33 thoughts on ““Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories” — Roberto Bolaño”
[…] um artigo de 2006, Roberto Bolaño dá dicas àqueles que pretendem escrever contos. E em seu blog, o escritor espanhol Antonio Muñoz Molina fala sobre seu respeito pelo […]
I’m no author, but is this advice on writing short stories, or just one tip broken into three pieces, followed by nine hipsteresque bullets of name dropping?
Cliff, I think Bolaño is, as always, being a bit tongue in cheek here. I think the advice is genuine — he’s basically saying, look, you’ve got to read the greats if you want to be a good writer — and then he rambles through a list of semi-obscure writers, then delivers a punchline (Poe is more than enough) and then ends with another punchline (Checkov and Carver). I read the piece as humorous, not really a “how to write” kind of thing…
This is terrible advice. This is how Bolano should write short stories. I don’t need some gatekeeper philosophy to sully what should come natural. Sure, study and discover, but these rules are weak and meant to be broken at best.
Natalie, you do get that this is a humorous piece, right? Do you really think that Bolaño is (was) trying to posit himself as a gatekeeper? And do you really think that there’s anything “natural” about constructing a piece of fiction? Do you think that Poe or Carver or Chekov (or Hempl or Davis or Wallace or Cooper or etc.) just “naturally” compose short stories? Also, you do realize that the word “rules” doesn’t occur anywhere in the piece, right? That, this is “advice,” freely given? In all earnestness, what advice would you give to writers? Perhaps you could offer some writers to read? Or perhaps you could tell us what stories you’ve published . . .
Biblioklept, there is perhaps nothing so natural for a human being as the construction of fiction – it is the entirety of our genius, what allows us to make and justify choices, to predict future outcomes, and to communicate.
[…] nevertheless freights the work with deeper emotional weight. Poe was a hero to Roberto Bolaño (“The honest truth is that with Edgar Allan Poe we would all have more than enough good materia…), whose own early death seems to haunt the writing that came before it. In turn, the late opus […]
I looked up Horacio Quiroga because of this, and he’s pretty good! Looking forward to the other obscure Latin Americans on the list, tongue-in-cheek or not. Also, I HIGHLY recommend Borges to round out your palette if you’re into Carver, Chekhov and Poe.
I didn’t find this because I typed in “advice on how to write short stories”. But perhaps if I was the kind of person who would do such a thing I would be frustrated too. This is a poem.
I love the idea of writing several short stories at once, but never two as that leads to despair. So (unfortunately) true! Made me smile throughout, especially on the roundabouts about Poe and Chekhov and Chandler. Quick spins about. Must print off for my writing wall (very similar to a wailing wall, though not THE Wailing Wall as that would imply I do not take the concept seriously). I just wail a lot when I’m writing. Maybe it’s because I’m working on two short stories….
Reblogged this on Dead Machinery's Blog and commented:
Short story writing advice by Bolano: irony and wisdom in 12 simple steps, and many stories and writers to add to your To Read list.
[…] to the Uruguayan writer, one of the greats who has been compared to Edgar Allan Poe and whom Roberto Bolaño listed as first in his list of must-read […]
[…] person do any one thing properly and excellently when he is trying to do lots of one things? Sure, Roberto Bolaño advocated that a writer should never work on just one piece of writing at a time, but still, I don’t think he imagined James Franco. Before James Franco was James Franco, I […]
[…] παραδειγματισμό, κατέληξε στο ακόλουθο συμπέρασμα: Read these books and also read Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver, for one of the two of them is the b…. Τα είπε […]
[…] short stories is . . . pretty wild.” Also scans from 2010 of the 2006 magazine layout: ““Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories” — Roberto Bolaño.”—”9. The honest truth is that with Edgar Allan Poe, we would all have more than […]
[…] um artigo de 2006, Roberto Bolaño dá dicas àqueles que pretendem escrever contos. E em seu blog, o escritor espanhol Antonio Muñoz Molina fala sobre seu respeito pelo […]
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I’ll start with point 12 and read some Raymond Carver before writing a short story for a contest coming up at Narrative.
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I’m no author, but is this advice on writing short stories, or just one tip broken into three pieces, followed by nine hipsteresque bullets of name dropping?
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Cliff, you might not be an author, but you’re a critic. Everybody’s a critic!
