01 September 2020

The appeal of epistolary stories


I have a new short story published this month: "Dear Emily Etiquette" in the September/October issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. It's a story told in a series of letters between an increasingly annoyed woman who's invited to her cousin's wedding--but only if she brings a date--and advice columnist Emily Etiquette. This was my first attempt at writing an epistolary story, and I really enjoyed it. I thought I would talk about why.

First it was nice to work with an unusual structure, at least for me. Every letter was akin to a scene, and time could easily pass between each one. A letter was only written when something aggravated the woman enough to put pen to paper, and then Emily Etiquette sent a reply. That resulted in every scene not only moving the plot forward (as they should) but doing so in an interesting and fun way.

It was also fun to tweak a stereotype. Etiquette columnists have a reputation for doing things in a proper manner. Some might even call them prissy. Well, not my Emily Etiquette. Although she gives advice about what she thinks the letter writer (and others) should do in particular situations, she's not above getting a little down and dirty in her comments and her suggestions--they might even seem a bit naughty to people who are willing to read between the lines.

Writing a story in letters also allowed me to make use of an unreliable narrator, not because my letter writers lied, but because the reader only saw the things that were written in the letters. Usually in fiction you'll see a lot of the point-of-view character's thoughts, but with a story told via letters it's not cheating to leave out some thoughts since letter writers are not expected to share all their thoughts. And things that aren't mentioned--at least at first--can end up being important. So epistolary stories are perfect for lies of omission. They allow the POV character to surprise the reader with plot twists.

The final and perhaps most important reason writing a story in letters appealed to me was because I thought readers would be particularly enticed to read those letters. Why? Because it feels wrong. Even though it's fiction and the reader knows the story was designed to be read, there's still a voyeuristic aspect to reading fictional letters. It's like peeking at your older sister's diary (not that I ever did that). You get to learn someone's thoughts and all their dirty little secrets. While this happens with fiction in general, when a story is structured as letters between two people, and you're not one of them, it feels sneaky to read them, as if you might get caught at any moment, and that can be tantalizing--at least for some people (am I revealing too much?).

Here's the wonderful drawing created by Jason C. Eckhardt that accompanies 
my story in the magazine and in the preview on the EQMM website.

Have you ever written or read epistolary stories or books? What did you like best about them?

If you'd like to read an excerpt of my story, you're in luck. Ellery Queen has put one up on their website. You can read it by clicking here. And if you enjoy it, I hope you'll pick up a copy of this issue. EQMM can be found in bookstores (brick-and-mortar ones as well as online) and at newsstands. You can subscribe or buy individual issues in print or electronic copy. Learn more from the publisher here. And since I have a friend who had trouble finding the issue on Amazon, here's that link too.

22 comments:

  1. I like Emily Etiquette's style and yours, too.

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  2. Congratulations on your story, Barb. I look forward to reading it. And I agree with Janice, I like Emily's style of etiquette too.

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  3. Hey Barb--Congratulations on this latest story! Looking forward to seeing it.

    I've written only two stories told via letters only. One wound up in a magazine a long time ago, the other in a recent anthology. Both, as you said, were a lot of fun to write.

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  4. I love epistolary stories--mainly for what is 'not' being said between the characters. I wrote one short mystery with a series of emails, which was a lot of fun-if a little challenging. Thanks for the link!

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    1. I've read your story (as you know). It's good!

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  5. You must have had a ball writing this story. I love the different tones and the sly humor.
    Sharon Addy

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad you liked it!

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  6. I'm looking forward to reading this story! Is it a historical story or does it take place in recent times? I notice that the gossip columnist Carolyn Hax, whose column appears in the Washington Post & elsewhere, is nowhere near as stuffy as Ann Landers & Dear Abby were. The Wash. Post also features Miss Manners, for another point of view ;-)

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth. I hope you enjoy the story. It's a contemporary one. (And I like Hax's column too.)

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  7. I've read the excerpt, very intriguing (I think I've known people like her cousin). Can't wait to read the entire story.

    And thanks for teaching me a new word: epistolary.

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    1. You're welcome, Cathy. And I hope you enjoy the story!

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  8. I'm looking forward to reading this story. The epistolary story structure is very demanding, but you described it well. You've inspired me to give it a try.

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    1. Good luck, Susan! And I hope you enjoy the story.

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  9. I look forward to reading it, Barb, as soon as my issue hits the mailbox. It's the one periodical that I get in print rather than digital form. As for epistolaries, I have an incomplete one in my short story folder. It's between two priests who studied together in seminary. One now practices in an affluent, northeast community while the other in a remote portion of Appalachia. I think it's near time to bring it out and do some more work on it.

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    1. Go forth and conquer, Claire! And I hope you like the story.

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  10. I've done one story as letters and one as phone messages - the last one was very interesting to write, and I should give it another look at. Congrats!

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    1. Phone messages? That is intriguing. (And thanks!)

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  11. Looking forward to reading this story!

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