Steve Hockensmith on short stories

Well, not just short stories. But the author of the upcoming HOLMES ON THE RANGE takes the Q&A bait from Bob Tinsley at The Short of It about writing funny, how different it is to write novels and short stories, and advice to those wanting to break into short fiction markets:

TSOI: What pointers or tricks-of-the-trade would you give someone who wants to write a humorous story?

SH: "Don't try too hard" would be my first bit of advice. You can be funny without being ZANY! or WACKY!. Droll is good. Dry is nice. I wish more people would give wit a try. Then again, this is coming from a guy who recently wrote a KOOKY! story for AHMM about Soviet spies kidnapping Santa Claus, so maybe I'm being a hypocrite. Let's move on.

I would beg anyone who's thinking of writing a hardboiled private eye parody or pastiche to reconsider. Please. Maybe it was still funny the third time they parodied The Maltese Falcon on Your Show of Shows, but ever since then the "Sam Shovel, P.I." shtick has been pretty tired. Then again, this is coming from a guy who recently wrote a hardboiled private eye parody (or, to be more precise, a parody of hardboiled private eye pastiches) for an MWA anthology, so maybe I'm being a hypocrite. Let's move on.

I would advise genre writers shooting for humor not to go for laughs at the expense of the plot or characters. Have a real story to tell -- even if it's damn silly -- and don't fall into the easy trap of making everyone a contemptible clod. Yes, contemptible clods can be funny, but a universe populated with nothing but contemptible clods isn't funny -- it's actually kind of depressing. If you've ever been to West Virginia, you know exactly what I'm talking about. (Just kidding, Mountain State! A big shout out to all my homies back in Matewan, Fraziers Bottom and Droop!) Anyway, as this is advice I think I actually stick to pretty consistently, maybe I ought to stop here.

Excellent advice, and read the rest of the interview as well for even more good stuff.

Comments

[Donna]

Great interview! He's a funny guy that Steve. Even if he does go to bed far too early, the wuss. Looking forward to the book.
Donna

[John Schramm]

Just wait until Chicago, Donna. That's Steve's old stomping ground. Maybe he'll be the one to still be standing, long after Brian falls asleep mid-story.

[Steve Hockensmith]

Y'all can expect me to be twice the wuss I was in Toronto -- I'll have my (by then) 2-year-old daughter with me in Chicago, so I'll have a 7 a.m. wake-up call (or, in her case, cry) each and every morning. So you probably won't find me at the con bar at 2 a.m. I'll have to be back at my hotel room by 7:30 p.m. for the nightly reading of "Good Night, Moon."
-Steve

[David Sundstrand]

Steve,

Somehow or other I lost your e-mail address, but I wanted to write to you to let you know how much I enjoyed ON THE WRONG TRACK, first rate. I sent the following note to my agent:
"I met Steve Hockensmith at M is for Mystery. Good guy and good writer. He's with St. Martins Minotaur and seems quite content. I'm reading ON THE WRONG TRACK, his second book. He's funny, literate, has great characters, has done strong research, etc. He's tapped into a period I was heading for, the west in the latter nineteenth century. He tackled the Southern Pacific and train holdups, and he's got it down. But his real strength is the writing--strong voice, wonderfully literate without beating the reader over the head with it. He's got SHADOW. I sure hope he likes it." That about covers it.

As for the railroad stuff, you did your homework right down to "boomers" and Rule G. I worked with some of the last boomers in the fifties. They were proud of their trade, highflying wanderers that most of us "regulars" admired for their skills, such as setting retainers on the fly and doing the flying switch--both against the rule book but great time savers that made the train crews money and more importantly the RR money without the liability. (Sort of like hiring illegals). They were an independent lot who moved from RR to RR following the crops and cargo, thumbed their noses at authority and tipped their hats (they all wore them--usually scruffy fedoras) when they felt like it. I was always aspiring to be one, but the notion of family was rooted into me, so I couldn't run off to the Boer War like my great uncle Jack--good thing too.

As for Rule G, that was the nickname for the rule against drinking on the job, but more importantly, it was the rule that we enforced on each other. Nothing could get you killed quicker that mixing up drunks, locomotives and moving boxcars. Being a brakeman was a dangerous job. I hired out with the fifteen guys in 1953, and inside of a year, one had lost his legs and one ended up in three pieces. As one old conductor told me, "If one of them wheels goes over you, it passes through you. If they could put you back together, you'd be a couple inches shorter." (I've already used this line. You can't have It.)

So, what's the best thing a writer can say about another guy's book, "I wish I had written it."

Best,

David Sundstrand