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Cliff, I think Bolaño is, as always, being a bit tongue in cheek here. I think the advice is genuine — he’s basically saying, look, you’ve got to read the greats if you want to be a good writer — and then he rambles through a list of semi-obscure writers, then delivers a punchline (Poe is more than enough) and then ends with another punchline (Checkov and Carver). I read the piece as humorous, not really a “how to write” kind of thing…
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This is terrible advice. This is how Bolano should write short stories. I don’t need some gatekeeper philosophy to sully what should come natural. Sure, study and discover, but these rules are weak and meant to be broken at best.
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Natalie, you do get that this is a humorous piece, right? Do you really think that Bolaño is (was) trying to posit himself as a gatekeeper? And do you really think that there’s anything “natural” about constructing a piece of fiction? Do you think that Poe or Carver or Chekov (or Hempl or Davis or Wallace or Cooper or etc.) just “naturally” compose short stories? Also, you do realize that the word “rules” doesn’t occur anywhere in the piece, right? That, this is “advice,” freely given? In all earnestness, what advice would you give to writers? Perhaps you could offer some writers to read? Or perhaps you could tell us what stories you’ve published . . .
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Biblioklept, there is perhaps nothing so natural for a human being as the construction of fiction – it is the entirety of our genius, what allows us to make and justify choices, to predict future outcomes, and to communicate.
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Jake, imagination and the imaginative capacity to make decisions, predict outcomes, etc. is hardly the same thing as writing a short story.
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[…] Biblioklept via World Literature Today and Defining Myself […]
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[…] nevertheless freights the work with deeper emotional weight. Poe was a hero to Roberto Bolaño (“The honest truth is that with Edgar Allan Poe we would all have more than enough good materia…), whose own early death seems to haunt the writing that came before it. In turn, the late opus […]
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I looked up Horacio Quiroga because of this, and he’s pretty good! Looking forward to the other obscure Latin Americans on the list, tongue-in-cheek or not. Also, I HIGHLY recommend Borges to round out your palette if you’re into Carver, Chekhov and Poe.
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I didn’t find this because I typed in “advice on how to write short stories”. But perhaps if I was the kind of person who would do such a thing I would be frustrated too. This is a poem.
LikeLike
I love the idea of writing several short stories at once, but never two as that leads to despair. So (unfortunately) true! Made me smile throughout, especially on the roundabouts about Poe and Chekhov and Chandler. Quick spins about. Must print off for my writing wall (very similar to a wailing wall, though not THE Wailing Wall as that would imply I do not take the concept seriously). I just wail a lot when I’m writing. Maybe it’s because I’m working on two short stories….
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Reblogged this on DA's Ephemera and Etceteras and commented:
More treats….How to write short stories.
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Bolano is wonderful so thank you for putting him here to cheer me up tonight. I like it that you have teeth in your comments.
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Reblogged this on Dead Machinery's Blog and commented:
Short story writing advice by Bolano: irony and wisdom in 12 simple steps, and many stories and writers to add to your To Read list.
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Don’t you get it? Bolano is making fun of the whole project of giving advice on the writing of short stories.
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[…] “Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories” by Roberto Bolano […]
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[…] to the Uruguayan writer, one of the greats who has been compared to Edgar Allan Poe and whom Roberto Bolaño listed as first in his list of must-read […]
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[…] “Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories” by Roberto Bolano […]
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[…] Here’s why. […]
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[…] Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories by Roberto Bolaño […]
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[…] person do any one thing properly and excellently when he is trying to do lots of one things? Sure, Roberto Bolaño advocated that a writer should never work on just one piece of writing at a time, but still, I don’t think he imagined James Franco. Before James Franco was James Franco, I […]
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[…] Who doesn’t want to emulate their heroes? You can learn to write like Hemingway or Murakami or Bolano or even […]
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[…] παραδειγματισμό, κατέληξε στο ακόλουθο συμπέρασμα: Read these books and also read Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver, for one of the two of them is the b…. Τα είπε […]
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Reblogged this on The Caged Bird Sings.
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[…] Advice on writing short stories: https://biblioklept.org/2010/09/07/writing-short-stories-roberto-bolano/ […]
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[…] Advice on writing short stories: https://biblioklept.org/2010/09/07/writing-short-stories-roberto-bolano/ […]
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Reblogged this on Manusia Merdeka.
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[…] Who doesn’t want to emulate their heroes? You can learn to write like Hemingway or Murakami or Bolano or even […]
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[…] short stories is . . . pretty wild.” Also scans from 2010 of the 2006 magazine layout: ““Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories” — Roberto Bolaño.”—”9. The honest truth is that with Edgar Allan Poe, we would all have more than […]
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[…] See the original layout at Biblioklept. […]
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