“I can’t write a short story. I try and it turns into a novel.”
Okay. On the one hand, I understand. The first thing I wrote in English was forty thousand words, and it was basically an outline. When unpacked it became 120k words.
But you see, I had no idea how I broke in. And in the mid 80s, what I could find available on library shelves told me the way to break in was to submit to magazines and get a following and the eye of editors that way, and then eventually someone would pluck my novels from the slush pile.
Children, let this be a lesson to you. Always check the copyright date of books.
Why? Well, because the most recent of these books was 20 years old. By the mid 80s trying to break into print via short stories was stupid. By the mid to late nineties, when I was actually writing a short story a week and sending it out (I still wrote EIGHT novels first.) there were more publishing slots for novels than for short stories. I know. We proved it on a late night boozy chat, my then friends and I (all newly published) at World Fantasy. We did the math.
But now that’s not true. I’ve seen the old ways come back. Places like CKP and Raconteur press and a dozen other little outfits cropping up that will publish short stories they like, regardless of whether the author is known or has a name or whatever. (“Team and more” has become legendary.)
You do ten or twenty of them, and they stand out, you do develop your own fandom. (Or keep your algorithm at Amazon going.) And then, when you finish your novel, you’ll have people actively looking for it.
It’s a less onerous way of paying your dues, and probably the most painless way of extending your fandom. People buy a book because someone they like is in it, but they’ll read the other stories too, because why not? And if you’re in it too, and they like your story, you just made another fan.
So, this is my “I understand.” And my “But here’s why try.”
Now, 38 (dear Lord, really?) years away from that kid who couldn’t write anything shorter than 10k, even if she tried really hard? The problem was that I had the wrong idea of what a short story was.
I thought it was like a novel, you know. Only shorter. And since I tend to think in six book epics, when I tried to shorten my ideas, they became outlines.
Short stories ain’t that. Ideas for short stories work very badly for novels. Trust me on this, I’ve seen a few that the author expanded, one of which I consider one of the most perfect short stories ever written (Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson) and it ….. just fizzles.
Short stories can be a chapter of a novel, but if it’s a short story worth a damn, it will be the first chapter. The one that sets up the action.
And ideas for a novel don’t fit into a short story. You try and…. well, you keep finding you have to write something else, and next thing you know it’s 50k words and still growing.
“Okay,” you say (because the you I’m addressing is all my obstinate mentees) “then I don’t have ideas for short stories.”
Maybe you don’t. But it’s something that can be learned. I mean, I don’t know about you, but when I started writing I didn’t know what a STORY was. So I would have this cool idea, about a bit of magic or an invention, and be completely at a loss for how to turn it into a story. Like “Imagine if we had flying cars.” Um…. okay. I can write lovely paragraphs about it and make it really cool. But that’s not a story.
I had to train myself to realize that a story is about someone, and someone with a problem. So I had to come up with a problem that the invention of flying cars either solved or created, then find the person on whom this would have the strongest impact, then write THEIR story.
But that story, yes, could be a short story or a novel.
I’m not going to outline a novel and a short story using flying cars. I’m tired and I have serialized novel chapters to do.
Instead I’m going to give you something to ponder: A novel is a transformative experience/event for a person or a group of people. It normally has a very complex set of motives and solutions, and it has to be implemented and shown in detail, at length, until we experience the catharsis and resolution. Some parts of it will be faster. Some will be slower.
A short story is a pivotal event or experience, told at a rising pitch, without a lull until catharsis is achieved.
Or if you prefer, a short story is a compressed and heightened emotional experience. It’s purpose is not to tell what happened but to punch you in the gut with an emotion, be it joy or sorrow, admiration at how clever the protagonist is, or whatever.
You walk away from a novel going “Oh, wow, I’d like to live in that world” or “I’d like to visit that magical city” or– You walk away from a short story going “oooh. That was an experience.” And the emotion lingers in your mind like taste on the tongue, if the writer did her job half competently.
You want to learn to write a short story? Steal narrative songs. They’re even more compressed but they give you — pardon me — the beats.
Take Sabaton’s Last Stand, for no particular reason but its being one of my favorite songs.
