Short Story vs. the Novel

[bonsai barry]

The short story is not just a small novel. Structurally, the short story is different, it has few characters, usually no subplots, and explores one central idea.

Can this also be said of shohin bonsai? Are they different than larger trees? Should they express only one idea?

Don't ask what made me think of this, but I've wondered this several times.

 

[jk_lewis]

Pretty good analogy, though I don't know how many subplots you will find in a standard-size bonsai. And as for characters . . . I suppose there's the forest.

I know from having written both that short stories are a heckuva lot harder to do well. I feel the same about small bonsai. It is "relatively" easy to develop an essence of "treeness" in a 2, 3, or 4 foot tree. It is damned hard to do it in a 10, 6, or 3 inch tree.

 

[Smoke]

No difference. Both are equally hard to do. If your tree tells a story on it's own then it probably has something about it that stands out and tells some story. This could be deadwood, a uro, or maybe a large bulge or jin. This does not always mean that the tree with all these "flaws" is better than a tree that is slick.


Untill three years ago I had never seen a tree really "speak" to me untill I became involved with the Kazari (formal display). When a person walks in to that museum and takes a brief stroll around the room, it is easy to pick out the top three. I have been almost three for three all three years. I don't always get the places correct, but I usually pick out the displays that I know are going to move the judges.

I am not so sure these tree would have the same impact if seen stand alone. There is something about the correct use of a companion piece and a scroll that breathes a different life into a tree. Somehow the trees takes on human form and can convey personality not always present when sitting on a bench.

....and as for the personality..... size doesn't matter.
....A most recent trident maple chop.