Sometimes opportunity knocks when you least expect it. I had this happen to me recently in the form of a request for a possible novel submission. Yeah, cool, but I write short stories. Well, do you have a short story that could be a novel? Of course, they could all be novels.
What I forgot in my pursuit of chasing opportunity was that not all shorts can be novels, they are, after all, short stories and padding them out from the 2,000 to 5,000 word range to 100,000 is not always feasible. I also forgot that exploring the possibilities of a story is the fun part of the process and immediately set out to pad a short story into something marketable. Uh-huh, reaching for the dollars has never, ever worked for me. Writing for dollars always takes the focus off the story for me, and what I wound up writing and submitting was utter trash. Now, the door wasn't slammed in my face, but damn close. So I went back to work on the story I'd proposed.
While I pounded away at turning the beginnings I had into the possibility of dollar bills filling my pockets, I stumbled across this essay by Matt Mikalatos called "Embracing Your Inner Weird" http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/10/guest-blogger-matt-mikalatos.html and I was stopped dead in my tracks.
I realized I wasn't having fun, that I was trying too hard to turn the story into something that it wasn't because I thought that was what I should do. So, I freed my "weird" dumped most of what I'd written and started over again. Will it work? I have absolutely no idea, but I'm having fun again. I'm actually enjoying the work, the words I'm writing and the story that's unfolding on the page. Will it be a novel? I don't know, but if not, it'll be damn sweet short story.
At the end of the day, the writing should be about the story. Sometimes it only needs a thousand words to be complete and other times 150 pages. A story is what it is, a living breathing collection of words that speaks to your readers.
Will I be sorry if the opportunity slips away? Probably. But maybe this opportunity was only meant to be a wake-up call, a chance to see where a story can go if I allow myself to chase the unexpected threads of a story instead of the path that's already been worn down by the writers who have gone before me.
8 comments:
As hard as i try to write novels, I don't really enjoy it. Did you see Keith's interview with James Sallis where he said it was his favorite form?
I saw Keith's interview but the sound wasn't working for me, I'll have to try again.
I think my problem with novels is that I think from point to point and adding a bunch of side stories to pad out a novel drives me crazy. And the longer I try to make a story the more convoluted and off-track it becomes.
Ever thought of taking some of your short stories, lengthing them and tying them together with an overall theme, in order to make a novel?
I've thought of it, G, but nobody seems much interested in publishing something like that. I have taken characters I really enjoy writing and writen linked stories for myself and I've even been lucky enough to have some of them published online.
I think the industry has pretty much convinced itself that short stories don't sell and they're not about to change their mind any time soon.
Sandra,
My guess is you'll be receiving more than a few opportunities like the one you mentioned in the future. And novel writing should be something that you come to naturally as opposed to it being something you force yourself to do. I'm with you on the money aspect of writing, it seems whenever I chase a dollar I tend to freeze up and write like shit. This thing we do should be fun and not something that causes you undo stress. Now as far as short story collections are concerned; the New York publishers may not be interested in publishing single author collections, but this doesn't mean that a small press out of Colorado or Washington or California just might be willing to publish a single author collection, and when it comes right down to it, does it really matter who publishes you as long as you're happy with the final product?
That's exactly it, Keith! I freeze up when I write for a paying market. If I just write the story without any expectations it tends to flow without a hitch.
As for short story collections, unless you're a "big" name the big publishing companies won't touch it, so most collections do come from the small press community. And they've been putting out some great collections.
Sandra--
I'm glad my article was helpful and that you're having fun writing again! I'm sure that when you get the right story you'll be able to turn it into a novel without any "padding." I started with short stories, too, and wasn't sure how to fill a book. But then, on the first novel I actually sold the publishers had me cut about 10k words from my book, which took some nail biting, but it ended up way, way better. And if publishers are already asking to take a look, you're well on the way... keep it up and a book deal is in your inevitable future, so don't stress about it, just write what you like. I look forward to seeing your book on the shelves!
Matt
Welcome to The Corner, Matt! And thank you for the kind words. Your essay was just what I needed so I was glad I happened to find it. As for a book, if it happens, it happens.
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