Sunday, June 16, 2013

A Great Short Story - THREE-TEN TO YUMA

HOW TALES GROW IN THE TELLING

By CLAY MORE (Keith Souter)

I am a great fan of short stories and over the years have built up a collection of anthologies. They are not just any old anthology though. They are all books that were published in the thirties, forties and fifties and within their covers are tales, yarns, call them what you will, that appeared in the old pulps and the vast number of magazines that once used to provide a regular outlet for fiction writers.  Indeed, I first seriously thought of becoming a writer after I discovered a book of short stories devoted to crime fiction. I thought how wonderful it must be to write a story that finds its way into such a book. A story that can just sit there buried in a book as it gathers a patina of dust, but which can spark the imagination of a reader years later.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
Every writer wants their creation to go out into the world and spark the imagination of the reader. They want it to be  a success. Some stories have enjoyed fantastic success. Take Three-Ten to Yuma, for example.

Many people imagine that this story by Elmore Lenard was a novel. It has attained cult status and spawned two movies, both of which were called 3.10 to Yuma.  The first was made in 1957, starring Glen Ford and Van Heflin. Then, fifty years later, it was remade with Russel Crowe and Christian Bale.

But it is just a short story!

OK, I take that back. It is not 'just' anything. It is in fact a great short story by a great writer. It is a good example, I think, of a story that has grown in  the telling. It is a true precious little acorn that became a mighty oak. It grabs your attention straight away, stimulates your imagination with superb word descriptions, cranks up the tension factor and it delivers a satisfying conclusion. Finally, it is timeless. It is as fresh as when it was written sixty years ago. It first appeared in Dime Western Magazine, in March 1953


The plot in a nutshell
The story is about Deputy Paul Scallen and his task of taking outlaw Jim Kidd to Yuma prison. They have to catch the 3.10 to Yuma, the only snag being six ruthless members of Kidd's gang.

That basic plot has been used in the movies as well as the short story, but the characters' names were changed both times.

Other acorns
One of my favourite short stories is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. Once again, many people imagine that it was a novel, but it was a short story published in the New Yorker in March 1939. It is apparently one of the most anthologised short stories in American literature. And I can well see why.

Walter Mitty is a fantasist. I would imagine that virtually every writer could empathise with him. He is a mild-mannered, good fellow. He goes shopping with his wife and day to day events are changed in his imagination so that he goes off into little flights of fantasy. He becomes a pilot, a hero, a great surgeon. And the transitions are all done superbly by the master stylist, James Thurber..


Like Three-Ten to Yuma, The Secret life of Walter Mitty was made into a movie in 1947, featuring Danny Kaye. It is a humorous movie, but it is not in the same league as the short story.

And of course, the very name of Walter Mitty as entered common parlance. People talk about people being 'a regular Walter Mitty,' or they describe someone's fantasies as being Mittyesque.

Really, how fantastic to have thought up such a character, to have crafted such a tale.

Elmore Leonard
But back to Elmore Leonard. He is one of the great writers. He began writing westerns in the 1950s, then crossed genres and started writing crime, thrillers and screenplays. He has garnered success in so many fields and produced some fabulous novels.

He was certainly one of my biggest influences, not only as a western writer, but as a crime writer. I like his grittiness, his use of dialogue and the twists and turns he puts into his work. In my own stories, whether they are westerns or crime novels I try to put in little twists and attempt to mislead the reader as much as I can.

I read that Elmore Leonard has been called the Dickens of Detroit. I like that, since it puts him int the league of the greats. And remember that although dickens is regarded as one of the great English novelists, yet he was essentially a serial writer. He write in segments for the magazine market. Acorns and oaks again.

I leave you with what is said to be Elmore Leonard's main tip about writing. It was something like this:

'If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.'

May you find your own little literary acorn.

***
Clay More has contributed short stories to the Western Fictioneers anthologies The Traditional West, Six-guns and Slay Bells and is currently writing his series of ebooks about  The Adventures of Doctor Marcus Quigley, dentist, gambler and bounty hunter, published by High Noon Press.  The third in the series The Covered Trail is due out soon.


He also writes the character of Dr Logan Munro in the Wolf Creek series. He has a short story about Doc Munro in the forthcoming Wolf Creek 6, which is an anthology - Hell on the Prairie.



24 comments:

  1. DR. Keith,

    Yes, the short story. Louis L'Amour said that he wrote better short stories than novels.

    So much has been said about short stories over the years. It is a venue where an entire world can be created and told within a few words. The great ones leave the readers imagination to complete the world the writer created.

    THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY is one of my favorites. A great short story. In school I told the teacher and the class how wonderful it was that the character had such a vivid imagination. The other kids laughed and the teacher castigated me, saying; "How sad that a man wastes his time imagining, rather than living." I didn't see it that way at all. As writers, isn't that what we all do? Imagine? As people, isn't that where all inventions and advancement come from?

    The short story should again be back in every magazine in the country. How regrettable that it is no longer promoted and read as it once was.

    Oh, as a writer, to live on with a great short story that takes on a life of its own. To have it be anthologized over and over and over...what a dream!

    Thank you Dr. Keith for writing this article.

    Charlie S.

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  2. Thanks, Dr Charlie.

    I absolutely agree with you, imagination is where creativity comes from.

    Yes, it is a great pity that there aren't more outlets for the short story, but the anthologies that Livia and Troy are producing have certainly added to the field. I am grateful to them for all their hard work in providing these opportunities, and I am proud to have my work sitting alongside all these great writers in WF.

    The growth of e-publishing is providing another short story outlet and I think it is looking very promising for the future.

    Keith

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  3. Keith, what a great post. I am always amazed to see how Hollywood takes a short story, such as 3:10 To Yuma, and turns it into a full length film, not once but twice! The short story was wonderful; a great read in itself. But to have a lengthening of it with the scope of the characters and plot broadened into a movie, that's also amazing--if it's done well. As with the short story The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance--I have to say that the short story bore very little resemblance to what Hollywood did with it. Both good stories, but in that case, the movie was more to my liking than the story, and that doesn't happen very often. Probably the one of the best short stories I've ever read was also by Dorothy M. Johnson, "Lost Sister"--what a powerful piece of writing!

    Most people are turned off by the short story here in high school because of the selections in the literature book, and (I think) the questions that are too far-reaching for an immature mind to fully answer. How can a freshman in high school understand the social mores of the times when most of the classic short stories were written? In the first place, they don't care. In the second place, they're more "action" oriented than anything, so to ask them to be able to articulate understanding of something that to them is so boring turns them off at an early age. Like Charlie, I remember how excited I was (to read these stories for the most part)and how some of the other kids would always say, "Man, why did you write so much? I just answered number 2 with 'yes, I liked it because it was about hunting.'" (Remember The Lady or the Tiger? The Most Dangerous Game?)etc.

    Like you, I'm so glad to have these outlets we have now for publishing out short stories. Maybe there'll be a "comeback" and resurgence in the interest out there for them, if they're available.

    Thanks for a very thought provoking post!
    Cheryl

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  4. Hey Dr. Keith. I also have a collection of anthologies, including Three Ten to Yuma and A Tin Star. My favorite is Wine on the Desert by Max Brand. I love short stories. Yours too!
    Jerry

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  5. Have Leonard's collection of short stories as well as L'Amour and others. Love them all. I just truly love short stories. One of my favorite short story writers is Harlan Ellison. Although he writes in the fantasy/science fiction genre, he is brilliant. One of my favorites is 'The Paladin', blew my mind it was so good. He was also known for scripting award winning "Star Trek" episodes.

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  6. Thanks, Cheryl. I watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance again just the other day. I think it is a great movie. And it is, as you say, another of those great short stories.

    I read that Ernest Hemingway considered his six word story to be one of his finest pieces of writing. And it was brilliant:

    For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

    That conjures up all sorts of images and raises questions in the reader's mind. But the man was a genius!

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  7. Hey Jerry. Max Brand was one of the first western writers that I read. My father used to have his books all over the house and I picked one up and was hooked pretty well straight away.

    And of course, he created Destry, which was turned into Destry Rides Again with James Stewart and the great Marlene Dietrich.

    Thank you for your kind words. I am a fan of your short stories also.

    Keith

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  8. Hey Doris, thanks for stopping by. I truly love short stories, and I read across the different genres. Many moons ago, when I first qualified, I had a job in Accident & Emergency, which I think is called ER on your side of the Pond. It was a great job, because for the first time we worked shifts, rather than a straight 100 hours a week. It meant that I got to see my wife, but it also gave me a chance to read in hours off. That summer I read all of Isaac Asimov's short stories and for years I just immersed myself in SF. What an imagination he had!