Is it a story? Yep. Is it a full story? Yep. Could it be made into a novel? Sure. If you unpack the very first lyrics and expand them, following someone who is trying to solve the issue by diplomatic means. Then you get to the point of the last stand as the climax. But that’s not the idea compressed here. THAT is the “things that come before and probably after.” And if you did the novel you’d have to contrive it so one of the Swiss Guards was trying to prevent the face off, and then got caught in it, which means it’s also a downer.
However take it as written (and for the record, I’m not suggesting you steal the story. It’s historical, but I’m not suggesting you tell it as Sabaton did, either. It’s not quite a copyright violation, but it’s close enough to be uncomfortable. I’m suggesting you analyze what they did because it also works for a short story.):
So, take this:
In the heart of Holy See
In the home of Christianity
The seat of power is in danger
There´s a foe of a thousand swords
They´ve been abandoned by their lords
Their fall from grace will pave their path, to damnation
It’s a paragraph or two in a normal short story. Yes, you could give the history of the Swiss guard and explain what led to this standoff and then you could explain the consequences of their falling, and all that. I suggest describing a power point presentation in excruciating detail!
Sarah grabs your tail as you head out the door to do so. Sit down, youngster. That was me being sarcastic.
[UPDATE: It was pointed out in the comments that “they were abandoned by their lords” referred to the Imperial mercenaries. Look I am not deep in the “Sack of Rome” though I’ve read a couple of books about it. However I had a VAGUE memory that the big lords had also left the city before the attack, and look, it makes a much better story. Sure, knowing the antecedents is important, but piling misfortune on your protagonist to compel him to move? *Chef’s Kiss.* So I’m leaving it, because it makes a better story and this is not about the historic incident, anyway, but the structure. (Yes, Padwan, all writers are despicable in pursuit of story. I could tell you tales. And do.))
Look over those lines again. Which one conveys the greatest anguish for people still very much in a feudal system who are the protagonists of the story — by being one of the 189?
If you said “They’ve been abandoned by their lords” you get a gold star. That is the point at which the plot drops in the pot. Both because abandoning your vassals was unthinkably despicable at the time. AND because it means they’re in real trouble.
So, start with alleys, etc. Vatican city at the time. Through it a Swiss guard comes running. And because I’m not in the mood to look up the names of the fallen, or take a liberty with real people, and also because it’s me telling this, his name is Giorgio and he’s one of the youngest guards, newly sworn in to the protection of the pope.
You can either start with the “We’ve been abandoned by our Lords” and give us how it’s received in the barracks and the alleys outside, and what they look like with the Imperial troops advancing OR you can start with him running through the alleys and bursting into the guardhouse with those words. It all depends on whether you want to do atmospheric. There is no right or wrong. What you can’t do is convey what that line means before it’s uttered.
Once it’s uttered, you can convey what it means in a few lines, OR you can have the other guards react and convey what it means: the betrayal, the danger, the troops marching down on them.
There should be someone who wants to leave. After all, no one can expect them to give their lives in a doomed cause. The end is inevitable, right? what’s the point?
Why that way, and not explaining before? Because if you explain before, your readers will have no idea why you’re telling them this, and will fall asleep. And then you have to pull their faces out of the soup, and clean them up before continuing to tell them the story.
Then someone makes this argument:
Then the 189
In the service of heaven
They’re protecting the holy line
…………………………………………………
For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
Or in other words, even if their lords are forsworn, they’re not. And they swore to protect the papacy. And if the pope falls without another pope installed, any other pope will be suspect. Also, again, they swore, and they’re fighting for the Lord.
So, they’re going to do their best to slow the advance of the enemy, so the pope can escape.
I mean, they know they’re giving their lives, but they’re not suicides. They’re giving their lives for SOMETHING.
Under guard of 42
Along a secret avenue
Castel Saint’Angelo is waiting
Okay, this is way telescoped in a way you can get away with in a song, but not in a short story. And at any rate this is the meat and action of the short story.
IF I remember the history this is based on, and the geography, sort of — the one thing I remember clearly is that the leader of the Swiss guard was killed in front of his pregnant wife by being literally cut to pieces. Because that sticks in the mind — 42 of them took the pope along a secret avenue to Castel Saint Angelo which is over the bridge (one of them) that gave access to Rome. I’m not absolutely sure, but right now, for the purpose of the story it is so.
