What is my favorite short story?
While it was a hard choice, The Lottery won with A Rose For Emily a very close second. I suppose they both fall in “the best” short story category for me because they both employ one of my favorite strategies–a dawning sense of horror. Instead of clubbing you over the head with brutality, Shirley Jackson leads you like a lamb to the slaughter.
She sets the scene in the village with a description of a sunny June day–flowers, children, and their families gathering in the town square. There’s an anticipation of what’s to come, a celebration–a tradition the people inherited from so long again that the “box”– a central piece of the ceremony–was terribly shabby. The townsfolk couldn’t be folksier: Bobby Martin, Harry Jones, and Dickie Delacroix, Mr. Summers, “a round-faced, jovial man…” They all have a chance to win, and that’s what electrifies the entire village.
In about three thousand words, the fundamental irony and the subtle use of symbol create a story that you’ll never forget.
If you like short stories, you’ll find The Lottery a gripping one. If you’re thinking about writing them, then take a look at this help-filled book by Shannon Lawerence.
Blurb: Whether you’re looking to add short stories to your repertoire as a solo pursuit or in addition to novel writing, The Business of Short Stories covers every aspect from writing to marketing. Learn the dynamics of short story writing, where to focus your editing efforts, how and where to submit, how to handle acceptances and rejections, what to do with reprints, and how to market yourself and your stories online and in person. The information in The Business of Short Stories has been distilled from over a decade of short story publishing experience so you don’t have to learn the hard way. You’ll find information on submission formatting, cover letters, querying a collection, sending proposals to writing events, how to create a website, SEO, social media, and so much more. This is an invaluable resource for short story writers.
Shannon Lawrence has made a career of short stories, with over a decade of experience and more than fifty short stories published in magazines and anthologies. In addition, she’s released three horror short story collections with a mix of new and previously published stories. Her true-crime podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is going into its third season.
My Website and Social Media
Website . Facebook . Twitter . Instagram . Book Bub . Goodreads . Amazon . Podcast Website
Here’s Words For Wednesday, Week Two!
I’m providing the prompts for this long-lived meme for February’s WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY. All the prompts will have something to do with LOVE, so I hope this will get and keep you into the spirit of St. Valentine’s month and that you’ll leave your story in a comment. If you don’t want to play, enjoy what others leave. It’s fun no matter how you play.
Here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme: “Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.”
Choose either column one or column two, or if you’re really into this, write something using the words from both columns. Ready. Set. Write!
Gift | Yesterday |
Surprise | Lovely |
Stubborn | Sprinkled |
Laughter | February |
Generous | Husband |
Flowers | Marriage |
Quote of the Week: “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” Ray Bradbury