I'm currently reading 'Where I'm Calling From', by Raymond Carver. Who else found their writing profoundly affected by this man? It's already changing the way I see the short story form. For anyone who hasn't, this book is an absolute essential. His stories are so pared down, so simple, yet they contain such power and depth. And there's a foreword by Carver, which outlines his approach to writing - in itself a gem.

Go out and buy this book, if you're serious about writing short stories. It'll change you, I guarantee it...

When it comes to short stories, as far as I'm concerned, Carver is God Junior. (Chekove is God, and Jane Gardam is attendant angel)

Emma

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God - and Chekov - forgive me for mis-spelling him

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And Katherine Masnfield is Lucifer, the fallen angel

Oh, Chekov is rather godlike. Any writer worth his/her salt should be locked in a room with both writers' work, and not let out until they have read them and taken note.

Darren

ps. why 'worth his/her salt'? Where does the salt fit in?
pps. Emma - is there a part of the site with ideas from you experts on? You know, not forums, but something more permanent? If not, why not?
ppps sorry for ending that first question with a preposition. You see, I for one need some help.

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You mean Mansfield. I think you have name dyslexia this morning.

Oh yes, third that on Carver, and Gardam, and also Jackie Kay's short stories, and Ali Smith but for me, up there at the top of the tree is Julia Darling, sadly recently died, but her shorts, particularly The Street and Breast are just heartstoppingly amazing I think.

Darren, yes, I noticed Mansfield, but had to go and do things. I think the salt thing is the same as a salary - Roman soldiers were paid in salt sometimes I think ('salis'?), but contrary to appearances I'm not typing this, I'm actually not writing my novel, so I'm also not going to reach for Brewer and check.

I didn't know Jackie Kay's work till I went to a seminar by her recently - fantastic stuff (And very nice person, too).

I don't know about a site-expert-site, though you could always look at a profile and pick up their comments, I suppose.

Re: prepositions at ends of sentences, when things get really tortuous in avoiding them, I always think of Churchill: 'This is a piece of pedantry up with which I will not put.'

Emma

Ooh you learn something new every day - thanks Emma. Now get back to work - your novel will not write itself, you know.

I've thought of another essential - Alice Munro.

William Maxwell's short stories are terrific.

And Sylvia Townsend Warner's. She was a friend of William Maxwell - I think he was her editor at the New Yorker.

F

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Emma, why is Katherine Mansfield a fallen angel?

Frances, something about her acidity, I think, which isn't just a refusal to be sentimental, more a refusal to see anything human as intrinsically benign. All the others (and yes, I love Alice Munro too) have a core of human warmth somewhere inside them them, however battered, and I'm not sure she does.

Emma

Can you write without that core? Surely in order for characters to mean something to the reader, they have to exhibit some qualities which make them human, qualities which have to come from the humanity of the writer? Or am I just being sentimental?

I might be being unfair to Mansfield, and she certainly has benign characters, and knew what makes all sorts of people tick. It's as much to do with her view of the world as with the characters she creates, I think.

But she is wonderful; I wouldn't want to put anyone off her, which is why she's a fallen angel for me, not a don't-bother-with.

Emma

I'll pop to the library and see what I can pick up. Any particular recommendations?

Yeah, don't read any Carver. But read everyone else, especially J.P Donleavy. Figure out your own voice and then, maybe, read Carver.

The last thing we need (which is what we've got) is a whole bunch of Carver write-alikes. Sooner or later editors will realise that Carver is only a king without clothes.

Best
Sion

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Oh, sorry, don't read any Will Self and learn from him, unless of course you want to assume that badly-written, laddish, drug-centric nonsense is what your readers desperately require in their lives.

God, hi Sion, and thanks so much for that. I was beginning to despair.

Recently, I've begun to squirm a little at all the comments being made about certain famous or classic writer's 'methods'. Ahem.

If you want to copy someone else's style, go ahead. Personally, I avoid reading too much of writers who may influence me too much because, as Sion says, developing your own voice is the true art - not simulating someone elses. That is just a form of plagiarism that won't win you any prizes.

JB