Writing – Afterwords

 

If you read my short fiction collection “Shorts” (and I would love for you to do that!), you will discover that I have a small idiosyncrisy.  I like including afterwords for each of the stories.  I have been told by some folks that this is a terrible thing to do.  The feeling is that a story should stand on its own, and once the author finishes the story,  nothing else should need to be said.

I don’t care.

I have read plenty of “classic” collections that are just the stories and enjoyed them immensely.  But some of my favorite collections include addenda from the author about the story.  What inspired it, stories about how they wrote it, or what happened after they wrote it.  So when the time came to publish my own collection there was no question what I was going to do.

There would be afterwords.

There is a decision there.  For AFTERwords rather than FOREwords for each story.  When you come into a story, I want you to enjoy it as it is.  Find the meaning that it offers up for you.  Sometimes that’s different from my intent.  Which is super!  After you’ve enjoyed it, then I’d like to start a little conversation about it.  Here’s where the story came from (in the case of the story “The Sniper Dream” it’s a little creepy), why I wrote it, what it means to me.  Maybe that makes you go back and look again, maybe it matches perfectly with your impression, or maybe it leads you to say “You were trying for WHAT?  Missed the mark on that one!”.  I’m OK with all of those answers.

My hope is that it adds a little something to the experience.  That you’ll feel like you understand me and my writing a little better, maybe feel like you know me a little better.  I don’t know if that’s the goal for any other writer on the planet.  It’s my goal.

The only goal I can concern myself with as a writer.

So I hope you grab a copy of the book, I hope you enjoy the stories, and I hope the Afterwords add a little something as well.

Peace

JD