“Someone just asked me “How did you learn to read poetry?”
It’s a great question. It really is. Because I didn’t know the answer, but at the same time there’s a skill to pick up somewhere.
By that same token, I have to wonder if people struggle with short stories because they don’t know how to read them. The poetry is a question I have to think over, but for the short stories I have an idea.
Short stories are the serial monogamy of reading.
For those who aren’t familiar with that term and just don’t feel like working it out, serial monogamy is the idea of dating someone exclusively, dating people one at a time, then moving on to someone else without crossover or any of this dating around business. It’s like serial killing. You kill someone, then you move on. You kill one person at a time, not a bunch of people all at once.
I wish I’d come up with a better comparison than serial killing. It can be hard on the heart, but serial monogamy isn’t a death penalty crime just yet.
To enjoy short stories, it helps to be a serial monogamist. A short story might hurt your feelings. It might leave way before you’re ready. Even still, you have to be able to read as if, just maybe, this time the story will last. It’ll be the short story that turns into the novel that turns into your favorite book you read over and over. You have to learn enough about yourself to say that it’s okay to be in love more than once. Maybe more than once in a single day. And just because you’ve been in love before doesn’t mean your new love doesn’t mean as much.
The good thing about being a serial monogamist is that you get to date more than one really great person. You get to know them and the best things about them. You don’t waste a lot of time on people you don’t really like because you’re kind of looking for something more than a person you can tolerate long enough to figure out why you REALLY hate them. There are a lot of good things about serial monogamy.
The bad thing, the really bad parts, are the parts where the relationships end. Those are hard. They’re hard because you’re involved and the people mean something to you. It’s more than a fling, but somehow it’s not all as epic as a dissolving marriage. There’s no lawyers to see or houses to divvy.
The good thing about the short story version is that the short story doesn’t have feelings. It’s a break up at the last word, and it’s okay for that breakup to be all about you, the reader. How sad you are to see this story go. How hurt you are it ended the way it did.
The other bad thing, the other worst part, is being strong enough to pick up the next story and read it like you didn’t just have your heart broken.
If you have struggles with short stories, try thinking like a serial monogamist. Let yourself fall for characters even when you know they won’t stick around. It might be the only chance you’ve got of falling for the right one.”