“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.”-Edgar Allan Poe
What are your thoughts, fellow short story writers?
Is your philosophy at odds with Poe’s?
Let me know in the comments!
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A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 
That’s interesting. A climax, an epiphany, a character development — these are the things I thought a story needed. But now that I think about Poe’s comments, I think you could say it was true of story writers like Mavis Gallant and Alice Munro, each story its own mood.
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Oh, I definitely think that is applies to some writers and/or specific stories. Others, not at all. But it is certainty something to think about, and the more we have to think about the more pliable and less stale we are as writers.
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When I write a short story the mood needs to be sustained. I look for a song that helps create that mood and I keep it on repeat while I write.
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I do that with music, too!
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While I like the quote, I don’t completely agree. The mood can be used as a decoy before a twist ending. This only works if the facts stay consistent.
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I think it depends on the story, of course. Sometimes it’s true, sometimes it isn’t.
It’s funny, because my most recent story definitely has a consistent mood throughout. It also has a twist ending, but the twist ending is still consistent with the mood and everything that led up to the ending. Yet, the revelation is still an unexpected gut-punch.
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I try to avoid always/never type of advice. This makes for a good rule, and writers would be wise to follow it. Deviating might produce something awesome though.
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Oh, I agree. Always/never advice tends to trip you up. I think that these things make for great conversation starters. Anything that makes you think about why you do what you do, as a writer, is useful.
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Truthfully, I just starting writing and let the story go wherever it wants to go. I never think about things like this.
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You’re a seat-of-your pants writer, then! 🙂 Nothing wrong with that.
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