Over at Jason Sanford's blog he poses the question "How Long to Write that Short Story?" http://www.jasonsanford.com/jason/2009/12/how-long-to-write-that-short-story.html There's a lot of interesting discussion in the comments.
For me, it depends on the story. Some flash pieces just fly on the page in a matter of minutes, then it usually takes about an hour for polishing. Of course, there is also the flash piece that blossoms into a full-fledged short story after spending three or four hours thinking of the places that story could go. Which poses another question. Do we count the time the story spends in our head both before and after the words hit the page? Or the time the story spends resting so we can look at with fresh eyes to find its faults?
I believe that each writer has their own method of writing and each story requires different things from us. On his blog, Michael Bracken has written about writing a 5000 word story in an afternoon, but sometimes the first idea or paragraph came months before. Another writer, I can't remember who at the moment, said that he never spent less than a year on a short story. Both of which astonished me in different ways. Michael because he has the confidence to sub that story the next morning and the other writer because I'd be bored to tears plugging away at a story for that length of time.
There seems to be no perfect method for writing. As writers we just have to go with the story as it presents itself to our imaginations. Some stories come in full-blown and there's no hesitation in getting it down. Other stories come in dribs and drabs that drive us crazy. All we writers can do is keep on writing until that story is satisfied and then move on to the next one whispering in our ear.
8 comments:
The confidence to submit a story within a few hours of completing it comes from 35+ years of writing professionally and from a strong knowledge of the market requirements in a few genres. I certainly can't do that, and don't have the confidence to do that, with every story.
Other writers' processes fascinate me, mostly because I don't know anyone who writes the way I write.
Isn't funny how we wonder so much how the other guy writes? I love reading articles about a writer's process - sometimes I learn something new and other times I just go, 'yeah, me too!'.
We all write, edit and polish but the different ways we go about it are astonishing.
For me, it depends on the story, really. Some shorter pieces come out whole. Some longer pieces trip over themselves as they, too, try to come out whole. It depends on how well the story comes together.
I usually only spend a couple weeks on a story trying to get get it right. I hate leaving a problem unsolved, so I'll push and puzzle and rewrite 27 times until it works. Every once in a while, I have to declare a story unsalvageable, and ship it off to another folder in defeat.
For me, length is not really a factor in the time it takes. It's how the story unfolds during the writing process. Some stories are easy. Some make me glad I have a whole lot of hair so when I'm done tearing clumps out, I'm not bald.
I must spend at least a dozen or more hours on even the shortest piece. Some of the longer ones have taken a month. I am obsessed with every word being the only word that will do. Probably allowing myself to fly a little would be a good idea.
Most of the flash stuff I wrote last year took me anywhere from two-three hours up to about four days to write.
For my longer stories, the gestation period ranged from a low of four days (Halloween weekend) to a high of two and a half weeks.
My super long ones (40+) took about one to two months. One story took me about a year and a half to write, simply because I got stuck and put it on a shelf for several months.
My current story I started around July and I'm hoping to finish sometime in January.
It really does boil down to how much it really moves me and how much that movement stays with me. If it stays with me, I work on it until I get it done. If it stops for just a brief visit, then I'm pretty much up a river without a paddle.
I have a folder full of those stories that just don't jell, Clair. But every once in a while a submission call with just the right theme will come along and I'll pull that story and go in an entirely different direction with it.
I always let the first drafts fly, Patti. After I get it all down, then I go back and pick the best words, delete what doesn't make sense, and on occassion take the story in an entirely different direction. I just need that base to build on no matter how bad it is.
I know just how you feel, G. I've spent a few hours starting stories, then have no clue where to go with them. Sometimes, putting those beginnings in a drawer frees my brain to mull over the story without the pressure of having to get it done just because I started it. The best stories to write though, are the ones that grab hold and don't let go until you get it all down.
I only write for my own amusement so I don't really polish. Don't really understand the concept. The way I look at it, I put the right word down at the time. I don't always put the first word that enters my head down - there is a process going on - but once it's down I usually only edit for grammar.
I'm jealous of someone who can leave a story for a year or more, picking at it until it's ready. If I can't finish a story in a day I lose interest rapidly. I wouldn't go back to an unfinished story to try to complete it, I'd just re-write it from scratch.
I admire a writer who can get the right word first time out, Anton. I usually use six or eight words to describe something in a first draft, then go back through and find the perfect one or two words that say the same thing. Every writer has a different process that works for them. It's what makes each writer unique. If we all wrote the same it would be a very boring reading world.
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