42 are sent along, to guard the pope. Because this is a short story, and you have to show the stakes, they see their comrades massacred to guard their retreat. Including the scene I described above.
So Giorgio is shocked. He knows what he’s coming, and he was fond of his commander too, thought of him as a father. He wants to give up, but he can’t, not with that example.
This should be narrated with full sensory, and dialogue, and we get to know maybe the two people close to Giorgio. (You don’t have time for 42 in a short story. Not and it have any impact.)
Just as they get the pope in a boat (sounds like a dish) and he’s getting away (I THINK it was an escape by water, but again, I’m not going to research, so you’ll deal.) For the purposes of the story, he’s in a little rowboat, heading for a ship that will get him away safely. The people rowing are the ship’s crew, so none of the 42 can escape. And anyway the Imperial forces are bearing down on them. They can signal to their comrades the pope is escaping and cut off his escape. Or they can shoot arrows at them or–
But we have the 42 who promptly engage them in battle to defend the pope’s retreat.
If you really want the gut punch, have the Imperial forces offer the youngest guards a free pardon. “You’re just kids. If you come over to our side, we’ll spare you.”
Georgio isn’t sure. I mean, he heard all that stuff about the faith, but he’s really only here because his father wanted him to. And– But his comrades scoff at it, and he can’t betray them, lose his last link to them. How would he live with himself. He thinks of his mother/brother/sweetheart back home, and he says a mental farewell. (Make this scene really poignant and involve all senses, as he imagines being with the person right then, and trying to explain, and apologize for what he’ll never be able to do.)
Then the fight. And just before the end, because he fights back, the enemy does something utterly despicable, and he realizes what a disaster it would be if they won, and he feels:
Dying for salvation with dedication
No Capitulation, annihilation
Papal commendation, reincarnation
Heaven is your destination
In the name of god
Yes, he is doing what is right. And as he fights to his last breath, he knows he’s not only helping the pope escape, but he’s giving courage and strength to his two friends we got to know up close and personal before.
And he can see the pope has reached the ship and the ship is sailing away, as he lies there dying. Yah, take that Imperials, the tiny Swiss Guard force WON.
Put in a last line, that has this effect:
For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Gave their lives so boldly
It was 1527, gave their lives on the steps to heaven
Thy will be done!
The reader walks away having shared in the catharsis and the heroism.
So? Structure?
- Character is in trouble. The trouble can be of his making or not, but it’s bearing down on him, and he is the most affected.
- Start with the “oh sh*t” moment, when he realizes the size and shape of the problem.
Give any necessary explanation or detail immediately after, and in as brief a form as possible. In short stories, you MAKE THE WORDS COUNT. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give us sensory detail or some description. You should. You just can’t have unnecessary stuff in there. It’s like a poem in that way. - Have a brief refusal of the call. Your character considers escaping from the sh*t avalanche rolling down hill, instead of facing it and having an adventure. You don’t have time for a very long refusal of the call, so he must either talk himself into accepting it, or see something that shows him how devastating denying could be. He accepts.
- Once the call is accepted, there’s a plan for how to answer. It doesn’t have to be a huge plan, right then, but it should be concrete. I mean, not “I’m going to survive” but “If I climb that tower, I’ll survive longer, and I can shoot anyone who comes after me.”
- First portion of the plan goes wrong, and they have to go to plan b. Ie. the leader is cut down, so now it’s up to the people taking the pope to Castel St. Angelo. Ie, the way to the tower is blocked, the king refuses his request, whatever, and your character has to default to an even more risky and iffy plan b.
- Here you can have plan b go wrong. Then plan c. Or you can just have plan b work. The rule of thumb for try fail sequences is three, but one can be abbreviated — character is about to go there, oop, it’s closed. Or this being a short story, depending on how short, and how interesting plan b is, one try/fail might be enough.
- Write plan b, and bring it to fruition. Make it fun.
- Reward: the character wins (my favorite) or loses in an interesting way, balking evil of its victory, in the way he meant to do.
- Optional, but I like it: a “let down” paragraph, bringing the reader to his full upright and locked position for landing.
“And that was how I saved the city and lost my best friend.” Or “I still remember that day, when in front of the king, I pledged to be a knight of St. John. And all it cost me was a broken heart and my spleen.” Whatever. It should be memorable enough to echo in the reader’s mind as he/she walks away.
