First off, this isn't a monograph written by a single author, it's a collection of essays. Who wrote the essays? Here is where my main argument for the relevance of this book is made: Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Richard Matheson, etc.. Yes: these are classic weird writers who have had success and whose work populates many of the "must read" lists of this genre.
With that said, there is a lot in this book that doesn't seem relevant today, namely, advice on navigating the the road to publication: e.g. preparing a manuscript, locating an agent, market studies, etc.. I have another book coming for that: Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer, by Jeff VanderMeer.
But there is a lot this book still has to offer, something that comes through in the introduction. Written by Robert Bloch, it is titled "How to Write Horribly for Fun and Profit." It offers some pretty good advice that he distills into one statement:
"My primary advice to science-fiction writers and would-be writers is to evaluate story ideas objectively and write them up in whatever length is most effective" (8).
I find this advice refreshing. Often times I wonder if what I'm writing is the most effective length. Frankly, I struggle with longer fiction because I rarely think my story idea necessitates a novelistic treatment.
I've written short stories a brief as 3000 words and as long as 10,000 words. One of my short stories wouldn't end and crept up to 16,000 words. I'm currently engaged in writing what I intended to be a novella (my aim was 30,000 words) and I'm 10,000 words in and realize this is going to be much longer.
The key, I think, is to at least have a plan for length before you begin. And also, that more often than not a story idea can sustain, at most, a short story form. Or less, a flash fiction.
I understand reservations and feel them myself.
The difficult thing about short fiction is its marketability. I get the impression the short fiction market is difficult to break into, though I believe current developments in e-publication and e-readers is making the writing, publication, and selling of short stories easier to do.
Because of their lack of marketability, I think folks are reluctant to write in and master the short stories; accordingly, they want to write novels. And this is because of market realities. And so the issue becomes, are you interested in marketability or aesthetics?
Bloch's advice is that aspiring writers should write their stories in the form they need to be written, market considerations aside. I find that really refreshing. It gives me license to say, "The hell with it. I'm writing a short story because that's the kind of treatment that conforms best to this premise."
Until I'm confident I've become a good writer, aesthetic considerations trump market considerations.
