Short Story Thoughts

     Another assignment for Creative Writing; we were supposed to talk about short stories in general.

I’m thrilled that it’s time for short stories; grateful that I’ve learned a lot about poetry, but ready to dive into something I’m more familiar with. The ones I’ve previously written tend to sprawl out a little farther than is typical publishing distance, so hopefully while studying what Mooring Against the Tide says I’ll learn to be more efficient with the amount of words used while still getting all the relevant points of the story covered. I am a little disappointed that only one story will be required, but we’re just learning about the process of creative writing here, so I understand why. Besides, writing fiction is hard enough as it is, and especially while school is in full swing.

            I’m fairly familiar with short stories, but since they can be hard to find on library shelves, mostly they’re told nowadays over the radio airwaves: singer/songwriters whose work I especially enjoy could include Brad Paisley(“Letter To Me”, “Part II”, “Waitin’ On a Woman”), Kenny Chesney(“Don’t Blink”, “There Goes My Life”, “The Boys of Fall”), Garth Brooks(“Unanswered Prayers”, “Beaches of Cheyenne”, “Ireland”), Taylor Swift(“The Story of Us”, “Mean”, “Never Grow Up”, “Long Live”) and Miranda Lambert(“New Strings”, “The House That Built Me”, “Over You”). And others like Keith Urban, Jon Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne and Bryan Adams. I could really go on practically forever, but who would want to read that?

            So back to the more traditional printed form of short stories, I really love the descriptions and style of O. Henry; the way he could paint either the concrete jungle of New York City or the Texas prairies to where we’d know the locals and the important landmarks. And his endings are amazing. I know it sounds cliché to say that “The Gift of the Magi” is my favorite, but it’s so wonderful. Who can’t relate to the cash-strapped but affectionate pair of Jim and Della Young? You hope to be able to love someone like that someday. Only William Sydney Porter could take the plot of “A Retrieved Reformation” and make it believable. First, that a career criminal like Jimmy Valentine could move to a small Arkansas town and become a leading citizen as a shoemaker. Second, that when Ben Price the detective tracks him down; that he would leave Jimmy alone. And third, that the reader would be okay with Ben’s decision. In “The Last Leaf”, you feel the desperation in the lives of Sue, Johnsy and Behrman, and the magnitude of Behrman’s masterpiece, understanding what it cost to paint. “After Twenty Years” is painfully honest about faded friendships and divergent life pathways while emphasizing the value of loyalty and keeping one’s word.

            Along those same O. Henry-like lines, another favorite is “The Man Upstairs” by P.G. Wodehouse. The look at the behind-the-scenes life of those in the creative fields is part of what makes it great, as well as the playful phrasing and frequent cat mentions. “The Worst Christmas Story”, by Christopher Morley, is similar in tone with a painfully realistic but appropriate ending, surprising in its obvious-ness.

            Another nontraditional outlet for short stories is those told through comic strips. For being considered so lighthearted and happy, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts dives quite deeply into depression, loneliness, alienation and the trials of being in love. It also showcases unbounded joy in Snoopy’s suppertime dances, the irrational yet vital Gatsby-like hope Charlie Brown has that he can be a baseball hero someday, the importance of loyalty in his pals sticking around the team while they know they’ll be slaughtered, and Charlie Brown’s persistence in getting that kite to finally fly correctly or kicking Lucy’s football this time, surely. We also get the wisdom (and sometimes spacey-ness) of Linus, and Lucy means well most of the time, even if her methods of bossing everyone around can be hard to deal with. Snoopy is amazingly imaginative; aren’t we all part beagle, vulture, Olympian or a WWI fighter ace? Sometimes, at least? Schroeder’s dedication to his music is another virtue we can learn from. Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes gives us really great insights into the life we live, and what the things we take for granted in society say about us. (TV, junk mail and the boundaries of art are the first examples that spring to mind.) Snoopy has the only imagination that comes close to Calvin’s – we frequently see long, intricately-detailed space explorations or bizarre situations(T-rexes flying F-15’s, deer hunting humans, snowmen committing suicide) in his daydreams or free time. He also has a Linus-like quality of getting right to the real points of life adults like to gloss over. Hobbes is the much-needed voice of reason to counter Calvin’s exuberance, but that doesn’t mean he’s without his endearing flaws; that kill instinct in football, exalting tigers above humans, or napping when there’s work to be done.

            Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is brilliant in its subtlety; as well as near-perfection in capturing dialogue and journalistically telling exactly what happened on several levels. Willa Cather’s work “The Enchanted Bluff” illustrates the power and fragility of dreams and friendships. Dorothy Canfield Fisher’s “In Memory of L.H.W.” shows us how to persevere through adversity and just do the best you can. This theme of perseverance is continued in Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, and the death of “The Little Match Girl” tears your heart out, but we would be much poorer without that experience. I’ve always loved the dialogue and the characters in “The Hiltons’ Holiday”, written by Sarah Orne Jewett.   

Of Agatha Christie’s short stories, one of her best(in my opinion) was “Philomel Cottage”, proving that while she may have failed when trying to write suspense-thriller novels, she still was quite good at building tension in shorter form. “Three Blind Mice” and “Witness For the Prosecution” both have been overshadowed by the play and film, respectively, but are other examples of good Christie short fiction.

            Another format short stories exist in, which is quite likely their most powerful form, is children’s picture books. Cynthia Rylant has a way of telling what happened with childlike straightforwardness, which I appreciate, especially in her story “Retired”. In that same vein, Laurie Keller’s picture books Open Wide and The Scrambled States of America teach basic oral care and geography in easy-to-remember terms. Munro Leaf’s The Story of Ferdinand is another that has always been a favorite; Ferdinand is just…different. Aren’t we all in some way? It’s not necessarily bad that he sees fighting as dangerous and uninteresting; and though smelling flowers under his favorite cork tree is an odd way to spend one’s time, he was happy and it didn’t bother anyone else, so…just let him be. Similar to Ferdinand is The Crippled Lamb in Max Lucado’s book. Joshua is lame and lonely because of that, but for that same reason, he gets to be the lamb in the manger when Jesus was born. What a privilege. The Giving Tree in Shel Silverstein’s book shows us what sacrificial love looks like.

            This is probably longer than expected, but the directions said not to hold back. If I would have truly not held back, this assignment would likely be 50,000 words and climbing…anyway, I love literature, in whatever form I may find it in. And so these are some of my favorites.