When Thoughts Turn to Short Stories

by Paula Gail Benson

With so many activities as summer approaches, sometimes it’s easier to commit to reading or writing short stories rather than longer works. July offers the opportunity for a Camp NaNo experience and wouldn’t it be fun to try something new and different, experiment with a genre you haven’t written before?

I’ve been thinking a lot about short stories lately. At the end of May, we received word that short story writer and longtime supporter of the short mystery fiction community, Sandra Seamans, had passed away. I wrote a tribute to her yesterday on The Stiletto Gang. Many of us credit Sandra’s blog “My Little Corner,” which listed story calls, as giving us the information we needed to make our first submissions.

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting, a founding member and author for the blog “The Write Practice,” has published some excellent books on writing short stories. These are all available on Amazon:

Let's Write a Short Story: How to Write and Submit a Short Story (2013).

15 Days to Write and Submit a Short Story: Workbook (Let's Write a Short Story 2) (2014).

How to Win a Writing Contest (Let's Write a Short Story Book 3) (2016).

Tara Laskowski

Art Taylor

I found two of Joe’s online articles in “The Write Practice” to be particularly helpful. “Five Steps to Write a Short Story” has the following process: (1) be a reader of short stories, (2) start out by summarizing the story you want to write, (3) then, write the story, (4) revise and edit the story you’ve written, and (5) submit it for publication. In “How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish,” Joe outlines seven steps: (1) write the story in one sitting as if you were telling it to someone, (2) determine who the protagonist is, (3) list out all the scenes in the story, (4) conduct any research you need, (5) write the story, then rewrite and edit it, and (7) get the story published.

Barb Goffman

Some of the best advice I’ve heard about writing short stories has been at the Malice panels featuring the Agatha nominees for best short story. From this year’s authors, Leslie Budewitz, Susanna Calkins, Barb Goffman, Tara Laskowski, and Art Taylor, I learned a great deal, both from hearing their perspectives and reading their stories. One thing in particular resonated with me: Barb Goffman suggested a year of reading a short story a day. What a great idea for becoming familiar with style, craft, and the types of stories being accepted for publication.

Susanna Calkins

Where do you find 365 stories? One good place to start is with the magazines and anthologies where the Agatha nominees were published. Leslie and Tara’s stories (that tied for the Agatha) appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, while Barb and Art’s were in issues of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Susanna’s was in last year’s Bouchercon Anthology, Florida Happens. (Also, if you haven’t read them yet, there are still active links on the Malice Domestic’s Agatha page.)

Leslie Budewitz

On Malice Domestic’s anthology page, not only is there a story call for it’s upcoming anthology, Mystery Most Theatrical, but also a list of the Malice Anthology Collection. By Googling “Bouchercon anthologies,” you can retrieve a sizeable list, including the Anthony award winning Murder Under the Oaks, edited by Art Taylor. Speaking of this year’s Agatha short story nominees, how about checking out Leslie Budewitz’ and Susanna Calkins’ websites, which list out their short stories; Barb Goffman’s collection Don’t Get Mad, Get Even that won the Silver Falchion Award; Tara Laskowski’s Bystanders, winner of the Balcones Fiction Prize; and  Art Taylor’s Agatha award winning novel in short stories, On the Road with Del and Louise?

Sisters in Crime’s online Guppy Chapter has a series of anthologies, many of which gave members a first publication. (BSP: my “The Train is on the Tracks” is in Fish or Cut Bait.) Other chapters of Sisters in Crime also have short story anthologies.

Gigi Pandian

Gigi Pandian’s The Cambodian Curse and Other Stories features nine locked room mysteries (including the Agatha award winning “The Library Ghost of Tanglewood Inn”). The Mystery Tribune called Reed Farrel Coleman’s recent collection Short Stack “a master class in short stories.”

John Floyd

How can I not mention collections by B.K. Stevens (Her Infinite Variety), John M. Floyd (Dreamland) (in addition, John recently wrote a post for Sleuthsayers, “Anthology Psychology,” listing the themed anthologies where his stories appear), and Earl Staggs (Short Stories of Earl Staggs)? As a matter of fact, maybe that’s what I should continue to do this summer, fill my messages with lists of short story anthologies.

If nothing else, please consider reading my tribute to Sandra Seamans on The Stiletto Gang. Although her story collection is out of print, I was able to find links to a number of her short stories available online. Reading those, you can see the skill of a true craftsman who loved the short story form.

How about you? Have you read or written any good short stories lately?