ eyes on your writing, and a lively comment section, so make sure each step leads them to the next.

Be sure to give yourself a day or two to edit your flash fiction piece before you post it. You want to put only your best work out there. Consider each piece to be a paid advertisement for your next book. It needs to sell you as a skilled writer, and be indicative of the work you produce. Once it’s posted, remember to share, share, share. Get your friends and fellow writers to leave comments to get people started, and have them share your work on their own social media platforms. If your flash fiction is tasty, readers will be convinced that your book is a smorgasbord of awesome, so go for it!

……………..

Alicia Audrey is a writer, editor, blogger and social and political commentator living and working in Nassau, Bahamas. She enjoys writing flash fiction, and is currently working on a women’s fiction novel entitled The Whispering Willow. She prides herself on keeping the local post office open by sending far too many penpal letters and packages to friends and strangers alike on a weekly basis. Her favourite things include journals, tea, cupcakes, sarcasm, challenges, and autumn. She tweets her musings to everyone, but no one in particular, as @_AliciaAudrey.

The post Build Your Platform With Flash Fiction appeared first on DIY MFA.

Here are the details:

7DayStory Workshop and Q&A

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 1PM ET
This workshop is FREE and space is limited.

Register here.

What is 7DayStory?

7DayStory is a challenge where you write and revise a short story in one week. In this challenge you’ll learn to:

• Finish your first draft in a day or two, before you lose momentum
• Revise the story over the next few days in several passes
• Connect with other writers to find sources of support and feedback.
• Release the story to trusted readers, or perhaps even publications.
• Repeat the process often, to learn from your experiences and reinforce the writing habit.

We’re running the 7DayStory challenge again starting July 1 but we wanted to give you an extra boost for this round. That’s why Julie and I decided to host this free workshop, to help give you that added jolt of inspiration and energy so you can rock the 7DayStory Challenge!

Even if you decide not to do the 7DayStory Challenge in July, this workshop will give you a structured approach to help make your writing and revision process more organized, focused and manageable. You can apply these same concepts to your novel, memoir or other narrative piece of writing.

What are you waiting for? Register for the FREE workshop now!

Stay in the loop.

And while you’re at it, consider signing up for the 7DayStory email list. You’ll get an email-a-day for the first seven days to guide you through the 7DayStory process. After that, you’ll be the first to hear other news about 7DayStory, workshops like this one and other bonus goodies.

Sign up by going to the 7DayStory website or just fill out this form:

Email:

p.s. We’ll be making a big announcement during the workshop so join us and be among the first to hear this exciting news!

The post 7DayStory: FREE Short Story Workshop and Q&A appeared first on DIY MFA.

Next week, we’re teaming up with our friends over at StoryADay.org and hosting a week-long short story challenge called 7DayStory. The idea is simple: just write and revise a story in a week.

Why Do The 7DayStory Challenge?

We’ve got two very good reasons:

1. It’s a way for you to challenge yourself.
2. You’ll be able to connect with other writers who are doing the same thing.

Take the Challenge:

7DayStory kicks off next Monday, June 3. Come back for details on how to join the fun. In the meantime, start thinking up story ideas.

Insider Tip: Watch the #7DayStory twitter hashtag for updates!

The post Introducing: The 7DayStory Challenge! appeared first on DIY MFA.

Enter Corey Brown: a fellow member of the Quill & Coffee writing group, an excellent writer, and a good friend.  When it comes to short fiction, Corey’s also the most well-read person I know and his knowledge of short fiction ranges from classics to obscure gems that make me wonder “where has this story been all my life?“

I would have listed the obvious choices: Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to FInd,” Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” John Cheever’s “The Swimmer” or Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral.”  Corey’s list is much more interesting.  When I asked him what was the hardest part of putting this list together, he said: “Stressing about who wasn’t on the list.”  I hear you, Corey.

Now without further delay, here’s this month’s suggested reading list, compiled by Corey Brown.

So many stories! How does one truly find the time to read them all? Well, one story at a time. For me, I devour short stories daily. They bring me great joy and inspire me to get to the real task at hand—writing.

The world is not lacking in short stories, perhaps maybe readers. Oftentimes, short stories, I think, don’t get the same level of respect as the novel, but there are a lot of gems out there. And no: this is not a definitive list. Yes—these writers, plus several more not listed have influenced in me some way: Donald Ray Pollock, A.M. Homes, Flannery O’Connor, James Franco, Miranda July, ZZ Packer, Raymond Carver, John Cheever, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Bradbury, Annie Proulx, Clive Barker, Chuck Palahniuk and…you!

