It is so handy when someone else says exactly what I've been thinking, but wittier, and in the Globe and Mail so that everyone else can appreciate it too. I'm going to print out Craig Boyko's essay on short stories and novels and pin it to the front of my sweater.
(via Kerry)
In the field behind the cages
RR
Rebecca Rosenblum...
is a writer and editor who likes a lot of stuff. This is a blog about that stuff, and also her writing. Rebecca is the writer-in-residence at Jean Vanier High School, and was a juror for The Journey Prize 21. Her work has been short-listed for the Journey Prize, the Danuta Gleed Award and the National Magazine Award. Her first book of short stories, Once, was published by Biblioasis and was one of Quill & Quire's 15 Books That Mattered in 2008. Rebecca's stories are occasionally seen in Canadian periodicals and her second collection, *The Big Dream,* is forthcoming from Biblioasis.
2 comments:
I wasn't aware that people have a fondness for "fat" books. All my research has indicated that people like books that are ~300 pages, prefer short stories turned into movies rather than novels, and novella is alive and well in science fiction circles.
Is the plight of the short story writer tied to the idea that a writer is that they write everything (novels, articles, columns, plays, poetry, musicals, TV ads, movies, comic books, blogs, television series) rather than specializing?
The funny thing is, just the other day I was thinking, when is that Craig Boyko kid going to write a novel? Seeing how he's conquered every short story mountain this country has to offer (it'll be interesting to see if he takes the Danuta Gleed; come to think of it, it'll be interesting to see if YOU, Ms. Rosenblum, take the Danuta Gleed).
I guess I should feel ashamed.
On the topic of short stories vs. novels, though, I suspect it has something to do with the intensity of the affect a novel can bring to the table, compared to a short story. There are exceptions (Neil Smith's short stories spring to mind), but for the most part a short story doesn't kick me in the nuts the way a novel does. I'm just not as emotionally invested. I feel like a traitor, saying that, given that, at present, the entirety of my publishing career is short fiction.
Also, unrelated, the verification word is berrel. It's almost barrel, a word you don't hear enough.
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