I’ve been writing short
stories, which is a completely different experience for me. I’ve done flash
fiction for years as a kind of daily warm-up for my novels, so you’d think
upping the word count wouldn’t be that much of a difference, but it really is.
With my novels I spend a great deal of time and effort on character
development. I do personality studies, have pictures painted, go overboard,
really. But I have to; I need them to be real to me so they will be real for my
readers. Now for my flash fiction, I don’t do any of that. I just sit and write
for a few minutes whatever pops in my head. Short stories should fall somewhere
in the middle, right? But they don’t. I can’t justify the months I usually
spend on getting to know a character whose story will be told in thirty pages
or less. At the same time, though, it feels like I should do more than just sit
and write. It’s a conundrum. How about
all of you—do you spend the same time prepping for short stories as you do your
longer works?
Actually, no. I've discovered I can outline and plan a short story in just a few days while a novel will take months to plan. Maybe I should write more short stories?
ReplyDeleteYou can do it, little camper!
I'm the same way, Melanie. I studied a man who takes the bus with me for months once, before writing just 2,000 words about him. I feel you!
ReplyDeleteI recently was asked to contribute to a flash fiction blog, the length being anything up to 2000 words. It's been a blast and surprisingly, just the challenge of it has increased my short story telling. (Because I used to SUCK at it, big time.) There's definitely an art to a short story, and I think the key is getting to the point where it's an intuitive feel. Some of those stories do have a longer life and can be written out further at a later date. The key is knowing where to curtail them.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're writing a short story for IWSG anthology. I haven't written a short story for a while. I always seem to have another project going on.
ReplyDeleteIt used to take me a long time to do short stories, but these days, I've gotten better. It's taken years of practice and great tips from my local writing group.
ReplyDeleteI need to really see and understand the characters for all my work but it does not take me very long to flesh them out so I do the same amount of work no matter the story length.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard for me to write short stories; in fact, a manuscript for a novel I wrote was originally supposed to be a short story, but I liked the characters so much that I kept writing. I think it's okay to take your time writing short stories, because then you can feel like you've fully said what you want to say about the characters.
ReplyDelete