Writing a Linked Short Story Collection

The linked story collection is a strange animal: each story should be able to stand on its own, but the collection speaks louder when read back-to-front. The structure is more flexible than a novel, and the writer can leave more room for the reader to fill in mysteries and gaps. Linked story collections allow the writer to endlessly circle around her own obsessions in new fresh ways, whether that obsession is a theme, a character, or a place. We’ll talk about the origins of the linked collection, and we’ll discuss where it has headed since. We will look at examples from Jennifer Egan, Edwidge Danticat, Nami Mun, and Jaime Quatro. We will work on creating two more stories to link with your first completed story, and there will be a short workshop at the end of the week. Please bring one already-finished story to class, as well as a laptop or a notebook.

To learn more about instructor Annie Hartnett and her teaching style, check out the short podcast with her in our GrubStreet Instructor Interview series: