Short is not small

[threemonkeys]

I am not as obsessed (insane?) as the folks contributing to lastshortstory, but I do like reading short stories. They are how I got into reading sf and the appeal remains. Unlike some people, I don't think that they are an endangered species, but their commercial viability died a long time ago. No writer is going to get rich writing short fiction. Heck, no writer is even going to scrape a living at it - you have got to be writing novels. Even a successful novelist can struggle to get collections of their short work out there. Look at Jack McDevitt. He is one of the top writers in harder science fiction these day. Of currently active authors, he is the best around at taking the spirit of what science fiction used to be all about and presenting it in a way that is relevant to modern audiences. While his novels are picked up by major publishing houses, his collected short stories were not wanted by them. Ships in the Night is published by Altair Australia, who with the best will in the world are not major players. I'm glad they made the effort though.

It is fairly common that an author who writes both shorter and longer works will be better than one than the other. Sometimes the shorter form will give an author more freedom and really let them spread their wings. In other cases, the short form is constricting - the author needs the scope of a novel to fully develop their ideas. Based on the stories in Ships in the Night, I would say that McDevitt shades a little to the latter. The stories are well crafted but a little predictable and seem to lack a bit of character development. In support of this, the longest story, the title story, is pretty much the best. Only a short piece called Report from the Rear shows the sharp sting that characterises the best short stories. But remember these stories are only weaker compared to his novels - a field where he excels. Thus from my point of view this collection is certainly worth reading. I wonder if the folks on lastshortstory agree.

Comments

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

So what does a writer do if they are reasonably good at writing short stories but suck awesomely at writing novels? I have several novels which I'm obliged to lump under the heading "practice". They have all sunk except Scale of Dragon, Tooth of Wolf - Wolf Children being more of a 'docudrama' than a novel, telling the various stories of children supposedly raised by wolves. It really bugs me that the pay for the most recent short story I sold was the same as for the first one I ever sold when I was 19. [I am now several decades past 19!] It's the novels that attract the attention and they are fun to write - sometimes. I admit it, I'd like that attention. Sigh. Back under my rock now...

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

It sucks mightily that good short story writers are not able to make a living at their art. Harlan Ellison managed it but made most money writing scripts and such. Howard Waldrop virtually lives like a tramp while being one of the great writers in the field. I wish I had an answer.

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

I wish I did too! I've met Howard Waldrop; he came over here for a Swancon once and we heard a lot about his lifestyle as well as being exposed to various of his fiction! Which is very strange (Ugly Chickens!) but unforgettable, told in that very distinctive southern accent.

I've read that people like Ray Bradbury and Alfred Bester - two of the most successful short story authors - were pretty much pushed by publishers to try novels and even those books tended to be more like linked short stories.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten Waldrop went to Oz - but then one of his collections, like McDevitt, was published there. It is an aspect of writing that is overlooked that Waldrop can live in effective poverty yet still get trips to various exotic places (and Perth is sort of exotic) because he is a writer. I suspect that it is part of what keeps him writing.

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

I am reading a book called Pulp Fictioneers at the moment, so, before the crash, the top writers made 2c a word. The average bloke getting published was getting half a cent a word for stories.

Probably not going to make you happy those numbers. :)

[ratfan.livejournal.com]

Hey, I do what I can do. I already worked out I'm not going to get rich but at least I can entertain myself and hopefully some readers :-)

[bluetyson.livejournal.com]

I have Ships in the Night, basically because I knew someone who knows the Altair people. He asked me one day 'can you read this file for me'? As in get it to open, and then it was 'holy crap, this is Jack McDevitt stuff, like maybe new'?

So I am one of the 67 people or however many that have Ships In the Night on the shelf, after parting witht he cash.

In my 'short story book rating system formula' it is 3.5 out of 5, basically (a bit lower, rounded up). So, about what you would expect from a collection I think.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

3.5 sounds about right to me too.