The short story has been a medium of little interest to me. In our classroom we talk of the complications creatives face when engaging with structure, that the parameters hinder their ability to truly express themselves. My belief is that that this approach is somewhat naive, I consider story structure to be important in developing ideas from their nascent beginnings to a polished piece of craftsmanship.

The Matthews reading is over a hundred years old and he is very specific about his concept of the short story – it must consist of ‘one action, in one place, on one day’ (1901, p.16) and that this story medium is not one to explore love (1901, p.18) Our philosophies do not align about these notions – in the case of the short story I don’t believe that ‘the medium is the message.’ (McLuhan 1964, p.7)

The short story is made up of elements discussed in ‘The Substance of Story’ by McKee – simply put, the protagonist with a conscious desire puts their life at risk (2007, p.138). For we as storytellers ‘not only create stories as metaphors for life, we create them as metaphors for a meaningful life – and to live meaningfully is to be at perpetual risk’ (2007, p. 149) But who the protagonist is, what their desire is and how much they’re willing to risk their lives is all up to the storyteller! (YOU!)

McKee, R 2007, ‘The Substance of Story’ in Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, New York, USA: Harper Collins, pp. 135-154.

Matthews, B 1901, The Philosophy of the Short-story, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.