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How to Write Short Stories and Get Them Published
This book will help you plot like a pro, master the art of suspense like Poe, craft captivating dialogue like Twain and - most crucially - get your short stories published.How to Write Short Stories and Get Them Published is the essential guide to writing short fiction. It takes the aspiring writer from their initial idea through to potential outlets for publication and pitching proposals to publishers. Along the journey this guide considers the most important aspects of creative writing, such as character, plot, point of view, description and dialogue. All of these areas are illustrated with examples of classic fiction, and accompanied by exercises that will help every writer hone their natural skill and talent into the ability to craft compelling short stories.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 19, 2019
105 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 25, 2023
Rating: 3 stars.
If you've never read a writing advice book, I'd say How to Write Short Stories isn't a bad one to start with. However, it won't be particularly useful to you if you've read any good 'how to write' books already.
Lots of writing advice books position themselves as offering something unique, only to provide generic advice, and this is one of them. 95%+ of this book is general writing information—very little is specific to A) Writing Short Stories or B) Getting Them Published. Maybe the lesson learned is that the principles of good writing apply regardless of whether or not you're writing long or short fiction, but, as someone who specifically picked this one up based on the title, I was definitely left disappointed.
But to leave the review on a positive note, you can tell reading this that Lister really likes Poe, so points there.
If you've never read a writing advice book, I'd say How to Write Short Stories isn't a bad one to start with. However, it won't be particularly useful to you if you've read any good 'how to write' books already.
Lots of writing advice books position themselves as offering something unique, only to provide generic advice, and this is one of them. 95%+ of this book is general writing information—very little is specific to A) Writing Short Stories or B) Getting Them Published. Maybe the lesson learned is that the principles of good writing apply regardless of whether or not you're writing long or short fiction, but, as someone who specifically picked this one up based on the title, I was definitely left disappointed.
But to leave the review on a positive note, you can tell reading this that Lister really likes Poe, so points there.
May 21, 2021
A word of warning - there was nothing specific to a short story here.
Can’t say the book has been a revelation, but it has a nice structure. The paragraphs are short and can be used for a quick reference in one’s areas of difficulty.
Examples used here are mostly from the classics, which felt stuffy at times.
Was nice to have it as a companion read while writing, something akin a radio that’s on when you travel, as it pointed to this or that part of the story to pay attention to.
Skimmed through some sections that were boring.
The chapter on publishing was useless.
I still prefer Harry Bingham’s books.
Can’t say the book has been a revelation, but it has a nice structure. The paragraphs are short and can be used for a quick reference in one’s areas of difficulty.
Examples used here are mostly from the classics, which felt stuffy at times.
Was nice to have it as a companion read while writing, something akin a radio that’s on when you travel, as it pointed to this or that part of the story to pay attention to.
Skimmed through some sections that were boring.
The chapter on publishing was useless.
I still prefer Harry Bingham’s books.
July 4, 2021
A great read. The style of writing book I prefer, by not bogging you down with pretension or 'this is How's. But with providing you considerations or mechanisms.
I always say 'rules are tools', and this book allows that philosophy to flourish. Writers know there isn't a 'how too' but things to considerations and acknowledgements, tools and fixes, and problemsolving.
This book highlights alot of considerations whilst engaging you with exercises to develop that tool box for future fixes.
I always say 'rules are tools', and this book allows that philosophy to flourish. Writers know there isn't a 'how too' but things to considerations and acknowledgements, tools and fixes, and problemsolving.
This book highlights alot of considerations whilst engaging you with exercises to develop that tool box for future fixes.
April 10, 2025
As with other reviews my main gripe with this book is that it's not really specific to short stories. The advice in here is useful, albeit similar to other books I've read on the subject. If you're looking for some general tips on how to improve your craft then this is a good start but you'll be disappointed if you're looking for anything super relevant to short stories. The advice on getting published is also very minimal.
January 27, 2023
Good book on writing, misleading title. Somewhat ironically most examples in the book aren’t taken from short stories and almost none of the writing advice is specific to short fiction either. The publishing part is even more misleading than the short story part. It’s still a useful and well-structured book though.
June 10, 2022
Solid writing advice but nothing different from other writing books; also, nothing particularly unique to short stories.
August 22, 2022
I guess the proof will be in the end results with this. But it had some good advice and plenty of exercises to get you started.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews