Short stories for writers

Aims

This course aims to:

• offer an overview of the conventions of the contemporary short story via close consideration of six classic short stories published in the last thirty years

• prompt students to consider the technical qualities of a successful short story and to consider how craft insights drawn from the works examined in class may be applied in the composition of their own fiction

• inspire students to begin, develop and refine their own pieces of short fiction

Content

This course will be taught on the basis of two assumptions: that to write well, a writer must be, first of all, an attentive reader; and that the short story is a perfect opportunity for writers of all levels of experience to test and exert their talents to the full.

The short story asks that a writer introduce their readers to a fictional world and enact meaningful action (and transformation) within that world over the span of a narrative that may be read in a single sitting. As such, it is a rarefied form that tests key skills of a writer – conveying character, building plot, and bringing a narrative to a satisfying conclusion (amongst others). Nothing is put off in a good short story, nor is the reader of the form tolerant of wasted words. The short story is therefore a perfect laboratory in which to examine the fundamentals of story craft. The stark efficiency of the short story means that insights about narrative may be more easily reached in study of exemplar pieces, and that writers' own capabilities are roundly tested when working in the form.

In this class we will read and write short stories, working to better understand the form and drawing from that work insights that may be put to use in the refinement and development of short stories and other types of fiction. 

Presentation of the course

 The course will be taught as seminar style discussion, and as peer-to-peer workshops. Seminar sessions will involve students reading the short story to be discussed in advance of the class and then examining the technical qualities of that story in a discussion guided by the course director.

In peer-to-peer workshops, students will take it in turns to share pieces of short fiction. Other students will offer notes on these stories with the intention of guiding the writers in developing and improving the pieces.

Course sessions

1. Introduction to the course. In-class reading exercise. Materials provided on arrival.

2. Story discussion – 'Property' by Elizabeth McCracken

3. Story discussion – 'Stone Mattress' by Margaret Atwood

4. Workshop 1

5. Story discussion – 'Ziggurat' by Stephen O'Connor

6. Workshop 2

7. Story discussion – 'Ming' by Han Ong

8. Workshop 3

9. Story discussion – 'A Village After Dark' by Kazuo Ishiguro

10. Workshop 4

Learning outcomes

You are expected to gain from this series of classroom sessions a greater understanding of the subject and of the core issues and arguments central to the course.

The learning outcomes for this course are:

• an understanding of the techniques employed by expert short story writers and a grasp of how those techniques might be adapted and put to use in your own work

• an overview of current practice in contemporary short story writing and an understanding of the imaginative, thematic and formal range of practice available to the contemporary short story writer

• a refined understanding of how feedback maybe given to other writers in workshop setting and a sense of how peer feedback can effectively be put to use in revising and developing your own work 

Required reading

All required reading is included in the *course reader - Short Stories for Writers - this is available to access/download on the Virtual Learning Environment.
Please bring a copy of the reader (physical or digital) to every session.