Does writing short stories make you feel a little bit something like this?
Image by Min Maw Khant from Pixabay
Or does writing short stories make you feel more like this?
Are you the kind of author who excels at keeping your stories as tight and compelling as a pair of Speedos on an Olympic swimmer? Or are you more the sort of author who stuffs every idea they imagine along the way into their pocketses, until their trousers have bloomed into a new ecosystem? Every idea is this kind of writer's Precious, and they will bite, fight, and gut like a fish anyone who suggests maybe leaving a few preciouses behind for another day.
I'm the second kind of writer.
I've had several stories, varying in length from true short stories to short novellas, published in anthologies over the past several years. I consider these stories to be triumphs, and I love each of them. However, I can't deny that despite providing a compelling read, these tales of wonder and imagination have their problems.
I began speaking in Gollum in the first paragraph because nearly all of my short stories try to turn into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I start with a couple of compelling characters and end up trying to include the entire cast of extras. There is an allure to delving deep into intricate plots and expansive world-building, which causes writers like me to lose sight of the powerful impact a well-crafted short story can deliver.
Including an excess of details and characters makes a short story bloated, rushed, and difficult to follow. It's like stuffing the ingredients for a footlong submarine sandwich between two slices of the cheapest grocery store brand bread. The story falls apart because too many items were crammed into too small a package.
I participated in a short story challenge last month, and I really struggled with it. I sidelined four ideas and was down to my last try before giving up. The following advice from a writer friend, Marie Tuhart, helped me to triumph with my final piece. Marie writes very effective steamy and erotic fiction. You can find her books on her website.
Marie gave me the only suggestion that has ever helped me rein in my tendency to cry out dramatically: "Yes, but I MUST include all the hobbits in the Shire, all the people in Laketown, every dweller in Mirkwood, all the dwarves and elves, Smaug, Shelob, Sauron, and Saruman, too! And don't you dare expect me to forget Gandalf! I would never!"
I'm passing this nifty little trick on to anyone else who struggles to keep their short stories from morphing into 500,000-word epics packed into a 5,000-word package.
Hone in on no more than two or three characters. Other characters may appear in passing, but you shouldn't focus on them. Confine the events in the story to 24-48 hours, not a week, a month, or a year. Any flashbacks supporting the plot should be kept brief.
Keeping this advice in mind, I completed the challenge with a story that was just shy of 2000 words. I don't know if it will be one of the winners, but I don't really care. I'm just proud that I got 'er done.
Happy writing!
I am the deranged brains behind Naughty Netherworld Press. I write cheeky erotic novelettes as Lil DeVille and horror, literary fiction, Lovecraftian fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, and sweet romance as C. L. Hart.
2 comments:
Great post, Cara.
I've had to write short fiction for various publishers. It's murder to get everything in when you don't have the word count to explore motivations, details, etc... just as you said.
But it is good practice. :)
Thank you, Tina.
Unlike trying to talk to me, where I come off as either having something to hide or just being a socially awkward mess (I'm the second one) with my brief, unrevealing answers, make the mistake of giving me a word processing program and a keyboard, and I'll blather on nonstop! Being able to rein it in is a good skill, although sometimes I get accused of being too concise and being technically proficient but lacking emotion in my writing. It's hard to find a middle ground.
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