How to Write a Short Story

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I think short stories are a good way to learn about storytelling, which is why we encounter them a lot in high school and college. I sometimes do wish I read more of them on a regular basis. Just because they can give you that sense of closure that you get from like maybe a 70 minute one-off movie or television show. And even something that'll last like two or three hours up on the stage is not necessarily going to take that long to read.

We double-dip a bit in this week's show, reading two short stories and proving that you don't have to have a ton of time to read something thought-provoking. The theme is "female authors writing about controversial-at-the-time ideas," and the stories are The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

One is about a misdiagnosed "hysterical" woman slowly going insane through lack of mental stimulation, one is about a seemingly innocuous small town that is slavishly devoted to its own traditions. Both remain subversive and retain their impact even today.

Oh yeah and we also talk about which grocery store animal mascot would win in a fight.

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