Rediscovering the short story – what are your favourites?

In recent years, I admit, I’ve read mainly novels – I love the thickness of the books, the way you can immerse yourself in a tale and forget about the world for a bit. But National Short Story Day just before Christmas, and The Guardian’s recent short story podcasts, got me wondering about the genre, and reminded me that there are many short stories that have affected me deeply. They also got me itching to read some more.

Somehow, to write a story that really packs a punch in the space of, say, 1,000 words seems an incredible feat. Ian Rankin has summed the challenge up well. “The best short stories,” he said, “distill all the potency of a novel into a small but heady draught”.  Despite this, I often feel that the short story form sits in the shadow of the novel – less well known and less loved.

So I thought I’d celebrate a few of the stories that I’ve loved in the past, and some I’ve only discovered recently. I’d love to hear what your favourites are, too.

1. The first short story that really made an impact with me was Your Shoes by Michele Roberts. I studied it in secondary school and it had such an effect on me that I found myself wanting to have a little weep in class (possibly an over reaction – I don’t know). It’s a monologue from a mother whose daughter has run away from home, and explores themes of loss, blame, conflict and love. The regret and longing of the (somewhat untrustworthy) narrator, and the exaggerated meaning she gives a pair of her daughter’s shoes, makes for an emotional read.

2. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe is perhaps one of the best known short stories, and with good reason – the murderous schemings and unusual justifications of the main character stay with you long after you close the book. The narrator is again an untrustworthy one, who insists on sanity after murdering an old man. It’s a dark, compelling read.

3. I only discovered recently that Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life is actually based on a book, a short story called The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern. Even if you’ve seen the film (which most people probably have), it’s well worth having a gander at the original text – there’s something quite beautiful about the simplistic way it’s written.

4. The Doll’s House, by Katherine Mansfield, is the story Margaret Drabble chose to read for The Guardian short story podcast, and it’s great – a sharp depiction of the difficulties and injustices of social heirarcies among children and adults. The tale made me think how little I thought about the consequences of my actions when I was younger.

5. Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost is a fun re-imagining of the ghost story genre, in which an American family buy an old and haunted property in Britain, despite being warned of the numerous mishaps and deaths that have taken place there. But neither the family nor the resident ghost act as you would expect them to and, following a series of comical meetings and events, it becomes unclear who is terrorising who.

Increasing freelance productivity for 2011

One of the best things about going freelance is that you can manage your own time, without a boss looming over your shoulder to check your progress every couple of hours. But this also has a rather obvious downside to it as well – without anyone there to judge you, it’s easy to get a little sidetracked by the mass of information coming your way via email, Twitter and updates like Google Alerts. In my case, most of these distractions are still work-related, so not bad as such, but they can sometimes make completing single tasks more difficult.

I met with a fellow freelancer last week for a couple of drinks and we decided that we both wanted to improve our productivity for 2011. So we’re trying something out: at the beginning of every week, we’ll write a outline of the things we want to achieve that week, email them to each other, and then at the end of the week we check how the other has done. That way, at least we’re accountable to someone other than ourselves… It’s my first day of it, and blogging was on my list, so the fact that I’m writing this post is a step in the right direction. I’ll let you know how it goes after I’ve been at it for a while, though.

Other things I’m doing to improve productivity include:

1. Avoiding pyjamas in the day

They may look cute and cuddly, but they’re actually quite dangerous. There’s something about wearing  them that is demotivating, and frankly, it feels a bit unprofessional. I know some freelancers that do wear pyjamas, and get along fine with it, but it’s enough for me to know that I could do it, if I wanted to.

2. Allocating social media time

Twitter is a brilliant and vital resource for a journalist, but if I’ve got updates popping up all day, it’s really difficult to concentrate on any singular thought for more than two seconds. And I’m beginning to suspect that it’s having a serious effect on my attention span. So the plan is to still dip in regularly, but only at certain times.

3. Making a daily list, with a set time for each goal

I think one of the most important things a freelancer needs to help them stay sane is structure. Without making sure that you have deadlines for each project/pitching session, it’s much more difficult to prioritise. I’m hoping that breaking up each day into do-able chunks will help me see more clearly exactly what it is I need to get done.

How are you planning to increase your productivity this year?

