Finding Freedom (and Creative Fun) in Writing Short Stories by Martha Reed

I've  always loved writing and reading shorter fiction. Short stories, especially crime fiction or mystery stories seem to be like perfectly shaped and polished little pearls – inciting incident, characterizations, a splash of common humanity, dry wit or humor, and a surprising twist or two all encapsulated within 5,000 words or less. Brevity is their perfection.

I’ve long admired writers who could successfully pull it off. Writers like Charlotte Perkins Gilman with the horror classic “The Yellow Wallpaper,” or Shirley Jackson’s immortal and unforgettable “The Lottery.” These two writers have gifted readers with a short story they will remember reading for the rest of their lives.

In case you’re curious, here are the links:

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1952/1952-h/1952-h.htm

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”: https://fullreads.com/literature/the-lottery/

Historically, there were three main types of short fiction: Flash Fiction (999 words or less), Short Story (1,000 to 7,499 words), and Novella or Novelette (7,500 to 19,999 words). Recently, we’ve been seeing newer subcategories: Short Shorts or Sudden Fiction (Flash Fiction more than 500 words), MicroFiction (300 to 400 words or less), Postcard Fiction (250 words or less than can fit on a blank postcard), and even Drabble (exactly 100 words not including the title.)

Short fiction is alive and well. What fun!

I’m delighted to see shorter fiction rising in popularity, but I do need to wonder: Why is this? Is it because of the increasing number of distractions available to us through our multiple screens, or our modern-day and reduced attention span? Is approximately twenty minutes of uninterrupted and focused attention the best we can hope for from our readers? Is it because we’ve come to demand instant gratification and access with the simple click of a link like those shown above before we jump to the next topic and lose interest? Did my mentioning the links above interrupt your thoughts and distract you from finishing this blog?

In any case, I’ll take it as it comes because I still love writing shorter fiction. During the long 85,000 word slog of writing a full novel, occasionally playing hooky and dipping into drafting or polishing a short story refills my creative story well and keeps me in balance. It’s like taking a break and strolling into a fun cocktail party and suddenly meeting an entirely new cast of characters with fresh insights, backstories, hidden intrigues, and sparkling conversations. It’s the very welcome pause that refreshes.

True confession: some of my unpublished short stories are decades old. I can always tell that by the address I’ve used in my contact information in the header. Sometimes that detail comes as a surprise: Really? I noodled around with this story idea sixteen years ago? But yes, what may have started out as a backstory writing exercise or an interesting new character developmental outline simply fizzled out. But being a writer, I have learned never to throw anything away. I simply drop these story fragments into an archive folder. Then, when I see an interesting or unusual call for an anthology or a writing contest, I reopen my archive and give it a stir, thinking: Anything in here that I can use? True, about half the time I do need to start completely from scratch due to the theme, topic, or eligibility requirements, but that’s all part of the creative writing life and game, and that’s okay too.

What are your thoughts on writing shorter fiction? And do you read it?