Where is your gem of a short story for the world to read and celebrate? After seeking out these writers and their work, command your talent to the page. For a writer writes.

A writer also reads. In this particular case, short stories.  Here’s a list to get your started:

Short Fiction Suggested Reading

(Elements of craft represented by these stories are in italics.)

• Aimee Bender, “Night Trilogy.”  Style / Point of View (POV)
  
• Truman Capote, “Miriam.”  Dialogue / Character / Plot.
• Dan Chaon, “Shepherdess.”   Plot / Structure / Style.
• E.L. Doctorow, “Edgemont Drive.”  Dialogue / Character / Style.
• Lisa Glatt, “What Milton Heard.”  Character / POV / Voice
• Patricia Highsmith, “A Mighty Nice Man.”  Dialogue / Character / Plot
• Shirley Jackson, “Mrs. Anderson.”  Dialogue / Character.
• Stephen King, “The Gingerbread Girl.” Plot / Structure / Style.
• Ander Monson, “To Reduce Your Likelihood Of Murder.”  Style / Voice.
• Alice Munro, “Free Radicals.”  Dialogue / Character / Plot.
• Joyce Carol Oates, “Wolf’s Head Lake.”  Tone / Mood / Voice / POV.
• Davy Rothbart, “How I Got Here.”  POV / Character / Voice.
• Joy Williams, “Charity.” Plot / Dialogue.

The post Short Fiction Suggested Reading appeared first on DIY MFA.

As I see it, there are two ways you can compile short stories: in anthologies or collections with stories by multiple authors, or in collections of stories by one individual author.  Within each of these categories, though, there is a lot of room for play, and that’s what I’d like to look at today.

Anthologies with Multiple Authors

In anthologies with multiple authors, you can have everything from a straight-forward compilation from the short story masters, to something based around a theme.  A classic example of the former, of course, would be the Best American series where each year a guest editor selects his or her favorite stories from publications across the country.

Personally, I happen to think the collections based around a theme are a lot more fun.  You see a lot of this in short story collections for the teen audience.  Zombies vs. Unicorns, for instance, addresses that all important question “Which is cooler, zombies or unicorns?”  Geektastic is filled with stories from some big name authors in the teen literature world and celebrates all facets of geekdom, from trekkies to band camp nerds.

The straight-forward-style anthology tends to consist of stories reprinted from another source, so the person compiling the anthology culls through existing pieces of writing that have already been published.  In the latter type–the anthology centered around a theme–it’s much more likely that these authors wrote their stories specifically for the anthology.  After all, who has random zombie or unicorn stories just lying around?  (Actually…)

In both types of anthologies, though, the strength lies in variety of the voices represented.  The beauty of these collections is that we can hear from authors with very different writing styles, and it’s the contrast and complementary relationship between the stories that lend the collection its artfulness.

Collections by One Author

Sooner or later, authors who write a lot of short stories will have enough to fill a book.  The question, of course, is how to choose which stories go in the book and how these stories relate to each other.  Of course, you can do a “Complete Works” type of collection, which is lovely if only for its completeness, but some writers like to get more creative than that.  Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino is a fabulous collection of stories, all tied together under this theme of a “comedy in the cosmic realm.”  In his collection Past Perfect, Present Tense Richard Peck groups his stories according to theme, lending structure to the collection that ties it all together.

Why Collections are Important

I’ve heard it said by people in the book business that short story collections don’t sell as well as novels.  I wonder, though, if there isn’t a way to turn this bias against short story collections on its head.  In some ways, short story collections can be far more versatile and valuable to a reader than a novel.  In the novel, there’s only one way to read the story: you start on page 1 and read to the end (OK, maybe if you’re reading Pale Fire by Nabokov, that might not be the case, but in most novels you read from start to finish).  In a short story collection, however, the order you read the stories can affect your view of the other stories around it, making it a different reading experience every time.

Maybe someday I will make that anthology and when I do, I know exactly how I’ll put it together: with multiple tracks where readers can choose different ways of reading the collected stories so that they can experience the stories in a new way each time.  Because it’s not just about the individual stories, it’s about how the stories relate to one another.

The post Anthologies and Collections: Putting Stories Together to Tell Bigger Stories appeared first on DIY MFA.