When the writing is everything
An entry that came in recently brings me to an interesting point about the skill of short story writing. I think the story is beautifully written, the sign of a writer in command of their craft and with the ability to move the reader with their words.
Yet nothing much happens. There is no dramatic start and no sensational end, indeed the end has an inevitability about it.
During the story, no one is arrested or attacked or murdered or abused or accused of anything or swears or cusses, all the things that can make for a compelling tale.
And yet it is a wonderful piece of writing. Yes, there is a story to it but it is the quality of the the prose that draws you in from the first line. The story wraps its arms round you and it takes you into the world that the writer has created, then leaves you greedy for more.
Sometimes a short story can be about the smallest episodes, the merest of observations, and yet deal with the biggest themes of all, in this case the death of someone whose time has come, naturally, peacefully, inevitably.
And in the hands of a good writer, it is the very fact that the story gently comes to its natural end, rather like a rowing boat bumping against the side of a lake, that makes it such a delight to read.
And the fact that the genre allows such delicate writing to exist is what makes short story writing such a thing to be celebrated.
John Dean