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?
My preference is for longer-form fiction. I occasionally write and read stories, but mostly collections or anthologies.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm working on a story that I suspect may be a novella. I'm enjoying the challenge of staying within the requirements of this different format. I'm keeping in mind Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novella "Instead of Evidence" as a guide. It's the first novella I read (in high school) and I still remember it all these many years later!
DeleteI enjoy writing short stories from time to time. It's a great way to test out something new. Heck, Pete Adams and Zoe Chambers started out as a short story because I wanted to see if I could write from a male perspective.
ReplyDeleteOverall, though, I have a harder time writing short. I love my subplots!
Hi Annette - Did writing from Pete's perspective help you write your Detective Honeywell character?
DeleteI love writing short fiction. It's all I do anymore since my time is limited. Often, I have the entire concept down and can write one in a day. Of course, over then next week or so I revise. Writing to the topic of an anthology is always a challenge!
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine - I agree. I know of two upcoming Sisters in Crime anthologies that I'm going to submit stories to - I'm anxiously waiting to learn their themes!
DeleteI love short stories, both reading them and writing them. I usually read one short story every night after I've climbed into bed. Just wrapping up Lee Child's collection, "Safe Enough." A mixed bag--to me it reads like he's experimenting, which is exactly what I like to do when I'm writing short stories.
ReplyDeleteI have fun experimenting with my short stories - especially the use of first person perspective versus the close third person I use in my novels. It's fun to really get into these first person narratives!
DeleteI love both the short and long form of writing (and reading!). For me, sometimes a short story is a burst of energy release to write, especially when my long writing is bogged down.
ReplyDeleteIf I feel like my longer manuscript is getting flattened or stale, I'll dip into a short story to recharge my battery too. There's something about a change of character, perspective, or setting resets my focus. It's a handy tool to use.
DeleteI usually write short stories in response to an anthology call. It's a challenge to create characters that "fit" a mandated setting or plot. And I batch-write them in January and June, short and tight, before returning to the expansiveness of a full book. I discovered this year that novellas (15,000 words) are the perfect fit for plots that are too long for a conventional short story (less than 7500 words) and too short for a book.
ReplyDelete