A-Z Romances: Eloisa James & The Art of the Short Story

A few years ago, I read a number of Eloisa James' books, focusing on the Essex Sisters series. 

I recently read a short story "A Mistletoe Kiss" in the Mistletoe Christmas anthology. I was reminded all over again how much I enjoy James's writing. She is one of several writers in the early 2000s (and beyond) who made romances more literary, more historically accurate, and also (most importantly) much funnier with clever banter along Thin Man lines.

"A Mistletoe Kiss" has a unique setting, strong characters, well-paced writing, and, of course, more than decent dialog.

However, the story also reminded me of how much short story writing is in its own medium. I wrote and published short stories for over a decade and now struggle to write anything longer than about 20,000 words (I usually run out of steam about 30,000). 

Writers of 60,000 words+ often struggle moving in the other direction. 

The short story is its own piece of art. It isn't better or worse than a novel (though many readers will complain because they want to learn more about the characters). Like poetry versus an epic piece, it concentrates on delivering characters and an arc in a show-not-tell fashion that nevertheless moves quite quickly. 

It takes skill. Agatha Christie had this skill since she could transform stereotypes into quick characterizations that fit the story's arc. She also used voice to great effect: in The Tuesday Club murders, the short stories are told by different narrators, from slightly pompous Raymond to clever and atmosphere-oriented Joyce Lemprière and then gentle yet ever so faintly acerbic Miss Marple herself. 

The hardest part is to have a climax that pays off the conflict set in motion not many paragraphs earlier. And there needs to be a climax; otherwise, the story meanders (there is a stream-of-consciousness genre out there where the arc doesn't go much of anywhere--but I'm focusing right now on stories with romance and mystery). 

Georgette Heyer was quite skilled at short stories, though they do vary considerably in delivery. In the male/male romance genre, Kim Fielding is one of the best.

Eloisa James's story is good but could have used a stronger pay-off/climax. However, it supplies a decent dive into her style as well as an enchanting holiday setting. 

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The Trouble with Manga Short Stories, Part III

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