Category: Writing About Writing

The High Line extension, before the renovations
Writing About Writing

The First Short Story

/
Photo by Pamela Weis – The High Line 2013

A few months ago, I sat down one evening to write. It was approximately 8:00. By 9:30, I had finished a short story. It’s four pages long. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It takes place in a location I know well. I think it’s…decent.

I have since started working on a second draft of this maybe-just-okay story. I will eventually submit it somewhere.

The short story came from a desire to practice my fiction writing without the commitment of a full length novel. I am working on a novel, and it feels a little weird to say that, but I had put it aside for awhile to do some research. I figured I would try my hand at shorter prose and see what happened.

Previous short story attempts did not go far. Every single story that I started, up until this one story, the story that I finished, petered out within hours; I thought it was boring, and I just let it be. I have many years worth of story starters that I will probably never finish. The situations and characters did not hold my interest. And if they didn’t hold my interest, they certainly would not hold the interest of a future reader. As you might imagine, when I actually managed to complete that first story, it was a pretty big deal.

In the months following that first short story, I somehow managed to churn out a second one! This is really too much for me. It deserves champagne and a night out or at least some chocolate; but like the first story, the second one is probably just okay. Maybe that doesn’t matter. The point is that I did it! I should be proud of myself for the effort! Yes. I am proud of myself. But I recognize that these little stories of mine are not yet ready for sharing, and that tempers the thrill. They are too rough, too unformed, too much the result of a newbie fiction writer.

In the coming weeks and months, I will write and rewrite and rewrite again until they are ready. There’s no rush and I’m enjoying the journey. In time, I will share.

People declare their love in Mohonk
Writing About Writing

Bad Writing

/
Photo by Pamela Weis – Mohonk Scribbles

I’m a literature snob. I don’t mean to be one, but I was late to the reading game, and by the time I figured out how amazing books could be, I decided to only read the best. Over the years, I’ve broadened my concept of “the best” and now read beyond the classics, Toni Morrison, and Margaret Atwood. I’ve fallen in love with science fiction, much of which is brilliantly constructed, and have also started to read some “bad writing”. In his book On Writing, Stephen King says it’s a good idea to read everything – even the stuff that’s not very good, because you can learn from it. I think he’s right, but I’m not sure I can bring myself to read novel-length mediocre prose. When the a certain YA fantasy series was popular awhile back, I kept trying to give it a go, but just couldn’t get past the clunky sentences. I’m starting with short stories from new writers instead. There are many literary magazines out there – so many of them! Some of these magazines have amazing material. Others struggle to get the really good stuff. I’ve decided that this is my best bet for figuring out how NOT to write, identifying what I think is “good”, even if it’s not “the best”.

It always feels a little uncomfortable to say that anyone’s writing is not good; but I used to teach undergrads and I know for a fact that some writing is just bad. With students, bad writing is usually the result of not giving a shit, though not always. Sometimes their sloppiness is a result of an insufficient writing education, and maybe also from not reading enough. With published works, bad writing is more difficult to classify. It’s certainly not limited to one genre. When I went to Kenya for the first time in 2006 for a summer archaeology field school, I took The DaVinci Code with me. I liked the idea of the book and thought it would be a fun, thrilling read. I would spend my days learning about East African fauna and flora, and how to properly excavate a fossil, while my nights would be filled with ancient intrigue. I was so distracted by the writing that I struggled to enjoy the book. I don’t think it qualifies as “good” writing, but it’s not quite “bad” either. However you classify it, there’s a place for writing like this, otherwise it wouldn’t sell. It’s a compelling story, and the writing is okay, but it’s not for me.

That’s really what it comes down to – am I distracted by the prose? Or is it easy to read? Easy to read actually means it’s well written. That’s the funny thing about prose – it doesn’t have to be complicated to be good. And easy doesn’t mean simplistic. Easy to read, in my opinion, just means that it flows nicely. Granted, this is fairly subjective, but if it doesn’t have speed bumps where you have to slow down or re-read a phrase several times, then it flows well. Of course, sometimes I have to re-read something because my mind wanders, but that’s another topic.

As I am learning about myself as a writer, I am also widening my view of what I think is “good”, and not just “best”. I doubt I will ever be able to put myself in the category of “best” so I should become more familiar with what is “good” and what (to me) is “bad”. I’m still a little bit of a lit snob, but I’m softening. Writing is fun. It’s also hard. It’s important to acknowledge that.