One year in – what I’ve learnt about freelancing

So with every newspaper and magazine doing yearly retrospective roundups at the moment, I thought I’d get involved. It’s been just over a year since I plunged into the world of freelance journalism full time and while it’s easily been the best year of my life, it’s also been incredibly challenging. With the jobs market not quite what it used to be, freelancing has become a sensible (and sometimes the only) option for many –  and I thought this post might be useful to those new to freelancing, or even just thinking about it. This is what I’ve learnt:

1. Other freelancers are friendly

They’re your rivals, but they can also be part of your support network and even good friends. No one knows about the highs and lows of freelancing quite like another freelancer, and when you spend most of your time working from home, they’re also essentially your co-workers. Without the anecdotes, advice and drinks I’ve had from the people on networks like Journobiz and Writeclub, this year would have been a lot harder and not nearly as fun.

2. There are all sorts of reasons for rejection

Just because one editor has turned down an idea doesn’t mean that other editors will feel the same. It might have something to do with another piece they’re running, or could even be because it doesn’t fit with advertising. The idea may need a bit of a re-jig for a different publication, but pitch, re-pitch and re-pitch again. For example, I‘ve got a piece about to come out in a national travel magazine that fell flat on its face when I originally tried to sell it back in April. I suppose this point could also come under the heading ‘don’t throw old  ideas away’ – if you think it’s got legs, it probably does. It might just need a slightly different angle.

3. It’s good to talk

Following up on a pitch is vital – as important as the initial pitch itself. Once you’ve emailed an idea to an editor, it’s easy to sit back and assume that they’ve seen it and didn’t like it, but it’s always worth a quick call just to check. An early run-in with a particularly rude editor on a national put me off doing this for some time, but once I started, my hit rate increased massively. 

4. Always, always clarify

…if you’re unsure about anything in the brief. It may be that you’re not 100 per cent certain you’ve read something correctly, it may be that the editor has been somewhat vague; in either case it’s always worth double checking. It could save you from disaster later. It happened to me at in the early days of my freelancing: I read a brief in a different way from that intended, resulting in me doing much more work that I had to do, and feeling like a prize fool when the editor came back to me explaining what she was really after. Luckily, as I’d overcompensated the problem was rectified pretty quickly… had it been the other way round, things could have been a lot worse.

5. Keep calm and carry on

Just before I made the plunge, a good friend advised me never to worry about the stuff I couldn’t change. By that he meant that although it may seem tempting, it’s useless to lie awake at night worrying about a pitch that hasn’t been answered, a looming deadline or a mistake you’ve already made. It’s easier said than done, but it’s advice that has helped me through the quieter times no end. However worried you are about something, make a concerted effort to switch off at the end of the day (unless you can actually do something to put it right, of course). It may save your sanity.

The joy of influencing narrative

Browsing Spotify last weekend I came across something exciting: a free audio book called Don’t Let Go. The story is unusual for a couple of reasons – it’s split into short sections found by typing in a unique code, and puts the listener at the centre of the action.

At the end of each chapter, you are given a choice between two decisions, and the outcome of the story depends on how you decide to act. Your decision will determine which chapter you are directed to next- giving you power to influence the narrative to some extent.

It wasn’t the way I’d planned to spend my Saturday, but I ended up taking a long time exploring the various paths I could choose (my first attempt did not end particularly successfully, but I won’t spoil it for you). It’s an eerie and quite beautiful creation, immersing you in events by forcing you to take part.

A friend and I often debate the merits of books versus video games, and the only point on which I ever concede that games are better is their ability to have flexibile storylines, for the path you take to be affected by how you act (the game Fallout 3 is a particularly good example of this, in which you can develop your character into someone either good or evil, and others will treat you accordingly). The only stories that I can remember attempting to do something similar are the choose-your-own-adventure game books I used to read when I was younger, sadly now long gone.

Don’t Let Go, a collaboration between novelist Joe Stretch and electro-pop duo Hurts (and a very clever way to market Hurts’ new album Happiness), reminded me of these books and got me hoping that this could be the beginning of a wave of rolling-dice narratives aimed at adults. Streaming services like Spotify make this sort of thing possible for the first time, and when the service becomes accessible through wireless music systems as well as computers, you’ll be able to listen to stories curled up on the sofa, or in bed.

So I wonder immersive audio novels are something that could catch on, or if they ask too much of readers? Would you take the time to play one, or do you prefer traditional linear narratives?

