Oh, dear God, duck, she's thinking again! Over at the Do Some Damage blog there's a pair of post about short stories. Joelle Charbonneau is new to writing shorts and had some questions and the responses were interesting. http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/02/long-and-short-of-it_28.html Then, today, John McFetridge has a post about the possible future of shorts and how they might change. http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2010/03/short-and-curlies.html
Any of you who have been around the blog for a while know that I love shorts. That's what I write, along with a bit of slice of life non-fiction. I'm not a novelist and several failed attempts are proof of that. All my novel ideas turn into short stories and that's fine with me because, like I've said before, I love shorts.
And by now, you're probably wondering why. Well, I'll tell you. There's a freedom in writing short stories that doesn't exist in other writing. You can pull any idea out of the air and simply run with it. You don't have to worry if it will please your agent or publisher or if the idea will even sell. You only have to please your own imagination.
Shorts give you the freedom to explore genres, create characters that book readers would hate, and dive deeper into the human mind than most readers and writers care to go. You won't always find a market for these stories, but just being able to write them helps you grow as a writer, to gain confidence in your writing and to explore ideas that most writers would shun.
How do you learn to write shorts? Just sit down and hit the keyboard. Find the central idea and stick with it, don't wander down paths that have nothing to do with the idea. And yes, you'll trip and fall off the path, but that's what rewriting and editing is for. You'll find characters that don't serve a purpose, a stray thread that you can pull out without unraveling the whole story and strings of words that can be replaced by just one or two, even whole paragraphs that can be dumped.
And study. Not just books on writing, but short stories themselves. Over on the left you'll find links to all kinds of zines, take some time to read them, study what other writers are writing, and don't limit yourself to just one genre. Read the lit stories, the sci-fi and fantasy, the horror stories. Each genre can teach you something different, something that can take your voice in directions you've never thought of before. Above all, enjoy the ride.
In the links sections to the left, you'll also find other short story writers like Michael Bracken, Bev Vincent and Jason Sanford. These gentlemen are pros who know how to write and sell short stories, you'll find all kinds of good advice on their sites. There's links over there to some of the classic stories so you can see how it used to be done. Knowing what came before can help you see where to go that will be both unique and building on what's been done before. Pick up old anthologies at the used book stores, some of those writers will blow your mind with the stories they've written. Keep learning and don't be afraid to experiment. Be fearless.
Now that I've bored you to tears, I'll leave you with a link. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/03/archetype-vs-cliche.html There's some excellent advice here about avoiding the standard plots and characters that live in genre, hell, in any type of story.
9 comments:
I've always enjoyed short stories immensely and love to write them. I've found though in the last few years that novels really have a place in my heart too. I guess I just love writing in all it's forms.
My first love also.
What I like about writing them most is you never get tired of the characters or their situation. There's always some people waiting for you. Like now-there's the woman who gets tired of being the other woman after 12 years.
I love all the forms, too, Charles. I think writers can do it all, but there's always one form that they shine in.
Exactly, Patti! They give you so much room to explore. Occassionally, I get attached to characters and take them into other stories as well.
Wow! I've never done that. Thanks for the idea.
I tried my hand last year at writing short stories, and even though it was mostly a miss with the occasional hit, I did wind up with a better appreciation of writers like yourself who can do the medium justice.
I still perfer the medium to longer stories (10K and beyond), but at least I have something to practice some discipline with.
It's fun starting a new story with characters you already know, Patti! When I first started writing I found it easier to write for characters I knew then to create a new one.
Short stories and especially flash are great exercises in discipline for beginners. Many markets have a top word count and if you've honed your skills well enough, you can capture your story within the word count. Saves a whole lot of chopping out. ;-)
I love the idea of creating characters in shorts and then using them again. I also like when existing characters in favorite books are given a chance to have their own POV in a short. I am looking forward to learning from all of you more seasoned short fiction writers about the genre.
Welcome to The Corner, Joelle!! You'll find that most of us around here are still learning the ins and outs of short story writing, so you never know what you'll find here but its always fun!
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