A Century of Great Suspense Stories

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At my book signings and at mystery conference seminars, I’m frequently approached by fans who ask for advice in getting started in the business of writing suspense fiction. Many times these folks tell me that their intention is to start along this career path by taking up short stories and, once they’ve learned that medium, graduating to novels.

I have to break the news to them that this would be like mastering Japanese to help them learn Russian. Yes, both short stories and novels are literary forms that convey a fictional story to readers, but that’s about the end of the similarity. The skills used in writing a novel are very different from those required to write a short story. Crafting a story obviously takes less time than writing a novel but I’d venture to say that, word for word, the short story is a far more ambitious undertaking. Nuance and suggestion are the keys to successful stories; there is no room for needless atmosphere or characterization or for overwrought exposition. As the adage goes: I didn’t have much time, so I wrote it long.

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