Eden Robinson shares 5 things to expect when writing short stories
The 2024 CBC Short Story Prize is open for submissions until Nov. 1, 2023
Eden Robinson's novel Son of a Trickster was a finalist for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Son of a Trickster is a fantastical coming-of-age story about a teenage burnout visited by strange apparitions. It was defended on Canada Reads 2020 by Kaniehtiio Horn. Son of a Trickster was the first book in the Trickster trilogy, it was followed up with Trickster Drift and Return of the Trickster.
Robinson' first novel, Monkey Beach, was shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award and Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2000.
The 2024 CBC Short Story Prize is open for submissions until Nov. 1, 2023. The winner will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have the opportunity to attend a two-week writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and have their work published on CBC Books.
Robinson, who judged the 2018 CBC Short Story Prize, shares five things to know about writing short stories.
1. You're going to make a mess
"I have a very yappy muse. When I was writing Son of a Trickster — which began as a short story — I thought, 'I'll just overwrite and trim it back when I come to the final draft.'
I let it run wild, let my muse friend run along anywhere it wanted to go.- Eden Robinson
"I let it run wild, let my muse friend run along anywhere it wanted to go. It's what I usually do for my first drafts, they're usually quite messy."
2. You'll try lots of different things
"I tried a number of different narrators when writing Son of a Trickster. When I landed on Jared, he just had so much heart. The more I wrote him into the story, the more I wanted to learn about him. And so, my 10-page short story became a 50-page novella and by the time it hit 100, I thought, 'You know, this might be a novel.'"
3. You'll be scared — but you should do it anyway
"Sending your work out is scary. It is scary for all of us. Especially in the beginning, when you are not used to rejection or criticism.
Sending your work out is scary. It is scary for all of us.- Eden Robinson
"I spent a lot of time being rejected by different literary journals. Then, the next short story I entered into a fiction contest won!"
4. You'll learn to make word limits a strength
"Short stories are amazingly succinct. You can be lyrical, you can have muscular prose, but what stands out is the artist's vision of their world — how deeply and how much you can get into it given the constraints of the word count."
5. You'll find a friend in deadlines
"Deadlines are fantastic! They are your friend. You have until Nov. 1 to submit to the CBC Short Story Prize. It doesn't seem like a lot of time, but it is doable. You can do this!"
Eden Robinson's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
