Short Fiction: Famous Stories that aren't good
How to Write a Good Short Story
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Ask any college professor or high school teacher for the best short story. Not their favorite. But the “best.”
The most common answer by far will be “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway.
If you went to high school or college in the US, you were probably forced to read it at some point. And you probably remember your teacher telling you that this is “one of the best” short stories ever written.
But it’s not.
That’s right, I said it. “Hills like White Elephants” is not one of the best short stories out there. It isn’t even good.
How do I know this? If you’ve read it, ask yourself… did you like it?
For those of you who were spared reading this crap, the story is about a conversation between a man and a woman as they sit at a train station in Spain. The woman is pregnant, and the man is trying to convince her to have an abortion.
But the thing is, they never clearly communicate what they’re saying. You, the reader have to figure it out. Because they talk around each other in circles.
And that’s how Hemingway fooled everyone into thinking it was a good story.
He relied on the dopamine rush of people feeling smart when they figured it out. Maybe you were like me in school, and you didn’t even get the chance to figure it out.
Maybe your teacher flat-out told you (like in my class) and then you spent the rest of the class talking about abortion, men’s responsibility to women, or patriarchy. It was a lively discussion and you enjoyed it.
But did you actually like the story? Did anyone? No. They just felt good about solving the mystery and conferred quality on one of Hemingway’s less notable works.
Contrast that with “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.
This is another famous short story that actually belongs on all the “Best of…” lists.
The story is set in a small, rural town where a yearly tradition known as the lottery takes place. The townspeople gather in the town square and draw names from a box to determine who will be the "winner" of the lottery. It’s revealed at the end of the story that the "winner" of the lottery is actually the person chosen to be stoned to death by the townspeople.
The tension builds throughout the story and you care about the characters; you’re concerned about the outcome of the lottery, even though you don’t know exactly what it is until you get to the end.
And when you DO get to the end… it’s a satisfying, if not horrifying realization. You don’t need to have some teacher explain it to you. You don’t need to be told this is a good story. You know it is because it never occurs to you to stop reading halfway through. And when you’re done, it stays with you.
A good short story is one that captures the reader's attention and holds it until the end. (Nope on Hemingway)
A good short story will have well-developed characters, a compelling plot, and a satisfying conclusion. (Hemingway only gets two out of those three)
It will also have a clear and engaging writing style. (As opposed to intentionally confusing your reader, like Hemingway did)
Additionally, a good short story will often have some kind of universal truth or message that resonates with the reader.
I think of a short story as the ending of a novel. Much of what you’re creating in terms of your characters and world will not make it into the final story. Instead, you want to hit the most important moment—the story’s climax. - Neil Gaiman
Ultimately, what makes a short story good is a matter of personal opinion, but I wouldn’t rely on any of these academic “best of” lists to dictate what you write or what your audience will think is good.
Write a short story that feels like these people have been living their lives fully before we, the reader, dropped in to spy on them. I love Neil Gaiman’s advice (in his Masterclass) to think of your short story as the climax of a novel.
You’re just cutting out the most exciting part of this bigger story and presenting it to your readers.
You can read “Hills like White Elephants” in its entirety here.
You can read or listen to “The Lottery” here.