Looking for Originality

[Helen Henley]

Short stories are returning to popularity and a look along the book shelves shows new titles almost every month. So a new website is to be welcomed. Among the new books are WILD CHILD by T.C. Boyle, WHERE THE GOD OF LOVE HANGS OUT by Amy Bloom and CONSTITUTION by Helen Simpson. All made it into the publishers lists because the stories were engaging and different. Sadly I find most of the stories on this new site lacking in originality and surprise and inventiveness. All are well written, a few excellent in structure and charactisation but something - when i got to the end - nearly always seemed be lacking something. They were like a poor curry, lots of good seasoning and flavour but no lasting taste on the tongue., no memory. I am sure with more authors and more stories things will improve so this topic is to be treated with reserve - watch this space. But I suppose we should try to define 'originality'? Helen

[Bookworm]

All are well written, a few excellent in structure and charactisation but something - when i got to the end - nearly always seemed be lacking something. They were like a poor curry, lots of good seasoning and flavour but no lasting taste on the tongue., no memory. I am sure with more authors and more stories things will improve so this topic is to be treated with reserve - watch this space. But I suppose we should try to define 'originality'? Helen

That is pretty damning, and whilst I agree with some of your points, I think the wholesale "put down" of the authors here is a bit extreme. I used to read a lot of short stories in magazines (mainly women's magazines before they went into celebrity cultism and the trend towards "true life"). I still do read some and on the whole, I have found the stories here to be more entertaining. And isn't that what it's really all about?

Just because something is original doesn't mean it is entertaining. And I suspect the vice versa applies - something can be entertaining without being original.

[Brian Williams]

Helen, I think that you are being both a bit too damning and that your expectations are too high! If we could write short stories of the level you seem to want, I suspect we too would be found on the bookshelves and not publishing our works for free here! Perhaps I misread your original post, but by opening with comments on published short stories and then criticising the lack of originality here, that was the comparison I drew.

I also agree with Bookworm: the prime aim of any story should be to entertain. If you can do so as well as being original, then fine, but there are plenty of highly entertaining things out there that are very unoriginal, but aren't harmed by it.

Brian.

[Bookworm]

A thought occurred to me as I watched the Oscars unfold. Avatar is a wonderfully entertaining film, it is the most successful movie of all time - yet the plot was probably written on the back of a fag packet and is entirely predictable. Original - No. Entertaining - definitely.

Bookworm

[Helen Henley]

Yes, my view was a bit damning - sorry - but I was keen to stir up a response - which I did. But, true, my expectations are high - probably too high - and I have to say I enjoyed all the stories but when I had finished reading, my conclusion was that almost all did not seem to have what I can best describe as 'a punch' at the end. Unlike mine, of course, but then you are invited to disagree with me.

Yes, Brian, there are lots and lots of entertaining and unoriginal things out there to write about - the trick is to bring them to life using words. My teacher used to say - when he was sober - there was nothing difficult about writing, the difficult part was creating prose that 'burned with an inner fire... that painted pictures in the mind... short stories should be poetry with long sentences'.

I do so agree with you about Avatar, Bookworm, which went entirely for visual effect and technical brilliance and, like a lot of other movies these days, have taken the view that plot and characterisation is old fashioned and just not 'cool'.