In MFA programs, short stories are often given the same weight as novels, screenplays and memoir, but things are different in the marketplace. Now, I love short stories, and I spent about five years writing a short story collection, but the market for short fiction is extremely limited. Consider the types of books you buy. [...]
This is the final installment of a series of articles called “After the Workshop.” The third and final step after the workshop is one that I’ve too often neglected: the cultivation of long term relationships among writers. From the dozens of excellent writers and peer reviewers I met at grad school, I am now in [...]
Before you read, you may want to check out the first and second parts of “After the Workshop.” In brief summary, we’ve gone to a short-fiction workshop, had our critique, and gone home to review the obvious places — the hotspots — that need work in our story. And now it’s time for… Commentary Hierarchy [...]