Now, go forth and try it on for size, when the “problem” is that the girl is still single, and hasn’t met anyone. Or the guy’s true love got away. Or the great hero is trying to find a white gorilla.
Figure out what the moment is at which point it’s going to roll forward. Not what came before (or after) just how it gets rolling.
Does it mean if you don’t follow this structure it’s wrong? Oh, hell no. There are a thousand ways to do this. I don’t like unstructured, but people do it successfully. I don’t particularly like just drop the minute it’s won, but people like it.
And I actually like what I call circle and younger son calls boomerang. You start either at the moment of climax, or when it’s won, but express that in a cryptic way. “This would be the last day I lived in Venice.” Something like that.
And then you boomerang, either in memory or fact to where it all began, and move foward to meet the end.
Once you have the basics down, you’ll start experimenting. The thing to remember is that you’ll never be perfect right off the bat. Heck, chances are you’ll never be perfect. But along the way, while practicing, you can create some things that are pretty darn good.
Now go do it, and leave the old writer in peace so she can go to bed.
According To Hoyt 
Read my way through 15 novels (and money is tight) because one short story hooked me on the world and the author’s voice.
Nice to see short stories coming back. I stopped reading new ones in the mid-oughts.
My first short story is over 30,000 words. 😀
I got better with practice — my second short story is only 14,000 words.
And, yes, in both stories the characters have problems they need to solve, and obstacles to overcome. In both cases, they triumph not with some great heroic deed, but with a lot of hard work. 20 years of hard work, in one case.
“It was a dark and stormy night.
Suddenly, a shot rang out.”
That’s as far as I think Snoopy got.
I wrote some fairly interesting (well, successful starters anyway) role-playing scenarios back in the 70s and 80s; but they were heavily based on the personalities of the players and really didn’t translate well into other groups, other games, or sitting around campfires.
“The maid screamed. A door slammed. Suddenly the pirate ship appeared on the horizon.”
“A plot twist to foil my readers.”
That was the last the way I remembered it.
I think he was directly quoting from the Bulwer-Lytton competition.
The Bulwer-Lytton competition is never that simple or believable.
Fun, though.
waggles hand
I have a very limited tolerance for how baroque it tends to get. If the sentence doesn’t actually read to me like a sentence someone might put into a real book, then for me it stops being what the competition is actually about. And remember, I’ve read Empress Theresa.
I used to have a couple of compilations from the B-L competition. Is it even still happening?
Now I’m thinking of the Equipment Improvement Report (Recommendation?) Bulletin I had to edit, where one engineer’s effort had an 83-word sentence. Dividing that puppy up in a way that got it to make sense was a challenge.
— Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Yes, it still happens, and the entry date is still April 15th.
BTW, the “abandoned by their lords” refers to the foe. The soldiers of the Holy Roman Emperor, who having lost their commanders, the Emperor was elsewhere and pay was not forthcoming, decided to loot the wealthy city of Rome.
Ah. Thank you. This is not what I got back when I read about it. I had the impression all the important people had fled the city.
I thank you for the correction. Still works best for my story otherwise.
That also fits “Winged Hussars.” Emperor Leopold fled Vienna, and as many of the nobility and others as could bailed as well. Now, given Leopold’s, ah, difficulties with decision making, and the need for defenders and not dead weight, the departures might have been part of the miracle of Vienna. (That, and all the Polish nobles agreeing to help the Empire without anyone invoking the Liberum Veto. Truly, the Lord works in mysterious ways.)
I think of short stories as individual novel chapters modified to be self-contained, rather than as bonsai versions of whole novels.
By extension, my novelettes and novellas resemble a short sequence of novel chapters modified to form a self-contained story.
That is one form, but it doesn’t make the strongest stories, to be fair.
Just a thought, but several of Louis L’amour’s later novels were expansions of some of his earlier short stories.
I believe you. Louis L’Amour is not one of mine. Yes, I know, but De Gustibus.
All the ones I’ve seen expanded were weaker than the shorts. Unless the shorts weren’t very good.
I feel called out. 😉
Eh, you got to be inspiration!
