It’s not just the news that’s breaking! There is another variety of short story “without a fall” or whose fall remains unresolved. The two are not constructed in the same way: from the first lines, the difference is evident and asserts itself throughout the story.
The objective of the short story is to tell a story, to set up adventures which will lead to an outcome allowing the resolution, for good or ill, of the “crisis” that the characters are going through. “I would also add that he greeted, Good evening, company. And then he jumped.” (Annie Seamount, Me, my father 1). “And that’s when the six o’clock bus ran over him. » (Truman Capote, Like Children on Their Birthday 2). Often surprising and rich in emotion, the fall is then the crowning glory of the news. Many authors write their short stories according to the fall that they sometimes know before even picking up their pen or putting their fingers on their keyboard!
The new “fall-free”
Nothing like this with the short story without punchline which favors above all atmosphere and suggestion. It is first of all for the author to describe a significant moment in the life of a character which, over a very short period of time, will lead him to reconsider the meaning of his life. Most of the time, the end of the story has nothing of a denouement in the sense that it does not “resolve” anything: the story ends with a word, a sentence in the continuity of the moment. “They chatted until early morning, when the pale light rose in the windows, and they did not think of leaving. » (Raymond Carver, A Little Sweetness 3). “The light turned green and the car started immediately” (Hélène Lenoir, Les escarping rouge 4).
A new story is being built
Whether it is about bringing the punchline that will “stuck” the reader, or immersing them in the atmosphere of a story to take them to the end of the emotion, the key word is: construction. The different phases of the story require real compositional work that many authors consider to be a craft. A new one must be solidly built and designed to last, like a house or a car. It also has to be beautiful to look at… writes Raymond Carver in Don’t make a fuss of it 5. And this cannot be improvised.
Why write every day
It’s true, you can write when inspired. Embark on a frenetic writing session, experience the fever of creation… and it’s exhilarating! But for those who have a long-term writing dream, the reality is a little different.
Do you dream of ghostwriting services, of putting down on paper all the stories that are on your mind? You have also started three or four novels that remained unfinished due to lack of time or loss of motivation, or the first draft of a short story that you would like to send to a magazine, why not… But when you hear that, to go so far ‘at the end of a project, you should work on it regularly, that is to say every day, you make a face. And yet…
Fifty-two stories per year for five years!
“One or two thousand words, every day, for the next twenty years. Initially, you might aim for one story a week, or fifty-two stories a year, for five years.”
This is the program recommended by Ray Bradbury to anyone wishing to get started in writing*. Because the author of Fahrenheit 451 has a conviction: “in the end, quantity will contribute to quality (…) With their billions of sketches (quantity), Michelangelo, Vinci or Tintoretto prepared to paint and to draw quality (…). An athlete can run ten thousand kilometers just to prepare for one hundred meters. Quantity brings experience. Quality can only come from experience. »
“There is no such thing as failure until you stop”
Quantity, yes, but to produce what? you say. Well, you would be wrong to despise all these texts written to get started. After all, Stendhal himself said “Not a day without a line, genius or not.” » Bradbury does not support anything else: “There, you are in the middle of an evolutionary process (…) Everything is moving forward. The job is done. If it’s good quality, you learn something. If it’s bad, you learn even more (…) Failure doesn’t exist until you stop. Not working is stopping (…) » Conclusion: if you really want to write, don’t wait until you have inspiration, time or the right software… write!