Long/short
I have a confession--I'm really not very good at short stories.
I've gotten better than I was when I had to write them for college classes. Those were dreadful. I've just never taken naturally to short form. Which is why I eschew the advice that "You Must!" (oh, we hate "you must" here at Headquarters) "You must start out writing short stories before you attempt a novel/novella/novelette/epistle/whatever." You start with what you start with--what's comfortable. The reason I didn't finish my first novel wasn't because I didn't have a grounding in short fiction. The reason I didn't finish was because it sucked beyond belief and I got bored with my paper characters and predictable plot.
The first short story I ever really liked that came out of my own brain was "Born Under a Bad Sign". Yes, that one, the one I finished this February. The Black London stuff I've written is also pretty good, but I look at that more as "extras" to the novels rather than standalone work. There are a couple of shorts floating around out there, though, that are just dreadful. I own that. Beginner's errors, just like first novel mistakes, will inevitably creep out.
Make no mistake--long and short form are an entirely different skillset. I wish I had some relevatory anecdote about how I learned to write shorts, but I think it boils down to one point: I learned to relax. I realized that I'm still learning. (I'm still learning novels, too, but I have leveled up sufficiently that most of my learning is no longer leaking into the finished drafts.) I can't tell you how to write better short stories. I can just tell you to relax and try to have a little fun with them. They're a much more experimental form than novels. Play, fiddle, fail, try again and try something you normally wouldn't.
On that note, here's some short story progress from yours truly.
---
Project: Bone Gods (Black London #3)
Deadline: April 15th, give or take
New words: 788
Project: "Behind the Red Door"
Deadline: March 15
New words: 1,621
Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.com.
I've gotten better than I was when I had to write them for college classes. Those were dreadful. I've just never taken naturally to short form. Which is why I eschew the advice that "You Must!" (oh, we hate "you must" here at Headquarters) "You must start out writing short stories before you attempt a novel/novella/novelette/epistle/whatever." You start with what you start with--what's comfortable. The reason I didn't finish my first novel wasn't because I didn't have a grounding in short fiction. The reason I didn't finish was because it sucked beyond belief and I got bored with my paper characters and predictable plot.
The first short story I ever really liked that came out of my own brain was "Born Under a Bad Sign". Yes, that one, the one I finished this February. The Black London stuff I've written is also pretty good, but I look at that more as "extras" to the novels rather than standalone work. There are a couple of shorts floating around out there, though, that are just dreadful. I own that. Beginner's errors, just like first novel mistakes, will inevitably creep out.
Make no mistake--long and short form are an entirely different skillset. I wish I had some relevatory anecdote about how I learned to write shorts, but I think it boils down to one point: I learned to relax. I realized that I'm still learning. (I'm still learning novels, too, but I have leveled up sufficiently that most of my learning is no longer leaking into the finished drafts.) I can't tell you how to write better short stories. I can just tell you to relax and try to have a little fun with them. They're a much more experimental form than novels. Play, fiddle, fail, try again and try something you normally wouldn't.
On that note, here's some short story progress from yours truly.
---
Project: Bone Gods (Black London #3)
Deadline: April 15th, give or take
New words: 788
Project: "Behind the Red Door"
Deadline: March 15
New words: 1,621
Originally published at Caitlin Kittredge.com.