Does that mean you’re part-timing as a muse, now?
runs away, very fast
いや、うるさいよ。
(j/k; that was my muse. The one with the swords.)
you wound up the Sarah, you pay the price. 😀
42? Isn’t the ultimate answer?
That’s not so much short as microscopic. 😀
He just wanted to tell a story
I learned (NOT this subject.. AT ALL) best with then-old books. But that was because some things (not all) didn’t change too much (Xenon WILL form compounds, but it takes some serious work and they’re… kinda bangy) and the old texts Told You Stuff. Now, some things Change VERY FAST (anything with those strange creatures ‘humans’ is so unreliable – even at the publishing date!) so it’s best to be wary.
Xenon compounds unstable?
Oh FOOF !
My observation is that short story ideas are not sticky. Novel ideas are. Short stories, especially short shorts, are like ball bearings. Novel ideas are like sticky burrs.
And I say this as a person who used to be able to do short stories and could not do a novel, and now pretty much is novella or longer length.
Suddenly, I’m very interested in doing a little one-chapter short story, or maybe a few of them, before I release Book 2. This seems like a frigging GENIUS marketing deal.
Oh yeah. I’m going to need to get right on that. ~:D
The fanfic thing I did ended up being a novel made of short stories. What I sort of found was each narrative thread seems to take me about 4k words if it’s done right. The shorter ones were not really done completely, and the longer ones had more than one thread.
And by narrative thread, I really just mean one specific problem / trial / solution / catharsis, with nothing else.
So, the MC is being stalked by a nightmare thing. She tries to fight it head on and ends up accidentally nearly killing her boyfriend. She has a crisis of confidence, and believes she deserves to lose. Her friends and allies convince her she doesn’t need to deal with this on her own, so she gets help and they beat the thing.
In the end things are going to be ok (after a lot of tedious clean up), and the MC has finally realized she doesn’t have to deal with everything by herself.
And that was it: those were the only things that happened.
The last one ended up at about 6k words, but it had both the main thread (who took the kid) and the wrap up of the background arc that had been running for a while.
The one that ended up being 8k words had two narrative threads on it, and only because the primary narrative thread had to be not openly stated, which meant I needed a second narrative thread to hide the important one in.
To me that implies that a novel has a large number of narrative threads in it, of varying importance and scale, but each one would need to involve some degree of character change, of varying degrees of significance, with the arc of a novel going through all the changes the character(s) need to go through to be able to achieve their final ultimate goal.
So a short story about becoming a fighter pilot would focus on one specific change (the day I finally learned to trust my instruments) while a novel about becoming a fighter pilot would focus on 10-20 so changes the character goes through (How I joined, my first flight, struggling with airsickness, that time I almost failed academics, how I was really good at acrobatics and how I learned to respect but not abuse that, oh carrier qual, my first sortie, my first time being shot at, oh wow/ I got a kill, my wingman is gone I’m low on ammo and out numbered and the guys on the ground need my support, oh no now these kids are depending on me… ).
I don’t think they have to be distinct chapters, you can probably weave parts of them through the entire book. I’d think the ‘good at acrobatics’ thread could contribute to the ‘nearly failed academics’ thread, play into the ‘first kill,’ and then have the payoff in the ‘alone and outnumbered’ thread.
I should actually go write that, shouldn’t I? Maybe I should shorten that to I need to go write. Time, ask me for anything but time…
Technically, a novel of short stories is a story cycle.
Great illustration of how to piece together a story. Regardless of whether you were historically correct (this is the first I’ve even heard of the incident), even your brief description of how to approach it was powerful.
Most of what I’ve written has been shorts, although my two series always seem to fall into novelette and novella respectively. I’m absolutely no good at adapting my pantser rough draft via formula into “what works” – I’m either lucky and the “muse” built it in (hey, it could happen), or not.
Thanx for the post!
OK, Sarah, you said it, so I hope you’re going to add it to your to-do list, cause I really want to read that story. Or somebody else here … ??
“Yes, he is doing what is right. And as he fights to his last breath, he knows he’s not only helping the pope escape, but he’s giving courage and strength to his two friends we got to know up close and personal before.”
Interesting that you made a 3-musketeers kind of group there … you could work in some amazing symbolism with 3 characters of one heart and mind …
So, no sh-t there I was, writing a perfectly serviceable short story prompt of “Cinderella goes tot he ball…. looking to network for a job, not for a prince.”
