Time is running out. It’s just under four weeks until we close – on Monday, April 27th. But there’s still time to write a story from scratch, redraft, edit and do the final tweaks. BSSA has a limit of 2,200 words but whatever the length, the start of a a story is vital in grabbling attention and setting the pace for what’s to follow.
From our archives here are some of our favourite writers on BEGINNINGS
2022 BSSA Judge, author and writing teacher Paul McVeigh had this to say:
Beginnings are very important. Talking specifically from the point of view of judging competitions and reading stories in an endless feast …, I find beginnings are crucial to keep me reading. For these platforms (which I don’t think have to apply to stories in a collection), one way to get my attention is to see the first page as pulling the ring from the grenade. I will read to see if it goes off – I assume it will and cause the maximum amount of damage possible. If that grenade doesn’t go off and you’ve written an end I believe in and welcome, then I will tip my hat to you. I will also be a bit jealous.
Prize-winning author Colin Barrett winner of the Guardian First Book prize in 2014 for his brilliant short story collection, Young Skins says this :
Try to make something interesting happen as near to the opening as you can. Now this doesn’t have to be some showy eruption of plot or an aphoristic nugget of an opening line, though it may well be; it might just be the deployment of an unobvious adjective or unexpected detail seamed somewhere into your opening paragraphs. A nuanced little observation or moment, carefully placed. If you can get a small moment right near the start it sends a signal to the reader that you can trust me, you can keep reading. There’s nowhere to hide with short stories, if it’s five or ten pages long it’s got to start well, do well in the middle, and end well. No point saying it gets good half way through.
What about ENDINGS? Award-winning short story writer and novelist, Danielle McLaughlin says this:
As for endings: stop in the right place. Easier said than done, I know, but a short story can be ruined if the writer insists on carrying on past the ending. “… already in that space the light begins to fade into the calm gray even light of the novelist.” That quote is from a paragraph in The Lonely Voice where Frank O’ Connor is discussing an aspect of the work of Mary Lavin, and, whether or not you agree with his assessment of Lavin’s work, the analogy of the fading of light is a good way of explaining the loss of intensity, the loss of explosiveness, that can occur when a short story continues on further than it should.
And then there are the finishing touches …
On finding the right TITLE
Short story writer and poet, Tania Hershman has this important advice on titles:
You want your work to stand out from the beginning in the huge pile that the judge has in front of him or her, and a good title will do that better than a quirky font or odd layout (avoid those). If a judge has ten stories called “The Visit” or “The Day it All Changed”, he or she might be rather jaded by the time it comes to the 10th. But don’t make your title too interesting or creative if your story can’t live up to it – make sure it does!
The best single comment on a title comes from acclaimed short story writer Tessa Hadley, who we interviewed in 2013:
‘A title clinches something, it crisps the story up and seals it like a top on a bottle.’
Do also read the writing advice from this year’s judge, Gordon Wise.
We look forward to reading your stories and thank you to all who have entered so far
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This entry was posted in News and tagged Colin Barrett, Danielle Mclaughlin, Paul McVeigh, Tania Hershman on March 28, 2022.
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