Nuances of Short Story Writing: General considerations.

Nuances of Short Story Writing: General considerations.

Short stories are also written in a conversational style and tone to sustain the readers’ interest. Consider this example: Short story written in a conversational style:- The small boy was very late to the school. The teacher asked him, ‘why are you late?’ The small boy did not give any reply.The teacher became furious. She gave him a punishment. He was standing over an hour outside the class.Out of interest, he even peeped into the class room now and then.The teacher took pity on him. ‘Come inside the class. Now tell me why were you late ?’ The boy hesitated for a while. ‘I have only one shirt.That was so dirty.So I washed it for myself; It took sometime to get dried. Hence,I was late.’ The teacher was moved at the poverty of the boy. She felt sorry for him. ‘I am sorry my boy. I am sorry for punishing you.’ Hectic debate going on between the writers that short story should confine itself with the following characteristics:- 1)There is a specific format and style or no specific format or style for writing a short story. 2)There should be a word limit between 750 to 2500 in an ideal short story. 3) A short story should contain only a few characters. 4) A short story should contain a message in it and it should sustain the readers’ interest throughout. 5) A short story should contain a befitting or an unexpected end. 6) The usage of words in a short story should be very opt and economical. 7) No word written in a short story should be superfluous or redundant. However, there are classic short stories which do not fit in with any of the characteristics mentioned above; sometimes they contain a few and omit others. World famous writers like Chekav, Mapazan, Ernest Heming Way, Oscar Wilde and scores of Indian writers like Prem Chand,Tagore and R.K.Narayan who had written classic short stories did not follow any of the above mentioned characteristics and no one can deny the indelible impact created by their short stories. Chekav believed in the brevity of a short story. All other classical authors created mixed feelings in the minds of the readers. Many western magazines which call for submission of short stories prescribe a word limit of between 750 and 2500. In the Asian countries like India short stories have undergone a sea of change.Particularly in Tamil magazines, short stories are published mostly on a single page with the nomenclature ‘one page short stories’. However, some magazines giving due credit to the writers publish the entire short stories running into few pages.Tamil writers like, Jayakanthan, Akilon, Puthumaipithan,T.Janakiraman, Sujatha and others influenced by the western writers like Chekav, Hemingway and others have in fact produced master pieces in short stories. Short stories still have a good response from the magazines and they also enjoy a very good readership. Particularly in the western countries, short story writers are well paid over $ 500 for each published story, some times even more than $ 1,000.Even online, short story writers have got a very good scope. At Fan Story.com, they even conduct short story writing competitions with a novel idea of writing a short story with the beginning of a given line or idea. Daily Writing Prompt.com is another useful site When a writer enjoys a fairly good chance of earning a few thousand dollars per month by writing short stories, it is always good to concentrate on short story writing However, to be a successful short story writer, a writer has to necessarily follow these steps:- 1)You should be a voracious reader of classical short stories so as to evolve your own style in short story writing; 2) You should not confine yourself with your computer and the internet always.In order to have a wide knowledge and experience you should involve and participate in various social activities. 3)You should closely observe anything from a different angle and in your own perspective. 4) You should always keep your eyes and ears wide open whenever and wherever you go out. 5)Whenever you get any new idea or whenever you observe any new and different episode or phenomena that catch your attention, it is your duty to jot down them in your personal diary. Once you decided to become a short story writer, you have to equip yourself with the nuances of short story writing. Always believe in your ability as a short story writer. Then your goal is at a striking distance.