I’m now officially writing my ‘dissertation’ for the Creative Writing MA, which is 15000 words of my novel, due in September. Obviously I’ve already begun to find ways to procrastinate, and I’ve just signed up to the excellent 100 Days to Make Me a Better Person project.
The idea is you do one thing, every day, for 100 days. I’ve decided to read a short story every day which will hopefully make me a better person in terms of being well-read, if not morally improved. My lovely classmate Holly has signed up to find the good in every day and Jenn has been taking pictures of things that make her happy. I was very aware when deciding on my pledge that I always go ridiculously overboard with these things and then fail early on and end up doing nothing. It’s one of my few character flaws… So I’ve really tried to choose something manageable which I feel I can fit in without it becoming a chore.
During the MA we’ve been lucky enough to have lots of talks from people in the publishing industry and they’ve all repeated the message that short stories don’t sell and rarely get published. One lady recently told us that if they do publish a short story collection it’s usually just to placate a best-selling writer and they generally make a loss on it. I’m really not sure why this is. I’m not predominately a short story writer myself but a lot of my classmates are and I feel discouraged on their behalf. I would have thought short stories were the perfect format for our busy modern world – you can read a couple on the tube on the way to work, or one while the dinner’s on, or a few while the baby’s asleep. Of course you could read a couple of chapters of a novel, but you don’t get the satisfaction of actually finishing something. I wonder if this is actually the reason short stories are less commercial? Perhaps people read for escapism, and you can never really escape into a short story; you only get a glimpse into another world, not the world itself. I’m guilty of mostly reading novels myself, but hopefully in the next 100 days I’ll learn a lot about different writing styles and the short story as a form.
So wish me luck, I will keep track of what I read and recommend any writers I especially enjoyed. I’m starting with Miranda July’s ‘No one belongs here more than you’. I’m enjoying it so far, and her website for the book is adorable, check it out:
And here is an editorial on the five best short story collections from the Daily Beast which could prove useful if anyone else wants to join me. If anyone has any other recommendations of short story collections or writers, let me know!
Cool project, Daisy! Check out http://www.theshortreview.com for short-story-reading ideas aplenty. I love that Miranda July book. Or Angels, by Denis Johnson?
Ooh thanks Valerie, the short review looks really interesting, how have I not heard about it before? I will definitely check out Angels x
Just started the same thing on the same day
@isayitsadam if you want to say hi!
Wow clearly great minds think alike Adam, let’s start a trend!
daisy daisy! have you read any of anthony doerr’s short stories? the shell collector is a particular gem. this is a great project and highly relevant so hopefully less of a procrastination tool and more of a beneficial sideline activity to throw yourself into? i will refrain from disclosing that i am the queen of procrastination myself and can justify anything into the opposite of procrastinating. i will eagerly keep my eye out for any more short story fodder… x
Thanks Holly I haven’t heard of Anthony Doerr but I like the sound of the shell collector and thanks for validating my procrastination, I think I need more ‘beneficial sideline activities’
‘Haunted’ by Chuck Palahniuk? It’s dark but it’s ruddy grand. Malcolm Bradbury’s ‘Penguin Book of British Short Stories’ is also very good, there’s a wide variety of stuff in there. And there’s a couple of decent stories in the Nick Hornby edited ‘Speaking with the Angel’ too.
D’oh – I meant Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson – Angels is also amazing but it’s a novel! I just also finished Nik Perring’s Not So Perfect – a tiny collection of flash-fiction short stories. Really simple but beautiful little tales about love and such things.