Although Frank O'Connor's short stories have never lacked admirers, his painstaking creative method has received little critical attention. This book is the first full-length study of that arduous process, sometimes lasting for a decade, from a skeletal idea or anecdote through a succession of revisions to wholly realized fiction. It includes much previously unknown and unpublished material, providing new insights into "First Confession," "Judas," "The Genius," "Orpheus and his Lute," "The Little Mother," and other stories. Examining the process reveals much about O'Connor's perception of his craft and the environment from which his art emerged.