Ron Carlson Writes a Story Review

Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Ron Carlson (112 pages)
My Rating: 5 Stars
Date Finished: 9 January 2015

Synopsis:
Ron Carlson has been praised as “a master of the short story” (Booklist). In this book-length essay, he offers a full range of notes and gives rare insight into a veteran writer’s process by inviting the reader to watch over his shoulder as he creates the short story “The Governor’s Ball.”

“This is a story of a story,” he begins, and proceeds to offer practical advice for creating a great story, from the first glimmer of an idea to the final sentence. Carlson urges the writer to refuse the outside distractions—a second cup of coffee, a troll through the dictionary—and attend to the necessity of uncertainty, the pleasures of an unfolding story.

“The Governor’s Ball”—included in its entirety—serves as a fascinating illustration of the detailed anatomy of a short story.

My Review:
In Ron Carlson’s very insightful book Ron Carlson Writes a Story, writers are able to glean information on how Carlson wrote his short story “The Governor’s Ball.” This helps give both readers and writers a better insight on how the process of writing a short story works for some writers. Though not all writers use this kind of format for all of their stories, the basic ideas can be transferred from story to story. There are always the important features such as detail, setting, and dialogue that are necessary to a story. While these are all very important to the story, there are other aspects that make the story even more compelling. However, there are also important features such as the characters, the inner story, and the outer story. The characters must be realistic, but can also have a few surprises in what they do. The inner story and the outer stories are connected to each other. The inner story relies on the outer story to exist. The outer story helps the inner story take flight. The vast amount of craft that goes into writing a story, especially a short story, is made evident in Ron Carlson’s book.