CRAFT
Best Intentions
What is an intention? We know it, mostly, as an aim or a plan. When you begin to write a short story or a novel, you have a general sense of something that’s guiding you forward. It might be a…
A Closer Look: “Meet Behind Mars,” Renee Simms
“Meet Behind Mars” is the title story in Renee Simms’ debut short story collection, published by Wayne State University Press this month. The story, which you can read here in a slightly altered version, is in the form of a…
Interview: Jamel Brinkley
CRAFT: Your debut short story collection, A Lucky Man, lives and breathes New York, with most of the stories located in one, or more, of the boroughs. And while I believe you grew up and went to school here, you’ve…
WRITING IN GENERAL, Rust Hills
Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular, Rust Hills Mariner Books, 2000 Originally published in 1977, this book examines the elements of craft, with an emphasis on the short story, examining the components of a successful short story…
I Love the Bad Ones Best
By Louise Marburg There is perhaps nothing more annoying to hear from an editor that they find a character too unsympathetic to be believable. Part of me wonders if the character in question might in fact be all too believable,…
Interview: Julie Buntin
CRAFT: Marlena’s opening is striking on a craft level for several reasons: first, there’s no withholding. We learn right away what happens to Marlena. And second, the use of the present tense serves to put us in the moment, in…
What Makes a Collection?
You’ve amassed some stories. Maybe you have enough for a collection, maybe you’re still a few shy. It’s not an obvious grouping of stories: there are no common characters or recurring places or a clear theme. How do you organize…
Obsessions
Obsessions lie at the heart of most of the things we do well. And figuring out what your obsessions are in writing may well be the key to figuring out that next short story or novel. Poet Natalie Diaz talks…
Author’s Notes
A note from the author accompanies each of the stories we publish. We ask the author to write something—anything—about the craft in their story. We love these Author’s Notes, as they shed an important light on each story. Every time…
LIGHT THE DARK, edited by Joe Fassler
Light the Dark, edited by Joe Fassler Penguin Books, 2017 A collection of craft essays from a series in The Atlantic, this is a book to treasure, one to read again and again. The online series, called “By Heart,” is curated…