Not Another Book Club
By Jill Brennan
Want to talk about fiction but not sure if you can commit to reading a book
each month? Especially if it turns out to be a book you dont like. Its one thing
finding time for a novel you do like, but one that is a struggle just to turn
the pages? No thanks.
So what is the answer. Short stories, of course! They can be read in a
fraction of the time and then you can talk about them instantly.
So how does a short story club work? Basically the same as a book club but
without the 12 hours of homework that it takes to read the novel so that you can
join in the discussion.
First up you need to decide if you want to be in an online or offline club.
If you are wanting to set up an online club then the best way to do it would be
to use either an instant messaging service (Yahoo or MSN are too popular
services) or an internet voice service like Skype so that you can chat aloud for
free just like you would if you were all meeting in person (go to
http://www.skype.com/ for more details).
Whether you decide on an online or offline club, you will need to work out a
few other details like how many people youd like in the club. Too few members
and it maybe difficult to get a discussion going, too many and it maybe
difficult for everyone to get an opportunity to speak. Eight is probably a good
number as it allows for a few people to be away each week but it would probably
still work well with six. You could always start off with less and then invite
more people in if you feel you need to.
You need to set the guidelines up front so that everyone knows how it will
work.
1. How often will you meet? Once a week, once a month, once every two months.
You probably wouldnt want to go any further out than two months or you will lose
momentum.
2. When will you meet? Lunchtime, after work, in the evenings, Saturday
afternoons, over breakfast. Its better to be consistent, say every Friday
lunchtime or the first Monday evening of the month, so that you save on
scheduling time and avoid confusion.
3. Where will you meet? This will probably be determined by when you meet but
some possible options are a library, restaurant, someones home, a community
centre or a café. Wherever you go, make sure that it is not
too noisy so that everyone can hear what others are saying.
4. Work out how you will choose what to read. Will you take it in turns to
pick? This could work well if people have time to go searching for stories. Will
you work from a book of short stories? Bear in mind with this that some people
will read ahead. You could subscribe to a short story service like espresso
Fiction and receive a new short story every Tuesday which you can discuss. The
benefit of this is that the onus to plan ahead doesnt fall on any one person and saves time.
So youve now got the rules organised, how will you get a discussion going?
The best way to do this is to structure each meeting along similar lines. A
rough outline follows:
. Meet at a set time and allow a few minutes for everyone to catch up with
each other
. Spend 15 minutes reading the story
. When everyone is finished, go around in turn and have each person say what
they liked or disliked about the story
. Run through a standard list of questions:
- Did the opening grab your attention?
- Was the ending satisfying? Did it derive from the story or did it feel too
left field?
- Was it well written?
- How was the pace of the story? Were there any dead spots?
- Was there any padding that didnt contribute to the telling of the story or
development of the characters?
. Finally ask each person to give the story a rating out of ten. One being
terrible and ten being outstanding. You can then add the scores together and
divide by the number of people attending to give an average score.
About the Author Don't waste time hunting for great short stories to read. espresso Fiction can send you a great new story each week by email. For a sample go to Great Short Stories
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