Learn to Write A Short Story- The Art, Craft and Anxieties

In the book Learn to Write a Short Story, the Author wants to share his thoughts on the subject as a literary exercise, with the young hopefuls of today, on the basis of his own experience as a writer. We have every reason to believe that it will not only be of great benefit to the persons for whom it is primarily intended, but also to all lovers of literature.

Kishori Charan Das (b. 1924) is an eminent bilingual writer from Orissa who writes novels, short stories, essays and poems, with a penchant for short stories. He has published so far 16 collections of short stories in Oriya and 4 collections in English, which include Midnight Moon and Other Stories (1993) published by B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi. Among many awards and honours received by him, the most important are: Sahitya Akademi Award (1976), Orissa Sahitya Akademi Award (1976), Sarala Award (1986) Bishuba Award (1992), and the degree of D.Litt (honoris causa) conferred on him by Utkal University in a special convocation held in November 1997 for his life-time achievements.

A few words to introduce the book will perhaps bein order.

This is a discourse addressed by me, an old writer, to the young hopefuls of today who have begun to write creative literature and short stories in particular. But not in an instructional or pedagogic manner, since I am not qualified for the role. I want only to share my thoughts with them, in the light of my own experience as a writer, and some incidental studies.

Thus it does not presume to be a guidebook of any sort, though I have ventured to offer my advice on various matters, which I hope would help them to decisions of a practical nature. More importantly, it is concerned with issues having a bearing on the 'soul' of a writer, that is, his literary self which waits upon a certain philosophy of life, rather than the commercial viability of his writings. For I value a short story, primarily, as a creative work of literature that carries meanings and satisfactions far beyond its commercial potential, and quite often in opposition to it. However, I have reasons to believe that there are many young writers in our country today, who also share this attitude to life and literature.

I have great hopes for Indian literature, written in many languages, poised to reach dazzlingly new heights in the century and millennium ahead of us.

**Contents and Sample Pages**