The Art of Brevity: Crafting the Very Short Story
Grant Faulkner
(Author)
Megan Giddings
(Foreword by)
Description
With increased compression, every word, every sentence matters more. A writer must learn how to form narratives around caesuras and crevices instead of strings of connections, to move a story through the symbolic weight of images, to master the power of suggestion.With elegant prose, deep readings of other writers, and scaffolded writing exercises, The Art of Brevity takes the reader on a lyrical exploration of compact storytelling, guiding readers to heighten their awareness of not only what appears on the page but also what doesn't.
Product Details
Price
$19.95
$18.55
Publisher
University of New Mexico Press
Publish Date
February 15, 2023
Pages
184
Dimensions
5.2 X 8.19 X 0.47 inches | 0.6 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9780826364739
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About the Author
Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. His book The Art of Brevity was released in February 2023. He's also published Fissures, a collection of 100-word stories; All the Comfort Sin Can Provide; and Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo. His stories have appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Tin House, The Southwest Review, and The Gettysburg Review, and he has been anthologized in collections such as Norton's New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and Best Small Fictions. His essays on creativity have been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, LitHub, Writer's Digest, and The Writer. Find Grant online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Listen to his podcast Write-minded and subscribe to his newsletter Intimations: A Writer's Discourse.
Megan Giddings is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota. Her first novel, Lakewood, was one of New York Magazine's top ten books of 2020, an NPR Best Book of 2020, a Michigan Notable book for 2021, a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards, and was a finalist for an L.A. Times Book Prize in the Ray Bradbury Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative category. Megan's writing has received funding and support from the Barbara Deming Foundation and Hedgebrook. She lives in the Midwest.
Reviews
"Absolutely essential reading on the power and craft of very short stories. Worth it for the brilliant analysis of narrative and poetics, worth it for Faulkner's playfulness and obvious joy on the page, worth it for the string of fascinating quotations at the end. A generous book, packed full, it is bound to be a classic."--Deb Olin Unferth, author of Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War
"Grant Faulkner, one of our finest practitioners of the very short story, gifts us with this creative, dynamic craft book. The Art of Brevity is absorbing, whimsical, and filled with the eclectic wisdom of writers, artists, and musicians who have created with an aesthetic of brevity and omission. But finally, it is Faulkner's unique, personal view on the subject of condensing short prose--as he telescopes into the fascinating 'cracks and crevices' of brevity--that makes this book a must-have for every writer's shelf."--Tara Lynn Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field
"What a what wonderful book for writers and readers of short stories! Part craft, part meditation on form, it's entirely delightful, practical, and will leave any reader with a deeper appreciation of flash fiction."--Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories and Other Revenges
"In this manic world of noise and delirium, our ability to comprehend reality bends toward chaos. In brief cracks of lucidity, we scramble, hungry to purchase happiness or at least consciousness. This text is a mighty testament to the zeitgeist, an important recognition of flash as art, and a needle into our self-awareness, reflection, and clarity."--Venita Blackburn, author of How to Wrestle a Girl: Stories
"Grant Faulkner, one of our finest practitioners of the very short story, gifts us with this creative, dynamic craft book. The Art of Brevity is absorbing, whimsical, and filled with the eclectic wisdom of writers, artists, and musicians who have created with an aesthetic of brevity and omission. But finally, it is Faulkner's unique, personal view on the subject of condensing short prose--as he telescopes into the fascinating 'cracks and crevices' of brevity--that makes this book a must-have for every writer's shelf."--Tara Lynn Masih, editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field
"What a what wonderful book for writers and readers of short stories! Part craft, part meditation on form, it's entirely delightful, practical, and will leave any reader with a deeper appreciation of flash fiction."--Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories and Other Revenges
"In this manic world of noise and delirium, our ability to comprehend reality bends toward chaos. In brief cracks of lucidity, we scramble, hungry to purchase happiness or at least consciousness. This text is a mighty testament to the zeitgeist, an important recognition of flash as art, and a needle into our self-awareness, reflection, and clarity."--Venita Blackburn, author of How to Wrestle a Girl: Stories