(If you’ve got Spotify search for A5M4 to listen to the first chapter of Don’t Let Go)

Why the UK should pay more attention to its food

In light of the news that the world’s largest collection of fruits and berries may be bulldozed to make way for a Russian housing development, I’ve decided the publish a piece I wrote a while ago (which never made it to print) on why the UK needs to start paying more attention to where our food comes from:

The issue of food security isn’t something that most people consider a problem in the western world; given that we have food in abundance, this is little surprise. Yet writer and architect Carolyn Steel argues that our food supply is not as secure as it might appear.

One of the key factors affecting food security is crop diversity, and this diversity is under threat. In her book Hungry City: How Food Shapes Out Lives, Steel warns that “in the name of efficiency, we are streamlining diversity itself”. Because we breed (and buy) only the varieties of food that have desirable qualities – the right size, shape, colour and lifespan – we are destroying the natural alternatives. Consequently, Steel tells me, we are becoming dependent on very few varieties of food.

Why is this important? Because genetic diversity allows crops to evolve over time, adapt to different conditions, and can be used to create new varieties with useful qualities – such as drought resistance. And in the context of climate change, this diversity becomes more important than ever.

Crucially, lack of diversity leaves our food vulnerable to disease. One of the big casualties looks likely to be the common Cavendish banana, which itself arrived in the 1960s to replace its disease-destroyed predecessor and now seems to be suffering the same fate. Even more worrying, however, is the fact that staples such as wheat and rice are under threat.

Efforts are being made to halt the process. In February 2008, The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) announced the completion of a Seed Vault (or Doomsday Vault, as some have nicknamed it), intended as the ultimate safety net for the world’s resources. Situated in Svalbard, ice and permafrost ensure that even without electricity, seed samples will remain frozen.

But the Vault is only meant as an insurance policy; it will take a synchronised global effort by individual countries to make a real difference – something, according to Director of the GCDT Cary Fowler, that we currently lack. Although almost every country has a seed bank for the purpose of safeguarding threatened varieties (and with which that country can supply the Doomsday Vault), many are being mismanaged. “Just about every country has a gene bank, but not a single one I know is fully and permanently funded,” Fowler tells me. “Most are also located in normal buildings, which are vulnerable to fire, accidents and other damage. Many countries just can’t support them: it’s like adopting an animal – they build a seed bank then realise they have to maintain it.”

Part of the problem may lie in the lack of publicity. Fowler estimates that some variety of crop is probably lost every single day. He guesses we’d probably have to lose 1000 for the news to hit the front page. Like playing a turn against the slow trickle of an hourglass, we’ll probably only notice the urgency when our time is up.

At a ground level, individuals can engage in various seed saving organisations. The Heritage Seed Library in the UK and the Seed Savers Exchange in the UK, for example, both encourage people to save and share old, or ‘heirloom’, varieties that may have been dropped from seed catalogues or are in danger of extinction altogether. There is also growing UK interest in forest gardens, where a large variety of plants are grown in areas imitating sustainable natural habits, such as forests.

But Fowler believes this is an issue that can be solved at a global level. “We know how to do it, and we know how much it would cost on a crop by crop basis,” he says. “It would cost $30million to conserve wheat, one of the world’s most important crops, theoretically forever. That seems like a pretty good investment to me.”

Most would be hard pressed not to agree. Especially when you consider that Chatham House published a report on food security last year calling for the UK to lead the creation of a new food system. “The UK can no longer afford to take its food supply for granted,” it warned. “A food crisis in the UK is not unthinkable.”

Edit: Read my piece in The Guardian on what UK communities are doing to save rare varieties of plant.

Tango with locals in Buenos Aires

La Catedral milonga in Buenos Aires

The Argentinian capital is famous for its tango scene, and there’s an overwhelming choice of tango shows for visitors to choose from. But for a more authentic experience, seek out the ‘milongas’ – nights where the local’s go to dance tango.

Visiting last week, I stumbled across La Catedral: held in a huge room with dimmed lighting, a band of three musicians with a keyboard, a guitar and accordian played live tango music in the middle of the dancefloor.

As the evening progresses and drinks are drunk, members from the audience gradually begin moving to the dancefloor in pairs to strut their stuff. It’s impromptu, scatty and damn good fun.

