bailey,tom (edt)

On Writing Short Stories offers a fascinating introduction to writing fiction and the short story by bringing together 9 original essays by professional writers and 30 exemplars of short fiction. The first part features original essays by well-known authors such as Francine Prose, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andre Dubus that take the student through the process of writing These essays focus on the characteristics and craft of the short story and its writer, and take the student from the workshopping process all the way through the experience of working with agents and publishers. The second part of the text is an anthology of stories-many referred to in the essays-that gives readers dynamic examples of technique brought to life.

In this second edition, Bailey brings the text up-to-date with new and revised essays and a freshened anthology that retains many of the classics, but adds in new styles and diverse voices-from short short fiction to the postcolonial writing of non-Western authors. In doing so, Bailey gives readers a broader scope of the short fiction landscape. The first part of the text now features Bailey's updated essay on the elements of fiction, which incorporates many of the nw stories in the anthology. There are also two new essays that expand on the workshopping process: "Whose Story Is It? The Anonymous Workshop" by Antonya Nelson and "After the Workshop: Transitional Drafts" by Robert Nelson. C. Michael Curtis also updates his essay on "Publishers and Publishing" from the first edition, bringing in the latest innovations in electronic and online publishing.