# Writing Short Stories: A Guide to Mastering the Craft

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2015/08/13/writing-short-stories-a-guide-to-mastering-the-craft/
- Published: 2015-08-13T19:43:50+00:00
- Author: admin

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**Author:** Suseela P. Ravi
 **Pages:** 116 **Year of Publication:** 2009 **Price:**
HB Rs 250, FB Rs 200 **ISBN:** HB 978-81-8157-921-8 (9788181579218) FB 978-81-8157-
922-5 (9788181579225)

_**About the Author**_
 Suseela Panda Ravi is a physician who practised in the United
States for thirty years and returned to India in 2004. She attended creative writing
workshops at Stanford University for two years. Her fiction has appeared in e-journals
like _Muse India_ and in magazines such as _Katha Kshetre_ and _India Currents_.
She received the first prize in fiction contests organized by _Katha Kshetre_ in
2006 and _Muse India_ in 2008. Dr. Ravi lives in Bangalore. This is her first work
of non-fiction.

_**Teaser**_
 In her preface to the book, Dr. Ravi writes:

“Nothing in this book can substitute for years of hands-on writing under the tutelage
of a gifted teacher. Short of availability of such an arrangement, this book humbly
but eloquently fills the void for those writers who wish to start their creative
journey as writers of fiction in English …

The commonly held belief that writers are endowed with innate talent, and that it
is not something that can be nurtured by reading books and taking courses in writing
is not quite accurate. Very few writers belong to that ‘gifted-writer’ category;
even they have to hone their skills to excel in their chosen field. Others will 
need greater effort to acquire the finesse that they know they lack. Some writers
grow up surrounded by the right influences: growing up in a family of writers, having
guidance from teachers, having easy accessibility to writing tools etc. If you come
from a home where everybody speaks English, and you have read major writers like
Shakespeare, Dickens, and Tolstoy, you have already had the opportunity to develop
a sensibility for good literature. If you have not, don’t despair. Perseverance 
in learning and practising pays good dividends.”

_**Contents**_
 Preface / 09

CHAPTER 1
 _A Bit of History_ / 13 CHAPTER 2 _The Basics_ / 16 CHAPTER 3 _Characters
in Motion_ / 21 CHAPTER 4 _Plot_ / 27 CHAPTER 5 _Point of View_ / 33 CHAPTER 6 _Showing
and Telling_ / 39 CHAPTER 7 _The Role of Sensory Perception in Writing_ / 48 CHAPTER
8 _Dialogue_ / 57 CHAPTER 9 _“Style” – How to Say It_ / 61 CHAPTER 10 _Revision_/
76 CHAPTER 11 _Going That Extra Step_ / 84

_Bibliography_ / 91

APPENDIX: STORIES
 _A Cup of Tea_ by Paritosh Uttam / 95 _The Scars_ by Vasundhara
Ratakonda / 100 _Home_ by Shruti Swami / 107