Short Stories: The Writing Process In Miniature
August 9th 2007 00:50
No matter what you might think, the differences between short story and novel writing are actually very few. The biggest difference is length.
Often times, a writer will use an outline for a longer work, but not for a shorter work. The writer will generally have an idea or concept for a shorter work versus a well laid out plan for a longer work.
You may have to do research no matter which genre you're taking on. You may also wish to do some prewriting. But for an organic writer like me, myself, and I, you probably want to keep it to a minimum level. Let the story flow. That sort of thing.
Once the prewriting is done, you have to sit down and actually write the work. Depending on venue and genre, the short story length varies. Most of the time you want to keep your short stories under or around three thousand words for marketability. When you're writing, keep your prose focused and your ultra descriptive writing to a minimum.
When you're writing a short story, there's no such thing as padding. Often, a short story doesn't quite allow for the complexity a novel might have due to its length. Short stories can be just as powerful and just as fun to read, however.
The beginning has to have that perfect line. You're not keeping the reader around for ages, but a novel has a little more time to draw a reader in-say, a paragraph, maybe even a page. A short story has a sentence. Your sentence should draw a reader in. It should lead right into the action with a short story. No time for setting the scene.
The middle has to keep a reader in. Varying sentence structure, decent emotion and action, and some depth to the characters needs to be established in a few short pages. Your mission with the middle is to entertain.
The ending's job is to pack a punch, leaving the writer satisfied. The best short stories will leave me unable to move for a minute. Their endings leave an imprint in the person's mind, make the person think. And then, when the reader sees your name in the future, they remember. Or when they hear about your story.
A short story should be something memorable. Something that impacts a reader in so little time. It's an impressive feat. It's not easy. But when it's well done, I'd pay fifty bucks for it easy.
Often times, a writer will use an outline for a longer work, but not for a shorter work. The writer will generally have an idea or concept for a shorter work versus a well laid out plan for a longer work.
You may have to do research no matter which genre you're taking on. You may also wish to do some prewriting. But for an organic writer like me, myself, and I, you probably want to keep it to a minimum level. Let the story flow. That sort of thing.
Once the prewriting is done, you have to sit down and actually write the work. Depending on venue and genre, the short story length varies. Most of the time you want to keep your short stories under or around three thousand words for marketability. When you're writing, keep your prose focused and your ultra descriptive writing to a minimum.
When you're writing a short story, there's no such thing as padding. Often, a short story doesn't quite allow for the complexity a novel might have due to its length. Short stories can be just as powerful and just as fun to read, however.
The beginning has to have that perfect line. You're not keeping the reader around for ages, but a novel has a little more time to draw a reader in-say, a paragraph, maybe even a page. A short story has a sentence. Your sentence should draw a reader in. It should lead right into the action with a short story. No time for setting the scene.
The middle has to keep a reader in. Varying sentence structure, decent emotion and action, and some depth to the characters needs to be established in a few short pages. Your mission with the middle is to entertain.
The ending's job is to pack a punch, leaving the writer satisfied. The best short stories will leave me unable to move for a minute. Their endings leave an imprint in the person's mind, make the person think. And then, when the reader sees your name in the future, they remember. Or when they hear about your story.
A short story should be something memorable. Something that impacts a reader in so little time. It's an impressive feat. It's not easy. But when it's well done, I'd pay fifty bucks for it easy.
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