The Short Story

Project Reflection

For the past couple of years, this idea of time has been spinning around in my head. Time that we spend jumping from meeting to meeting. Time that we spend running through our days. Time that we don’t even remember spending.

 

I’ve written enough memoirs and essays about this sentiment. In those memoirs, I reflect back on those personal experiences that made me think twice about the way I was spending my time. From relentless schedules to missed opportunities with family and friends, I catalogued and probed it all. But it was always from my perspective and always in my own narrow world.

 

The goal of these short stories was to develop a platform for this message that superseded my immediate environment. I wanted to create a fictional piece and transpose this message in it, so that it could be relevant and relatable for any reader my age.

 

But in order to explore this new genre, I had to learn more about it. And the more I learned and read, the more excited I became. The short story is, really, the first form of story telling in the world. From the very beginning, people told stories orally. Little snippets were passed down through the ages and shared across generations. But it wasn’t until the 19th century that this genre emerged with an outline and a structure accepted by the masses. Through my research, I was able to develop an understanding of how this genre evolved and the different forms that it could take. I was able to read excerpts that challenged me to stretch my writing and make every word count. Because, in a short story, every word does count.

 

The two main takeaways I had from my research and experimentation were: form is flexible and characters are vitally important.

 

1. Form is Flexible

While the first documented structure of the short story was quite delineated and outlined, Chekhov introduced a new form that allowed people to write with their true emotions and to probe deep into the imperfections of humanity. He also blew the status quo out of the water and removed the restrictions of strict structure.

 

From the many excerpts I’ve read, with a few of them listed on this website, I’m drawn more to those stories that trail off into mystery than those that wrap up in a pretty bow. The ones who dig deep into areas where answers are not readily available are the ones that appeal to me. I love the idea of bringing the reader on a quest to pick apart some understanding of the human condition, and to leave both of us at a crossroads of sorts, a mere turn into the next adventure.

 

2. Characters are Vitally Important

In a short story, space is so limited that with the descriptions we have and the characters we introduce, every word needs to earn its worth. Essentially, every word needs to move the story forward. From the examples I’d scrutinized, I loved the ones that were able to develop rich, complex characters. I loved how they reflected the real people we see around us and how we grew to love and hate each of them, just as we love and hate people in our lives.

 

A fantastic technique I learned throughout my research and from my mentors was developing character profiles. The idea was to know more about the character than I would ever need to use. In the process of constructing these people in their appearances, personalities, habits, and quirks, they became real in my mind and breathed life on paper. Seeing these creations come out in my stories was riveting and amazing.

 

I’ve enjoyed every moment of creating these stories, but that’s not to say I didn’t struggle. The first draft I presented, readers knew my characters were related right away. I wanted them to be delightfully surprised at the end in finding that the characters were intertwined. The first draft I presented, I couldn’t figure out how in the world I would bring each character’s background to light. Draft after draft piled up in my computer, but each time, I learned a little more about how to build these characters and how to make them speak to the reader. And most importantly, I learned how to have them illustrate this message of living in the moment and putting events in perspective.

 

In my stories, Jane is someone who can’t see past the near future and who feels the pressure the most. Tom is someone who has been through all of the same environments, but has years of experience and can both understand and let go of that pressure perspective. Anne is a different character in that she is bewildered by these pressures, yet sheltered and removed from them. She understands that they are necessary and unavoidable, and only wishes that she could somehow reassure her daughter that life will, as always, be just fine.

 

Throughout this project, I’ve learned more about short stories than I thought possible, and I learned more about just writing than I could have hoped for. I’ve discovered that I love creating stories that have a punch and that are condensed and thick in their presentation. I love creating characters and having them feel and dance into real life. And most importantly, I love sharing this message that I am just beginning to grasp. I hope young professionals, like myself, who read these stories will understand that the present is not worth missing out on and the future holds so much more than what we can immediately see.