    Keith

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  9. Keith, I read that too, about Ernest Hemingway, and when I teach a class I always use that example. What genius that man had. You're right--that conjures up several stories that could be, doesn't it? No matter what, those 6 words make us curious as all heck. My husband had several collections of SF that he loved. Then he started reading thrillers. I think I gave all those SF collections to my son.
    Cheryl

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  10. Cheryl, that Hemingway 6 word story is the ultimate in flash fiction, or micro-fiction. I enjoy writing this stuff. A few years ago I won a 26 word A-Z prize for a story that had to be written using words that started with every letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. Mine inevitably had a medical theme and was a play on words of the film Lost in Translation.

    LOST IN TRANSPLANTATION – a case of rejection

    Aorta burst causing deadly exsanguination!
    Foreign gutter headlines implied jealousy killing, leaving mistress needing oxygen. Police questioned rival surgeon’s technique.
    “Unaccepted vessel was xenograft,” yammered Zermanski.

    Keith
    (A xenograft is a tissue graft from another species)

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  11. I love short stories. They get right to the point and usually lead to an aha moment or a big sigh at the end. It's tough to write them--no time to ramble on about what clothes the characters wore or what all they ate at lunch. It's all meat. My favorite was The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. Oh yeah, a movie was made about that, too. The emotional impact never left me.
    Loved your blog today.

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  12. Thanks, Sarah. I guess that all of these short stories that end up as movies tend to be written by real masters of their art. Cream always rises to the top.

    I agree, the short story demands that every word should count. I read an article about the short story once, that said that the short story is like the heart of an artichoke. Everything that isn't necessary should be peeled away until you have pure story.

    People like Steinbeck, Hemingway and Leonard, Conan Doye and Oscar Wilde certainly know (or knew) how to prepare an artichoke.

    Keith

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  13. Walter Mitty has always been one of my favorites. One thing I love about a collection of short stories is when your time is limited you can pick up the book, read a story or two, then get back to it next time you have a chance.

    Jim Griffin

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    1. Hey Jim, thanks for stopping by. That is what I love about them. You can dip into them and take them in any order, or you can read straight through. Personally, I like dipping in and often choose a story if the title appeals.

      Keith

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  14. Keith, I love you 26 word story!What fun and a great idea. I am so happy that we are seeing a resurgence of the short story area of storytelling.

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  15. Thanks, Doris. I hope so, too. The short story is, of course a far older form than the novel.

    Keith

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  16. Keith, great post. I'm not sure whether it's true, but e-publishing may give new life to the short story.

    So many powerful stories can be told that don't require the format of a novel. And many of them have been adapted as film or plays. Off the top of my head, I can think of several:

    -The Dead, James Joyce (although more of a novella probably).
    -Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes ("Charly")
    -The Killers, Hemingway

    The first short story I ever read was The Most Dangerous Game," so good that it stayed with me for decades, obviously.

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    1. Thanks, Tom. Yes, a lot of short story collections can live again when they are adapted for tv. Over in the UK we have just had a series based on the stories about Father Brown, the priest detective by GK Chesterton. And once copyright has expired, a character can take on a life of their own, no longer restricted to the stories that gave them birth. The classic example is Sherlock Holmes who is enjoying new life in movies and tv. In the latter he has been updated on both sides of the pond. Whether the updated versions and adventures are worthy of the original is a matter of opinion.

      Keith

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  17. Keith, it's no wonder your 26 word short story won! That is just brilliant. I really enjoyed that. There aren't many people who could do that, much less do it as well as you did!
    Cheryl

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  18. Cheryl, you are so kind! The x and z are always the difficult ones with the alphabet. You only have to look at children's alphabet books. They either have x-ray or xylophone and zebra or .....? Not many options.

    Keith

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  19. I used to read a lot of short stories. Now I read mainly novels. Some of my favorite stories were by Louis L'Amour and Agatha Christie. Both sometimes adapted their stories later into novels.

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  20. Keith, my appreciation for short stories grew exponentially when I had little time to read. Always before, I picked books based on page count. 'Tis true. The more pages for the penny, the better I liked it. I didn't read at all for a long time, partly because it became so difficult and I didn't have my Kindle yet, but mostly because of lack of time. Short stories were simply not readily available. I love the new wide open market where we can find anything we want.

    And by the way, you are a terrific short story author!

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  21. Hi Caroline. Agatha Christie is my favourite crime writer. In fact, for my 60th birthday last year we stayed for a week at Greenway, her house overlooking the River Dart in Devon. I actually finished the last chapter of my latest crime novel while we were there! It is officially published on my birthday this year.

    Keith

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  22. Hi Jacquie. I know what you mean about time to read. The eighties seem to be a blur to me, when my kids were little and there seemed to be no time to oneself.

    Thank you so much for that!

    Keith

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