Approaches to criticizing short fiction












2















What is a reasonable scholarly approach to breaking down short pieces of prose? Is it word choice? Is it structure? Is it themes, and how well they are used? Use of symbolism and its efficacy? Meter, rhythm, style, verbosity? Are these all on topic? Do you have a rigorous guide you use to approach short fiction when providing feedback to other writers?










share|improve this question



























    2















    What is a reasonable scholarly approach to breaking down short pieces of prose? Is it word choice? Is it structure? Is it themes, and how well they are used? Use of symbolism and its efficacy? Meter, rhythm, style, verbosity? Are these all on topic? Do you have a rigorous guide you use to approach short fiction when providing feedback to other writers?










    share|improve this question

























      2












      2








      2








      What is a reasonable scholarly approach to breaking down short pieces of prose? Is it word choice? Is it structure? Is it themes, and how well they are used? Use of symbolism and its efficacy? Meter, rhythm, style, verbosity? Are these all on topic? Do you have a rigorous guide you use to approach short fiction when providing feedback to other writers?










      share|improve this question














      What is a reasonable scholarly approach to breaking down short pieces of prose? Is it word choice? Is it structure? Is it themes, and how well they are used? Use of symbolism and its efficacy? Meter, rhythm, style, verbosity? Are these all on topic? Do you have a rigorous guide you use to approach short fiction when providing feedback to other writers?







      fiction short-story criticism feedback






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 3 hours ago









      bruglescobruglesco

      1,184326




      1,184326






















          2 Answers
          2






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          2














          For me, a short story is a story. It follows the three-act structure, but it requires some inventiveness to compress that into a short space; in some cases to a line or two.



          I don't care about metre or rhythm, a short story is not poetry. Nor do I care about "style", it is engaging or it isn't. Same for "theme".



          Because it is compressed, unlike a novel (IMO) every line demands scrutiny and must advance its act. This puts more pressure on word choice and impactful action and at times evocative symbols. Where it is okay in a novel to describe something for a few paragraphs that isn't terribly important to the story, that kind of thing should be squeezed out of the short story. The same goes for idle conversation, in a novel you might like to hear two characters sparring or joking in a conversation that has no bearing on the plot, it is just "fan service" in a way, people like to read about some pair having some fun. But you wouldn't write a while chapter of that, and it a short story, the same conversation might be the equivalent of a chapter; there isn't room for it.



          No, I don't have a rigorous approach to short fiction, just that it cannot be flabby, it should evolve logically and recognizably through the three acts (or four, or five if you like Shakespeare's style).



          Just like any other story.






          share|improve this answer































            1














            I think all of what you just mentioned is on-topic for that type of critique. I also like to see if the author is looking for any specific critiques. For example, are they interested in hearing about everything but are specifically unsure about whether the story flows well? Is there a character whose dialogue they think might be stilted or strange? If I have a direction to look in, I'm much better at offering suggestions or commentary.






            share|improve this answer























              Your Answer








              StackExchange.ready(function() {
              var channelOptions = {
              tags: "".split(" "),
              id: "166"
              };
              initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

              StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
              // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
              if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
              StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
              createEditor();
              });
              }
              else {
              createEditor();
              }
              });

              function createEditor() {
              StackExchange.prepareEditor({
              heartbeatType: 'answer',
              autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
              convertImagesToLinks: false,
              noModals: true,
              showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
              reputationToPostImages: null,
              bindNavPrevention: true,
              postfix: "",
              imageUploader: {
              brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
              contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
              allowUrls: true
              },
              noCode: true, onDemand: true,
              discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
              ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
              });


              }
              });














              draft saved

              draft discarded


















              StackExchange.ready(
              function () {
              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f42875%2fapproaches-to-criticizing-short-fiction%23new-answer', 'question_page');
              }
              );

              Post as a guest















              Required, but never shown

























              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes








              2 Answers
              2






              active

              oldest

              votes









              active

              oldest

              votes






              active

              oldest

              votes









              2














              For me, a short story is a story. It follows the three-act structure, but it requires some inventiveness to compress that into a short space; in some cases to a line or two.



              I don't care about metre or rhythm, a short story is not poetry. Nor do I care about "style", it is engaging or it isn't. Same for "theme".



              Because it is compressed, unlike a novel (IMO) every line demands scrutiny and must advance its act. This puts more pressure on word choice and impactful action and at times evocative symbols. Where it is okay in a novel to describe something for a few paragraphs that isn't terribly important to the story, that kind of thing should be squeezed out of the short story. The same goes for idle conversation, in a novel you might like to hear two characters sparring or joking in a conversation that has no bearing on the plot, it is just "fan service" in a way, people like to read about some pair having some fun. But you wouldn't write a while chapter of that, and it a short story, the same conversation might be the equivalent of a chapter; there isn't room for it.



              No, I don't have a rigorous approach to short fiction, just that it cannot be flabby, it should evolve logically and recognizably through the three acts (or four, or five if you like Shakespeare's style).



              Just like any other story.






              share|improve this answer




























                2














                For me, a short story is a story. It follows the three-act structure, but it requires some inventiveness to compress that into a short space; in some cases to a line or two.



                I don't care about metre or rhythm, a short story is not poetry. Nor do I care about "style", it is engaging or it isn't. Same for "theme".



