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98 pages

English

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In the context of a short story, every sentence, every word must serve a specific purpose. That's why the writers who have mastered this form -- Flannery O'Connor, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Raymond Carver -- are often afforded the highest critical praise. In Short Story Writing: A Practical Treatise on the Art of the Short Story, Charles Raymond Barrett offers simple, straightforward tips and advice that will help any aspiring author sharpen their short-story writing skills.

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 août 2009
Nombre de lectures	5
EAN13	9781775416371
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0234€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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SHORT STORY WRITING
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE ART OF THE SHORT STORY
* * *
CHARLES RAYMOND BARRETT

*

Short Story Writing A Practical Treatise on the Art of the Short Story From a 1900 edition.
ISBN 978-1-775416-37-1
© 2009 THE FLOATING PRESS.
While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike.
Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
*
Preface Introduction I - The Short Story II - Short Stories Classified III - The Plot IV - Titles Good and Bad V - The Use of Facts VI - The Characters VII - Methods of Narration VIII - The Beginning IX - The Story Proper X - Climax and Conclusion XI - The Style XII - The Labor of Authorship XIII - The Quest of a Market Appendix Endnotes
Preface
*
This book is an attempt to put into definite form the principlesobserved by the masters of the short story in the practice of their art.It is the result of a careful study of their work, of some indifferentattempts to imitate them, and of the critical examination of severalthousands of short stories written by amateurs. It is designed to be ofpractical assistance to the novice in short story writing, from themoment the tale is dimly conceived until it is completed and ready forthe editor's judgment.
The rules and principles here presented embody not what I conceive to beright, but what the great masters of the short story have thought to beright, and what they have proved to be at least successful. I speak onlyas a delver into the secrets of other men; and if I seem arrogant, it isdue to the influence of the company I keep. My deductions are made notonly from the artifices and triumphs of the successful, but from thestruggles and failures of the unfortunate as well; and I have endeavoredto make clear both the philosophy and the application of all theprinciples so deduced. Though in theory these rules are obligatory onall who essay the short story, they are frequently and knowingly evadedor violated by the masters of the art, whose genius is great enough toexcuse their disregard of the conventions, or whose skill is sufficientto smooth over their technical lapses; but for the novice the only safecourse is a careful observance of all conventions.
To the aspiring writer this book may seem to be merely a catalogue of"Don'ts", the gist of which is, "Don't write"; but that is to misreadme. Short story writing is not easy, and I cannot make it so, even if Iwould; but it is far from my purpose to discourage any person who feelsthe Heaven-sent call to write, and who has the will and ability torespond to it. But that call is but a summons to labor—and to labor theseverest and most persistent. To one who comes to it but half-heartedly,illy prepared, shirking its requirements, I can predict certain failure;but to the earnest, serious, conscientious worker, I would say a word ofhope. The promotion from the rank of amateur to the dignity ofauthorship may be long in coming, but it will come at last. Fame, likeall else that this world has to give, depends largely upon downrighthard work; and he who has the courage to strive in the face ofdisappointments will achieve success in the end.
Throughout this book I have endeavored to give my statementsdefiniteness by the employment of numerous examples, both goodand bad. I have made no attempt to present an exhaustive analysisof the technique of individuals or of schools, but have chosen myillustrations with a single view to their aptness; I have, however,for the convenience of reference, taken these paradigms chieflyfrom the published collections of stories by the older and betterknown writers. My "awful examples" are verbatim excerpts frommanuscripts which have passed through my hands; their authorshipis concealed for obvious reasons.
To the best of my knowledge there is no book extant which treatssolely of the technique of the short story. The nearest approachto it is "How to Write Fiction," an anonymous work published byBellaires & Co., London; but to my mind that is too slight, tootheoretical, and too enamored of the artificial French school to beof practical value to the amateur. Far better, as working guides, arethe frequent fragmentary articles on the short story, many of them bysuccessful short story writers, published in current periodicals, towhich I am considerably indebted. But my greatest obligation is to acourse in "The Art of the Short Story"—the first university courseever offered in that subject—conducted at the University of Chicagoin 1896 by Dr. E. H. Lewis.
