Collect and Compress

Short stories.  I've seen the various reactions they inspire - love 'em, hate 'em, scared to death of 'em.  People generally think of short stories as miniature novels, with a complete outline of introduction, conflict, crisis, resolution, conclusion, etc.  And I must admit I have also taught them as such.  But the more I read and observe, the more I come to believe this pattern can be discarded.  Many of the stories featured in the book I blogged about awhile ago simply dropped the reader smack into the middle of the goings on and took off.  No background, no long-winded explanations, merely a blunt "this is a person, go have adventures with them" meeting.

I like short stories because they can communicate as much as a novel, but in a smaller package.  They lend themselves well to concise language and crisp storytelling.  A swift set of details, carefully collected and compressed, presenting a glance at someone's life.

“Authors never included the whole story, they just got to the point.”

- John Green, An Abundance of Katherines