The short story is usually driven by a single main character. So it’s important for that character to be potent enough to hold up under such weight. How do published authors, like Lavie Tidhar, approach this challenge?
“Names are actually incredibly, incredibly important. It’s something not enough people pay attention to. Names tell you pretty much everything about a person. It tells you where they’re from, what culture they’re from, what period of time they’re from,” says award-winning author Lavie Tidhar in this excerpt from his workshop on writing the Science Fiction short story.
Lavie Tidhar is author of numerous novels such as Osama, A Man Lies Dreaming, Central Station, Neom, and Maror. His awards include the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Awards, theJohn W. Campbell Award, the Neukom Prize and the Jerwood Prize, and he has been shortlisted for the Clarke Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. A prolific author of short stories, he has published more than two hundred, everywhere from Tor.com (where he created the popular Judge Dee series of vampire mysteries) to Analog, Asimov’s, Clarkesworld and Apex. As editor, he created the five-volume Apex Book of World SF series and edited the three volumes of The Best of World SF. Currently an honorary visiting professor and writer in residence at the American International University in London, he has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses on fantasy fiction and creative writing.
