The American Short Story by Yu-Han Chao
I’m almost finished reading Haruki Murakami’s collection of stories, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. For some reason, I find myself extremely dissatisfied, not because the stories are no good—in fact, they are frank and unusual and surprising in good ways—but they are not the short stories I have come to expect after all these years of living and reading in Ireland, America, and, for a brief summer, Britain. To be honest, I was left with a distinct feeling of coitus interruptus.
In Taiwan, I read a lot of short stories: in the newspapers, in collected volumes, in magazines. Often, they were just moments, vignettes, with nothing really happening, no real plot, no progressive action, mere characterization, dialogue. I had no problem with this back then. But now, reading Murakami’s stories, which seem similar to what I used to read in Chinese, something feels missing.
When I first came to the United States for my writing program, the first and overarching critique I received in workshop was, “Something needs to happen in your story. You need plot.”
“But something does happen,” I said, not understanding the Western concept of plot.
In fact, I’m not sure I fully understand plot now, because I am at a loss how to describe it—some kind of meaningful action or change that sets the story on a different course, casts a different light—something larger and deeper than just any happening.
Eventually I learned to write this mysterious “plot” thing, insert the exciting main action that short story readers expect, and the first time I completed a story that had genuine plot, a beginning, climactic rising action, and ending, it was taken by a journal. Thus began my career of attempting to construct these almost formulaic stories. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t, but I always tried to plan the main action and plot in there and provide closure in the end.
But have I become an Americanized reader as well as writer, so that I can no longer appreciate the type of unconventional, non-American stories with which I grew up? After finishing the book, I feel both dissatisfied and sad.
Yu-Han Chao is co–blog manager and poetry editor at the Rose & Thorn. She has a poetry book out and a short story collection forthcoming. Visit her writing and artwork at her Web site.
I really enjoyed this perspective. Thanks!
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Wow, I didn't realize there was such a difference. I'm not a big short story reader, but congrats to you for learning something new and becoming successful using it. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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I struggle with plot too, but I like your way of defining it!!
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Very interesting shift in viewpoint. I was born, raised and still live in the US, so I grew up with the emphasis on plot of which you wrote. I find it amusing that I grew very, very tired of it! I still enjoy a good 'action' story, but also really appreciate 'non-action'. Non-action allows for rest and introspection, for the appreciation of those myriad moments that may not "do" anything but enrich and inform our appreciation of life in general.
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