The Long And The Short Of It...

Writer Liz Kershaw shares how she approached her story Intersection which was included in the Night Time Economy anthology published by Floodgate Press in September 2024.

I started with the brief. My view is that a decent brief is a gift to a short story writer. Real creative magic happens when the wide open spaces of possibility are narrowed to three words, say, or a themed story prompt, or in this case, a specific time and place: the night time hours and the English West Midlands. The publishers, Floodgate Press, have a mission to raise the profile of West Midlands Writers and writing about the area generally so a clear and constant West Midlands setting was a must from the start. They were also unambiguous about the time of the action. The anthology was to be on the theme of ‘Night Time Economy’ so again, to follow the brief successfully, all the action of the story needed to be within the night time frame.

So, I had been given Time and Place. All I needed to proceed was a set of characters to populate the place and do something within the time. The element of ‘night’ created the opportunity of tapping into readers’ preconceptions about the dark hours in an urban setting. People intent on evil, people outside of society, people who might become victims or people lost in the shadows. So many sparks to set the theme alight.

I knew I wanted a hard-edge to my story, and I knew that I wanted to explore as many aspects of Birmingham at night as might be possible within the constraints of a maximum 5,000 words rather than concentrate on a single character or situation. Either approach would have been fine, but I wanted a broad brush for this story. I played around with a few ideas. Who might be working at night? (Taxi drivers; bar staff; paramedics; police). Who might be engaged in criminal activity at night? (Drug dealers, people driving recklessly after taking drugs or drinking). Who might be in personal crisis? (A mother escaping domestic violence). What might be the backstory of the characters and how might it be relevant?

These questions led to choices which resulted in four narrative strands. A woman leaving an abusive marriage who is picked up by an Uber driver (who had come to this country as a refugee). Two paramedics (who are partners in life) on a routine night shift. A customer in a night club and his interactions with the female bar tender, and a drug dealer. Two police officers on the trail of a network of drug dealers. Unconnected at the start of the story, all the narrative strands grow closer until they intersect at the climax of the story. This was my intention from the start, and I had the title Intersection before I started writing.

Within these narrative strands, the course of the action is determined by the personalities and the motivations of the characters. For example, the essential kindness and empathy of the woman escaping her husband leads her to treat the Uber driver decently, to show interest in him – which leads to him offering to drive her to Manchester, and puts them on the M6 at the point of intersection with the other character groups.

The style/voice of the story arose from the brief too – or at least, from the ‘feel’ of the brief. Floodgate made it clear that writers could set their stories in rural locations as well as urban (as long as they stayed within the West Midlands generally). I live in the rural West Midlands, but chose to set my story in Birmingham and its surroundings as the possibilities for interesting night activities were far greater and gave me more scope. This led on naturally to a grittier, more urban tone.

I made sure I was aware of the word count as the story progressed and had a handle on the structure throughout. The first version of the story ended up around 4,300 words. With edits, some self-edits and some suggested by the publisher when I reached the consideration stage, I reduced it to nearer 3,000. By this point, my story was on the final stretch for inclusion in the anthology, but taking the advice and suggestions from the publishers was key to its eventual success. All the proposed amendments were constructive and relevant, and an extra eye or two on the mechanics of the writing revealed some inconsistencies and elements that were clunky, or didn’t really make sense.

As a summary, I would advise anyone submitting to a competition or an anthology to look carefully at the brief and use it to guide you as much as possible, to have an eye to structure as you go along to avoid massive cuts or restructuring afterwards, and to avoid being precious about your writing. An editor has a clear, unemotional eye and will usually be right.

Liz Kershaw is an prize-winning writer of short fiction. Publications include short stories and a novella (Mantle Lane Press), the Historical Writers’ Association short story anthologies, and Our Man in the Moone (prose, drama and animation). She is a member of Writing West Midlands and Tindal Street Fiction Group.

www.lizkershaw.co.uk