Writer Workshop

On Tuesday this week I attended a workshop led by Geronimo Tagatac, a short story writer and the Harney Basin Writers Writer-in-Residence for this season.  While Geronimo is a short story writer and I'm a novelist, one can always learn something.  He asked us what a story is and we discussed that at length.  What do you think it is?  He said that a short story answers a question and leaves you with another.  That's one of the things I like about short stories although I no longer read that many.  A novel is different. It has a beginning, middle and end. I always like resolution when I read and write which is probably why I write genre fiction.  I like good plots, great characters, and happy endings. I don't read much literary fiction.  They are usually very weak on plot and you never know that everything is going to be okay.  Geronimo uses his Facebook page for 420 character stories. I thought that a great idea and might try it.  He also said that writing close to the bone engages the reader. Some of the authors he recommended reading:  Clem Stark (an Oregon poet), David Sedaris "The Santa Land Diaries", Martha Geis "The World Begins Here", Raymond Carver "Honey,why?", Aristotle's Poetics.  He read from Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and from Gabrielle Garcia Marques stories.