                Because it is compressed, unlike a novel (IMO) every line demands scrutiny and must advance its act. This puts more pressure on word choice and impactful action and at times evocative symbols. Where it is okay in a novel to describe something for a few paragraphs that isn't terribly important to the story, that kind of thing should be squeezed out of the short story. The same goes for idle conversation, in a novel you might like to hear two characters sparring or joking in a conversation that has no bearing on the plot, it is just "fan service" in a way, people like to read about some pair having some fun. But you wouldn't write a while chapter of that, and it a short story, the same conversation might be the equivalent of a chapter; there isn't room for it.



                No, I don't have a rigorous approach to short fiction, just that it cannot be flabby, it should evolve logically and recognizably through the three acts (or four, or five if you like Shakespeare's style).



                Just like any other story.






                share|improve this answer


























                  2












                  2








                  2







                  For me, a short story is a story. It follows the three-act structure, but it requires some inventiveness to compress that into a short space; in some cases to a line or two.



                  I don't care about metre or rhythm, a short story is not poetry. Nor do I care about "style", it is engaging or it isn't. Same for "theme".



                  Because it is compressed, unlike a novel (IMO) every line demands scrutiny and must advance its act. This puts more pressure on word choice and impactful action and at times evocative symbols. Where it is okay in a novel to describe something for a few paragraphs that isn't terribly important to the story, that kind of thing should be squeezed out of the short story. The same goes for idle conversation, in a novel you might like to hear two characters sparring or joking in a conversation that has no bearing on the plot, it is just "fan service" in a way, people like to read about some pair having some fun. But you wouldn't write a while chapter of that, and it a short story, the same conversation might be the equivalent of a chapter; there isn't room for it.



                  No, I don't have a rigorous approach to short fiction, just that it cannot be flabby, it should evolve logically and recognizably through the three acts (or four, or five if you like Shakespeare's style).



                  Just like any other story.






                  share|improve this answer













                  For me, a short story is a story. It follows the three-act structure, but it requires some inventiveness to compress that into a short space; in some cases to a line or two.



                  I don't care about metre or rhythm, a short story is not poetry. Nor do I care about "style", it is engaging or it isn't. Same for "theme".



                  Because it is compressed, unlike a novel (IMO) every line demands scrutiny and must advance its act. This puts more pressure on word choice and impactful action and at times evocative symbols. Where it is okay in a novel to describe something for a few paragraphs that isn't terribly important to the story, that kind of thing should be squeezed out of the short story. The same goes for idle conversation, in a novel you might like to hear two characters sparring or joking in a conversation that has no bearing on the plot, it is just "fan service" in a way, people like to read about some pair having some fun. But you wouldn't write a while chapter of that, and it a short story, the same conversation might be the equivalent of a chapter; there isn't room for it.



                  No, I don't have a rigorous approach to short fiction, just that it cannot be flabby, it should evolve logically and recognizably through the three acts (or four, or five if you like Shakespeare's style).



                  Just like any other story.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 2 hours ago









                  AmadeusAmadeus

                  52.6k467171




                  52.6k467171























                      1














                      I think all of what you just mentioned is on-topic for that type of critique. I also like to see if the author is looking for any specific critiques. For example, are they interested in hearing about everything but are specifically unsure about whether the story flows well? Is there a character whose dialogue they think might be stilted or strange? If I have a direction to look in, I'm much better at offering suggestions or commentary.






                      share|improve this answer




























                        1














                        I think all of what you just mentioned is on-topic for that type of critique. I also like to see if the author is looking for any specific critiques. For example, are they interested in hearing about everything but are specifically unsure about whether the story flows well? Is there a character whose dialogue they think might be stilted or strange? If I have a direction to look in, I'm much better at offering suggestions or commentary.






                        share|improve this answer


























                          1












                          1








                          1







                          I think all of what you just mentioned is on-topic for that type of critique. I also like to see if the author is looking for any specific critiques. For example, are they interested in hearing about everything but are specifically unsure about whether the story flows well? Is there a character whose dialogue they think might be stilted or strange? If I have a direction to look in, I'm much better at offering suggestions or commentary.






                          share|improve this answer













                          I think all of what you just mentioned is on-topic for that type of critique. I also like to see if the author is looking for any specific critiques. For example, are they interested in hearing about everything but are specifically unsure about whether the story flows well? Is there a character whose dialogue they think might be stilted or strange? If I have a direction to look in, I'm much better at offering suggestions or commentary.







                          share|improve this answer












                          share|improve this answer



                          share|improve this answer










                          answered 2 hours ago









                          N. DoskerN. Dosker

                          712




                          712






























                              draft saved

                              draft discarded




















































                              Thanks for contributing an answer to Writing Stack Exchange!


                              • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                              But avoid



                              • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                              • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                              To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                              draft saved


                              draft discarded














                              StackExchange.ready(
                              function () {
                              StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fwriting.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f42875%2fapproaches-to-criticizing-short-fiction%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                              }
                              );

                              Post as a guest















                              Required, but never shown





















































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown

































                              Required, but never shown














                              Required, but never shown












                              Required, but never shown







                              Required, but never shown







                              Popular posts from this blog

                              How to label and detect the document text images

                              Vallis Paradisi

                              Tabula Rosettana