Your thoughts, please: short story discussion

EDIT, 13 July: I think there’s enough interest to make this worth doing. Look out for more news in the next couple of days.

So I’ve been mulling over the idea of starting a short story discussion feature on the blog. Once a week, or maybe once every two weeks, I’d host a discussion (in post comments) on a short story. I’d aim to make the selection of stories diverse, but sticking to pieces available to read online for free. I’d anticipate starting with six to see how it goes. (EDIT: The model I’m looking at is what Torque Control did a few years ago, but with multiple genres.)

What I want to do first is find out what sort of interest there may be for the idea. So I have a couple of questions: in general, do you like the sound of this? And if so, would you prefer it to be weekly or fortnightly? (EDIT: I’ve thought of a third option, which would be to run it weekly, but in blocks of six stories with a gap between – let me know how that sounds as well.)

14 Comments

  1. neilwilliamson

    12th July 2012 at 9:38 am

    Hi David – I think I’d be interested in taking part. Anything that gets me reading something I wouldn’t necessarily have sought out myself is good, and I always like to talk about fiction. My contribution would be entirely dependent on my own busy-ness but I should certainly be able to manage fortnightly without any problem.

  2. What kind of short stories are you thinking of? Classics? Genre? A mix?

  3. David Hebblethwaite

    12th July 2012 at 11:06 am

    Thanks for the interest, Neil. And Max – it would be a mix of stories (I’ve actually decided what the first six would be, but don’t want to declare them until I definitely go ahead with the project).

  4. Really like the idea and could potentially manage weekly, depending on how long the slot would be open for. I’d be interested in knowing more about the type of stories you’d like to look at, and what the discussions would centre around if this goes ahead.

    All in all, it sounds like a great opportunity to gain skills, perspectives and new contacts 🙂

    x

  5. I could certainly participate in this, it sounds like a lot of fun. The ‘block’ idea sounds like a good one, though with short stories being, well, short there shouldn’t be too much difficulty in participating weekly or fortnightly.

  6. Yes, I’d be interested. Loved the Torque Control short story club.

  7. Interested, too. Fortnightly discussions should be manageable.

  8. I’d be very interested in following this ~ fortnightly sounds a good option at least to start with, the summer just always seems so busy (of course, this summer that’s mostly busy mopping up)! 🙂

  9. I’m interested. Fortnightly would probably be easier.

  10. I’d certainly be keen,and fortnightly. I loved the Torque Control Bookclub but weekly was punishing.

  11. I’m interested! Fortnightly would work best for me as well, I think.

  12. Great idea. Count me in.

  13. David Hebblethwaite

    13th July 2012 at 10:46 am

    Thanks, all. I think there’s clearly enough interest to make this worth trying out. Fortnightly seems the way to go. Watch this space…

  14. I think I expressed interest on Twitter, but will do so here as well!

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