…and then a minor character from a prior story showed up, and ecoterrorists, and the inevitable firefight. Still, I got it done.
Except Twitch was all “I caught her! How do I keep her?” and my back brain was all “They can’t get away with that. How are we going to deal with them? And how does the scarcity of oil impact international relations?”
And a novel happened, answering those questions.
So then I tried to write a very short story that was supposed to be nothing more than fluff and pink and kittens and shopping at the mall, and… okay, the dress is teal, and the mall got blown up, and then dealing with that took a novel. (And I didn’t even get to the kittens!)
But then I finally went to write a short story for an anthology! And it was very simple! AJ goes home for a funeral, and has to deal with the way the world you knew and the people in it keep changing, when you’ve been gone. …Except that’s a very complex subject, with several demons to lay to rest, and the world didn’t stop having realpolitik for the funeral. Book happened.
Oh, I did get a short story out for Twisted Tropes Anthology! Instead of dealing with realpolitik and human motivations and cultures…. I explored what would happen if, like the meme, someone summoned a demon to do dishes. It turns out okay, except the part where he washed the cast iron.
So apparently I need meme-sized story concepts, or something as simple as “This is what happens when you have a Chief without coffee”, to keep it under 10K.
“Oh Great Plot Bunny, how did the universe end?”
“My child, it began with a Navy Chief who had no coffee.”
Gasps “Oh no!”
One of the best short stories (just under 8K words) I ever read is H. Beam Piper’s “Graveyard of Dreams” — the short story version of The Cosmic Computer. No fighting, just…one man’s hope for the future when everyone else thinks it’s the end of history.
I think it would fit today’s definition of Human Wave. But a lot of Piper’s work was that way.
Arrrrrgh Shakes paw in Sarah-ward direction Great. Now I want to write a last-stand short story. Bad plot bunny, go away! I have a novel to finish first.
Stalks off with Sabaton on kitty ear-phones
“Stalks off with Sabaton on kitty ear-phones”
Using Sabaton to avoid thinking about last stands would seem counterintuitive….. 😎
I’m still very much an amateur at this, but I am stumbling my way forward, slowly trying to figure it out. Here’s what I’ve learned. Take this for what it’s worth:
(1) Start by getting an anthology of short stories, reading them, and analyzing them. If all you read is novels, it’s not surprising that all of the plot bunnies that hop your way are for novels.
Your analysis of the story should include trying to figure out the basic structure of the story as well as how many words you should spend on each aspect.
(2) Write a lot, and try to get some variety in what you write. One thing I’ve found useful is to submit to a lot of “maybe” anthologies, things that are only sort of in the genre I like. It forces me to write out of my comfort zone, and I think it’s making me better.
(3) If it has a beginning, middle, and end by the time the deadline rolls around, proofread it and submit it. The stories I’ve managed to sell have definitely not been the ones I thought were my best. So, assuming that they’re not a complete embarrassment, send them off to the editor for his judgement: you never know.
(4) Related, I’m pretty sure that there’s a huge amount of chance in what does and does not get accepted. In a lot of my anthology readings, I’ve come across stories where my reaction was, “This is terrible! How did that get accepted?” Often times, I think there’s just something about it that caught the fancy of the editor. There might have been six stories in the slush pile that were just as good or better, but for some reason, this was the one that editor wanted.
So, don’t beat yourself up when you get rejected, and don’t get too high when you get accepted. It’s nothing personal, and all you can do is keep trying to make your stories better. If one of your favorites keeps getting rejected, slap a cover on it and sell it indie!
(Note: I am terrible at following this advice. I dance around the house whenever I get an acceptance and tumble down into the doldrums whenever I’m told that one of my precious darlings “isn’t a good fit for us. Good luck submitting it elsewhere.” But I try not to let the high or low last too long before I start in on the next story.)
Flyby c4c.
Whoosh
P.S. I’m here, I’m fine, just lazy about peopling. Short story some other time, right now I have an idea and I’m checking to see if I can actually make an outline work or not.
Having served in the military, and my family’s military history going back to early colonial times (first coming in 1649), I get a lump in my throat when I hear that song. Even as a firmly convinced protestant, I deeply respect valor and fidelity at that level.