C. R. B.
CHICAGO, August 1, 1900.
Introduction
*
The short story was first recognized as a distinct class ofliterature in 1842, when Poe's criticism of Hawthorne [1] calledattention to the new form of fiction. Short story writing had,however, been practiced for many years before that: perhaps thenarratives of Homer and the tales of the first books of the Biblemay be considered as the first examples; certainly the short storyis closely associated in its early history with narrative poems,allegorical tales, and mouth-to-mouth traditions, and it can betraced surely to the fabliaux of the thirteenth century. Laterwriters aided in its development: Mallory's "Morte D'Arthur" andCaxton's popularization of old romances marked a further progress;and some of the work of Defoe and Addison would almost stand themodern tests. But the short story as we know it to-day is a productof the nineteenth century; and it owes its position in literature, ifnot its very existence, to the work of Irving, Hawthorne, and Poe.They first recognized its possibilities and employed it seriously;and the art and genius which they put into their tales assured theshort story a permanent place in literature. They differed in subjectmatter and style, but they recognized the same requirements andlimitations; and the canons which they established then obtainto-day.
The modern short story is essentially an American product; and ourmasters of its art have established precedents for literary workersof the old world. In England, Stevenson, Kipling and Haggard areconsidered the originators of the modern short story; and Zola,de Maupassant, Daudet and Paul Marguerite in France, Tolstoi inRussia, and other famous foreign authors have their claims forconsideration; but all of them, admittedly or not, are but disciplesof the earlier American trinity. This book will confine itself tothe English-American short story.
To-day the short story is so popular that we seem to be in a newliterary epoch—the epoch of the short story—and there is no apparentcause to expect an early diminution in the demand for such literature;so that to the young writer the short story offers the best opportunityto prove his mettle. Then, too, it has the additional value of being anexcellent school for the novelist. The short story and the novel havemany radical differences; but in material, treatment and aim they aremuch the same, and the same general training is necessary for both. Allshort story writers do not become great novelists, nor have allnovelists been short story tellers; but it is a fact that the majorityof the present day novelists served their 'prenticeship in the ranks ofthe short story writers.
I - The Short Story
*
There is no modern literary form which is as little understood as is theshort story. The term short story is applied to every piece of prosewriting of 30,000 words or less, without regard to its matter, aim, orhandling; but our purpose demands a definition of some accuracy.
"In the first place, then, what is, and what is not , a short story?Many things a short story may be. It may be an episode, like Miss EllaHepworth Dixon's or like Miss Bertha Thomas'; a fairy tale, like MissEvelyn Sharp's; the presentation of a single character with the stage tohimself (Mr. George Gissing); a tale of the uncanny (Mr. RudyardKipling); a dialogue comedy (Mr. Pett Ridge); a panorama of selectedlandscape, a vision of the sordid street, a record of heroism, a remotetradition or some old belief vitalized by its bearing on our livesto-day, an analysis of an obscure calling, a glimpse at a forgottenquarter ... but one thing it can never be—it can never be 'a novel in anutshell'." [2]
"A short story ... must lead up to something. It should have for itsstructure a plot, a bit of life, an incident such as you would find in abrief newspaper paragraph.... He (Richard Harding Davis) takes thesubstance of just such a paragraph, and, with that for the meat of hisstory, weaves around it details, descriptions and dialogue, until acomplete story is the result. Now, a story is something more thanincidents and descriptions. It is a definite thing. It progressesconstantly. It arrives somewhere. It must enforce some idea (no matterwhat). It must be such a reality that a man who read it would carry awaya definite impression." [3]
It is evident, then, that the term short story is properly used onlywhen it means a short prose narrative, which presents artistically a bitof real life; the primary object of which is to amuse, though it mayalso depict a character, plead a cause, or point a moral; this amusementis neither of that æsthetic order which we derive from poetry, nor ofthat cheap sort which we gain from a broad burlesque: it is the simpleyet intellectual pleasure derived from listening to a well toldnarrative.
The first requisite of a short story is that the writer have a story totell—that is, a plot. He may present pretty scenes and word pictures ifhe will, but he must vivify and humanize them by the introduction ofcertain characters, pat