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How To Write Like Carson McCullers
If you want to start with the best of Carson McCullers, focus on the stories she wrote in the 1930s and 40s. Ill-health and issues related to alcoholism made it difficult for McCullers to keep producing the same high quality of life up until her death. The most prevalent theme in the novels–rejection or unrequited
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The Haunted Boy Short Story by Carson McCullers Analysis
“The Haunted Boy” is a 1955 short story by American writer Carson McCullers, focusing on the soft emotions of boys.
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The Canary by Katherine Mansfield Short Story Analysis
“The Canary” is a short story by Katherine Mansfield, and the last she ever finished. It was published in April 1923, after she had already died. “The Canary” was then collected in A Dove’s Nest.
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The October Game by Ray Bradbury Short Story Study
“The October Game” (1948) is a short Hallowe’en horror story by American author Ray Bradbury. It has the plot of an urban legend with the characterisation of a written narrative.
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The Falls by George Saunders Short Story Analysis
“The Falls” (1996) is a short story by American writer George Saunders. Two men walk along a river and face a moral dilemma. Should one risk one’s own life in the hope of saving two drowning girls?
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A Case of Eavesdropping by Algernon Blackwood Short Story Analysis
A Case of Eavesdropping” is a ghost story by Algernon Blackwood first published in December 1900 in Pall Mall Magazine.
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A Father To Be by Saul Bellow Short Story Analysis
Are you thinking of writing a story about a kid who leaves the house and rides the bus to school, all the while observing other passengers and gazing out the window? Or a story about a woman who buys frozen pizza at the supermarket, complains about the roast beef then observes characters in the car…
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Story Opening: Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Detransition, Baby is a contemporary novel that hooked me right away. How did author Torrey Peters do that? Let’s take a closer look.
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What happens in Hunted Down by Charles Dickens?
“Hunted Down” was published in instalments across 1859-60, almost 20 years after Poe’s well-known detective story which kicked the genre off.
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The Lost Daughter: Why does Leda steal the doll?
The Lost Daughter is a 2021 film directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, based on the novel by Italian writer Elena Ferrante (2015). This is Gyllenhaal’s debut as feature-length film director. I look forward to seeing what she does next.
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Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma
“Cosmopolitan” is a short story included in The Best American Short Stories 1998. Author Akhil Sharma (born 1971) was only 27 at the time, so this is an example of an author writing about older characters than himself.
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The Picture In The House by H.P. Lovecraft Analysis
“The Picture In The House” is a short story of about 3,300 words by American writer H.P. Lovecraft. You don’t have to have read Lovecraft to have been influenced by the work of Lovecraft. The author was a terrible person and if you don’t want to go back to the source, that’s absolutely fine. Guaranteed,
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How To Write Like John Cheever
American writer John Cheever is sometimes described as Chekov of the Suburbs. If you’ve not encountered Cheever before, perhaps start with his most famous story: “The Swimmer”.
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Miracle Polish by Steven Millhauser Short Story Analysis
“Miracle Polish” is a (possibly) fabulist short story by American author Steven Millhauser, published in the print edition of the November 14, 2011 issue of The New Yorker. More recently, Stuart Dybek joined Deborah Treisman on The New Yorker podcast to read and discuss this story. This short story is a great example of: We
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Body Language by Diane Schoemperlen Short Story Analysis
Body Language is a short story by Canadian writer Diane Schoemperlen. You can find it collected in The Best American Short Stories 1998. The story comes ‘illustrated’ with anatomical drawings: of the head and larynx, the eyeball and nose cavity, the ribcage, musculature of the arm, a sperm, a brain. This story is an example