Puzzle-Pieces: How to Create a Short Story Collection

When the movie "Dangerous Minds" came out, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, it made a big splash because it was based on the true story of a teacher who worked in less than idea circumstances. Similar tales had been put into cinematic glory before, but not in the same way or with the same conviction.

What few people realize was that not only was the movie based on a true story, but that the true story had been compiled into a book as a collection of short stories.

It's not so much that the collection of short stories was overwhelmingly popular - it wasn't - and it wasn't even that the collection formed a cohesive novel. In fact, the author prefaced her book with something to the effect that it wasn't in chronological order but rather as a series of recollections. She had simply, piece by piece, put together details of her students and her life as a rather unconventional teacher.

The literary world favors a novel. Many editors will not even consider short story collections. Dangerous Minds is not the only collection on the shelves, though - for authors in love with the short story, there is hope.

The Short Story Jigsaw

Author Paolo Corso published an amazing collection of short stories. This short story collection revolves around a dying mill town where Corso's Italian-American family found work. As a literary piece, the short story collection is beautifully written, cohesive and allowed readers to follow some really entertaining characters. When Corso began trying to sell the collection though, the most promising response received from an editor was: "We normally don't buy story collections, because they're harder sell than novels. Yours has the advantage of being thematically linked."

What Corso discovered was that the phrase "thematically linked" would sell a short story collection.

The trick to selling short stories as a collection, then, is to look at the short stories as a jigsaw puzzle. Each short story in your collection has to form a piece to the overall puzzle.

Basically, if you are a short story author who would like to see your works published as a complete collection, you will need to seduce the literary world with beautiful writing, and an overriding theme that carries through every single page.

How do you do that? Keep reading:

1. Put your best foot forward.

Authors who genuinely love writing short stories could easily produce 1000-page books crammed happily with their short story genius. It's not that you're writing isn't good - it could be brilliant - it's that you must look at your collection as a chain of links. How strong that chain will be is determined by the strength of the weakest link in the chain. So start with the theme. Any short story that doesn't adhere tightly to that theme needs to be cut. Of the stories that remain, choose only the stories that are strong enough to carry the collection.

If it seems like some short stories are carrying the collection more than others, those "others" need to be removed.

2. Go to the glue factory.

The beautiful thing about a short story collection is that the entire book has the feeling of a novel. Unlike a novel though, it can easily be read in small bits story by story. The reader retains a sense of place and character but the reader isn't trapped struggling through an entire storyline.

There is the rare short story collection that can be published even though it doesn't carry an overriding theme. It is very, very rare for collections of this type to be published. Instead, strive for a world that the reader can live in. Through each short story in the collection, retain a sense of place. Don't make your reader have to re-enter a new world in each story.

3. Pack a punch.

The theme of your collection must be a strong one. It should be unique - either a subject not commonly told or told in a way that is so unique that it's irresistible. As important as this is though, it's nothing to the importance of the first story in your collection.

The first story in your collection needs to pack a heavyweight punch. It needs to have the power of a TKO. If your first story doesn't knock the reader back into their seat and make them start devouring your words, you'll never seduce the editors into giving your collection a chance.

Think about the way that you shop for book: you like the cover so you flip the book over and read the back. If you're still interested, you open the book and scan the first few pages. The words contained within the first few pages have to capture your attention, or you'll never spend your hard-earned money on it. An editor is not so much different. Make the first paragraph in your story count. Try to make the first sentence pack a punch. Grab them from the beginning, and keep them going to the end.

4. Make the pieces fit.

Many authors of short story collections are familiar with the term "linked stories". This term usually refers to a book with recurring settings and characters. There are other ways to link your stories together, to unify them into a complete whole.

For one, make sure your writing style is consistent through every story. Your sentence structure, links, rhythm and punctuation are all elements of style. Some authors call this voice. In other words, it's not so much what you say, but how you say it that matters the most.

5. Package the puzzle.

If you've followed the steps above, you're well on your way to a collection that has the potential to make an impact. To intensify the impact, package the puzzle pieces of your collection carefully.

Print the short stories in your collection so that each one ends on its own page. Then, curl up with your favorite cup of tea or hot coffee, a pen, a stack of Post-it notes, and the printed pages. Skim through each short story, and fill a single Post-it note about each one. Note who, what, when, and where. Tack this note to the front of the story it pertains to.

Now, arrange the short stories in your collection specifically to create an impact. The first story needs to be the hook. The last story needs to be heavy, it's where we have a resolution to the tension, drama, anguish, and triumph. The order of your collection shouldn't be just about sequence. Instead, it's about perception.

Finally, give the collection a title that strongly reflects the theme. You can change your mind about the title over and over again, but it should always reflect the overall content of the collection.

When you take this kind of time with your work, you'll end up with something so cohesive, truthful, and often insightful that any editor would be crazy to turn it down.