There’s no pressure to get involved if you don’t know the steps – many just go to watch. Even if you just want to enjoy the music and drink red wine, it’s well worth trying one of these intimate local events. And if you do, you’ll probably find you’re the only tourist there, which is always refreshing in a city as popular with travellers as Buenos Aires.

Head to buenosairesmilongas.com for an list of venues. La Catedral is at Sarmiento y Medrano and costs 10 Argentine Pesos.

Snapshot of a Spanish hideaway

We walk up the dusty path in a snaking line. I tread carefully, picking my way over stones, ducking under bushes. When we reach the spring, we take it in turns to fill plastic bottles with water. The sun bakes my shoulders as I watch the water trickle in, and I survey the scene: a deep valley curving suddenly into green hills, a couple of fields bordered by fig trees, a slim river.

Life is simple and slow in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains: where we are staying, water must be collected every two days or so, and food can be brought from the closest town, Orgiva – an hour and a quarter’s walk away, through a quarry across a river. We could have hired a car, of course, but it’s more of an unusual experience this way – more of a departure from the rush of life in the UK.

For many British travellers, Spain evokes images of sun, sea and sand on built-up coastal resorts. But dig a little deeper and there’s a very different experience to be had. Orgiva, the capital of La Alpujarra district in southern Spain, is a small and picturesque place built at the foot of a mountain. It’s a quaint sort of town, filled with tapas cafes, restaurants and a market on Sundays. Its population is a surprisingly comfortable mix of Spanish locals and travellers seeking an alternative lifestyle, so that while the place has a very traditional Spanish feel, there are many British expats around.

The house I am staying in happens to be in the midst of these expats homes, in the middle of the hamlet Cigarrones. The buildings are huddled close together, made of brick, whitewashed, and running on solar energy.There are plenty of other holiday cottages here – or ‘casitas’ – dotted around the mountainsides.

The green hills themselves provide wonderful hiking opportunities (where we are raced by agile mountain goats). Evenings are spent drinking under the clear starry sky. If we want to socialise, we head into town – always planning an hour in advance, of course.

The walk is always worth it. One of the best things about Orgiva is that, unlike the more tourist-heavy seaside resorts, most bars will give you free tapas with a glass of beer. And if you drink enough beer, you’ve pretty much had a free meal. What’s not to like?

“Visitors,” a local barman tells me,  “get the most from Orgiva if they like the quiet.” This is not a place to party, but somewhere to really escape from it all. I’ve never been so relaxed.

If you’re feeling inspired, further information on Orgiva and accommodation can be found at the following links:

• I’m lucky enough to have a friend who owns a place out here, but there are plenty of other accommodation options in the areas – see here.

• It’s probably best to fly into Malaga airport, then either hire a car or get a bus (it’s an hour and a half journey) to Orgiva. More on travel here.
• For more general information on Orgiva and the Andalucia region, head to the Rustic Blue website.

Volunteering opportunities in London

Whether you live in London or are just passing through, this big, hectic city has a number of projects looking for eager volunteers. Read more…

Photo by Kang Hong Leung

Bizarre local traditions and competitions worldwide

The world is wide, wild and weird. Travelling can give you a sense of place, but getting involved in local events can pull you more deeply into a culture than any walking tour. Here are five of the best for 2010…

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Comics and corruption

Comic books have always been an effective brand of storytelling: attractive and to-the-point, they have the ability to reach audiences that may find more mainstream forms of media too heavy. While super-hero tales are the most well-known, comics have also been the vehicles for messages of social commentary (such as the drug-culture in the 1970s) or, in the case of Harvey Pekar’s American Splendour, the real-life tales of an individual.

Right now, an exhibition at Lazarides gallery in Soho London from experimental youth initiative Ctrl.Alt.Shift takes a look at how comics can be used to comment on politics and society. From devastation in Congo through to the evils of the pharmaceutical industry, the ‘Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption’ exhibition proves that one of the most powerful ways to convey a message is by simplifying a story to its essentials. That’s not to say the drawings are basic (many are illustrated in minute, wonderful detail), but the messages are powerful and clear. A taster:

Unspeakable Things, an adaptation by comic artist Paul O'Connell of photographs taken by Marcus Bleasdale in Congo

Unspeakable Things continued

go thro

Black Holes by Dave McKean

The exhibition runs until 28 November 2009, but if you miss it you can always buy the Ctrl.Alt.Shift Unmasks Corruption anthology for £4.99 at http://www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk/unmaskscorruption.