I'll Keep This Short by Mary Dutta

One of the pleasures of the writing life is attending writing conferences, which vary in size, length, focus, and location. Some cater to writers, others to fans, and some to both. In my time as a short story author I have enjoyed attending Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, Killer Nashville, and New England Crime Bake.

Short stories, however, often get short shrift at conferences. At best, there may be a panel or two, often focused on the stories nominated for awards. So, I was delighted to travel to Alexandria, Virginia last month to participate in ShortCon, which bills itself as the premier conference for writers of short crime fiction. In only its second year, and limited to just fifty participants, the one-day conference was a chance to dive deep into the craft and business of short fiction and to mix with fellow authors who love the form as much as I do.

The morning session featured S.J. Rozan, an Edgar winner for both Best Short Story and Best Novel. She focused on the craft of writing short and, to that end, had attendees try different writing exercises. For instance, she chose ten random words suggested by participants and gave us seven minutes to write a story including them all. No time to summon the muse. No time to edit. Just a pure shot of creativity.

The second presenter was Jeffrey Marks, an accomplished writer and the publisher for Crippen and Landru, who spoke about short story collections. A collection, as opposed to an anthology, features work by a single author. He explained what his publishing house looks for when buying a collection, a process I knew nothing about. After he discussed the various ways stories in a collection can be organized (by publication date, theme, time period when the story is set, etc.) we tried our hands at arranging a list of stories to what we felt was their best advantage. Not surprisingly in a room full of creative types, no two groups came up with the same table of contents.

The subject shifted to anthologies with the last presenter, Michael Bracken. Michael is a leading light of the short crime fiction community, the author of almost 1300 short stories, and the editor of more than thirty anthologies. His invaluable practical advice on submissions, editing, and writerly resilience resonated even with those who have already published in multi-author works.

To close out the day, award-winning author and editor Stacy Woodson facilitated a Q&A with all three presenters. The questions, like the earlier shared exercises, reflected the diversity of short crime fiction and its creators.

I left ShortCon feeling inspired by both the content and my fellow writers.  I also came away with some story ideas I’m now turning into finished works. I strongly encourage anyone who writes, or would like to write, short crime fiction to attend next year. I’ll definitely see you there—I’ve already signed up.

What writing events have inspired you, as a writer and/or a fan?