@TaniaHershman has a terrific story up on PANK Magazine today (thanks @JonPinnock for the headsup)
I envy writers who can make these 'hang-in-the-air' stories work. If I tried one it would simply appear unfinished. I guess the secret lies in the characterization and believability - the verisimilitude - in Tania's story, which makes it seem like a slice of real life and therefore acceptable as a snapshot of a moving target? How am I doing?
I want to understand how this works. I need to learn – fast.
All serious advice will be gratefully received and faithfully applied by this apprentice writer.
Although I can't pay, you may help yourself to virtual tea and biscuits.
But, please, do turn the lights off when you leave.
With grateful thanks in anticipation.
Oscar
oscar, thanks so much for the mention of my story. Here's a secret: i had an ending that was much neater, tied everything up, and an editor i submitted it to said it was too pat, too easy. A cop out. So i rewrote the ending, and then my story won the Biscuit flash fiction comp (they didn't publish it) and was finalist in PANK's contest. So, great editors really help, that's my secret, and trusting your reader not to need - or want- unreal neat and tidy endings.
ReplyDeleteThank you for responding, Tania. That's just the kind of down-to-earth advice I was seeking. The 'great editors' part comes as no surprise, I've been fortunate enough to benefit from a little of that already, but trusting the reader... Yes, I have heard that before but clearly I have not absorbed the lesson. Must try harder. A thousand thanks.
ReplyDelete