Writing short stories  − 14 May, 2008

What is the fatal flaw of the short story?  I think it might be how to deliver an ending that the reader will find satisfying.  I think that part of the genre is that there is no guarantee of a satisfying ending. A short story is more than a slice of life, but much less than a novel.  We all expcect novels to have definitive endings.  But a short story can only say so much.

What prompted these thoughts were my father's disappointment in the ending of my Hangin' Out in the Garage story.  I was a bit stung at first, because I love that story.  In his words:

"There was something powerful going on, so  I was wondering how it would end.  But the ending was disappointing.  I felt like you backed away from giving your readers a reason for hanging in there for such a long story."

I wondered what he could have been expecting.  So I wrote back to ask him.  I also let him know that I hadn't ben taking the bicycle stories that seriously, that they have been my way of laughing at myself, and a way to make me take better care of my bikes.  After a few days, he finally responded:

"You have a great gift for empathizing with animals and things, and giving them a 'human' dimension so the rest of us can relate with them as sympathetically as you do.  You know bikes the way my friend Rodger knows cars.  He can talk to them, find out where they hurt, and fix them better than anyone who is only a mechanic.  I don't know what kind of ending I expected. I guess I expected it to be as surprising and unique as the rest of the story."

In the mean time I had thought about the matter a bit, and responded that:

"I think I didn't know how to end it, because it was part of a much longer story I wanted to write, but it would have gotten much too long for my blog, and I really didn't have a plan, like I did for your short story.  Even though I've written two subsequent installments of the bike saga, I still haven't finished the story.  In some senses, it's a living and breathing story because the installments occur each weekend as I live them!"

Tonight I thought about it more, because I am writing a second short story, and I am not sure how to end it.  There are more possibilities than there were with Reasons We Leave because the second story doesn't have the first story's finite parameters.  Tony either would or would not go to the seminary.  But I knew that he would, because my dad went.  So it was really more about how he made the decision.

In my second story, I am already leaving out 80% of what I would have written had there been no limits to propriety.  But since there are, I am left with the 20% which is still the truth.

I have kept no count of the number of times I have turned away from the genre of the short story (as a reader) because of disappointing endings.  But in truth, that is unfair to the genre.  Short stories don't usually offer satisfying endings unless they are more clearcut or narrowly defined than the average short story.

So here I am, as a writer, beginning with short stories. I have to write endings for my stories, and as my stories grow in sophistication and complexity, there may be fewer satisfying endings.  It is the nature of the beast.  Poor readers.  My apologies in advance.

Comments:

intrepideddie (May 14, 2008. 04:12am)

Ah, I was wondering what it was your dad had the beef with. Personally, I didn't notice it before since I figured the story would be an on-going "series." Though, he does have a good point... even individual "episodes" in a series need some sort of closure. And before anyone makes any smart-ass comments, no I am NOT going to go back and put "closure" into any of my already-posted stories.

peahayes (May 14, 2008. 12:54pm)

I swear though, I've read so many short stories that lacked closure. Does that mean that they weren't good short stories? Or does that mean that they are intended to leave the reader wondering and thinking? My dad doesn't read short stories as far as I know. He reads history, philosophy, theology, and poetry.

peahayes (May 15, 2008. 12:23am)

My husband suggested that I look to James Joyce for inspiration on endings to short stories.

intrepideddie (May 15, 2008. 02:10am)

Well, really it should be no different than a novel -- you're just telling a story on a smaller scale. Arguably, short stories are much more difficult to write well because of this. All sorts of endings: blaze of glory ending, ending that makes you think, unexpected ending, ending with a twist, end the same way you begin, etc... Take "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. It's sort of an intentionally disappointing ending -- makes you think back on the story and about other things. In the end, what matters is whether *you* are happy with the story. I'm rarely happy with mine, so I just throw the crap out there as-is...

peahayes (May 15, 2008. 02:27am)

Thanks for the advice! I thought I had an ending to my second short story, but I thought of a better one, so back to the drawing board. (Man, I'm re-reading the last paragraph of my post, and I am squirming at the hubris! "Growing in sophistication and complexity"? I can only hope! Christ awmighty!)

intrepideddie (May 15, 2008. 02:56am)

Yep. Nothing screams sophistication like “You god-damned mother fucking son a of a bitch.” ;) Oh, yeah, my stories reek of sophistication (and they're about as complex as a one-color Rubik's Cube).

peahayes (May 15, 2008. 03:18am)

You are the one person (ok, there's more than one) who can just crack me up like nobody's business! And anyhow, I *like* your story endings. So if you want, just assume I'll like it, and be happy. Come on.. you like 'em!