I like most of Sabaton’s work, but “Last Stand” is also my favorite.
Not to be contrary and all that, but: I don’t buy anthologies or magazines, because I don’t feel I get value for my money. I prefer novels. Trilogies. Series. And, of course, I’m atypical.
That’s fine. But yeah, you are.
The first short/novel approach that came to mind for me was Flowers for Algernon, which i read in short,novel order. While I enjoyed both, the short made the greater impact on me.
…I liked the novel of Black Mass, though I have not read the short story.
One example of a short story being a chapter from a novel that was not a first chapter, yet worked, was from David Brin’s Earth. The short story “The Secret of Life” works perfectly well on its own, for the very good reason that the novel is something of a collage, along the lines of Stand on Zanzibar, and the main character in the short only shows up in one other place in the novel (that I recall; haven’t read it in thirty years), thereby being the most minor of minor characters to the overall plot.
@ Jess > “While I enjoyed both, the short made the greater impact on me.”
Same here, same reading order. “Flowers for Algernon” needed the concentrated essence of the story for emotional impact, but the novel was an engaging extension of the events and characters.
I feel the same way about “Ender’s Game,” although I read the novel before the short. I think that Ender’s choices had more psychological effect on me in the short, even though I already knew the plot.
I am very guilty of finding other authors because one anthology had an author short story whose series I am already following.
This is why the More Odds Than Ends story prompt blog is so helpful for me. The prompts—often a line or two—lead to pretty straightforward short stories. (When I was doing them. Life intruded, as it does, so it’s been a while.)
The fact that they were often murdery is a weird little side note. (Seriously, three of the best ones I did contained death. Not sure why that is.)
Some genres work better with short stories, like Sword and Sorcery. Robert E. Howard, father of the genre, had a talent for making his short stories and novellas feel as big and rich as novels. “The Scarlet Citadel” and “Black Colossus” read like novels in miniature and stories like “Queen of the Black Coast” could have been a novel if Howard had filled in the middle section. The shorter format focuses the story and gives the reader the big thrills but in a fraction of the page count.
For a most excellent short short – https://twitter.com/ShoemakerSpace/status/1685341989808574464
This article, and the Sabaton song, reminded me of one of the most moving scenes I have read in war history.
A reduced company of French Foreign Legion troops, escorting supply column, were caught by a much larger Mexican Army force at a farmhouse near Camerone, Mexico.
After a long fight, the last Lieutenant and twenty mostly wounded troops are called on to surrender, “You have fought well, but you are out of ammunition and wounded. Surrender.”
The Legionaire officer answered: “The Legion dies, but it does not surrender. Fix bayonets! Charge!”
The Mexican Army still salutes when they pass the battlefield.
Step Zero
Have some writing talent, or at least make some effort to develop it.
(Grin)
Talent isn’t NEEDED. Effort is.
? Not needed? Essential. Some folks go to huge effort to develop a talent such as writing. It shows. Others spew no-effort vowel movements and expect applause.
Talent isn’t needed. It helps, but even I could learn to write. In a third language, no less. It’s possible.
cough “Talent” Is usually used for the bit folk don’t have to work at or what they improve on. What you seem to be referring to is the writing craft or SKILL (which may have a few short cuts in it from talent, varying by writer, but isn’t itself talent.)
More incredibly hard head, to be fair.
vowel movements
I must remember that. I have the misfortune to encounter a couple of those. Previous to such, I would slog on through most any text, figure some payoff whether comeuppance or increased knowledge. Then I hit such, and mused some text wouldn’t even have the decency to burn well, they were so bad. And yes, bulk paper doesn’t burn like wood…. even so.. some things are exceptionally useless and worthless. Anti-value, even.
Incidentally, my daughter’s scout troop is 189, and they are very pleased with their new theme song. “I wanna blast this at the next Camporee.” Of course you do. It is eminently blastable.
Damn you Sarah! You got me to thinking about short stories and how I could actually do one…..I was in the same quandry…ideas but not any ideas how to really put anything down on paper in a coherent manner….and in a short enough format because my first idea would HAVE to be a novel…..no shorter ideas in sight…..Now I’ve got a pad with scribbles and labeled “Short Story Ideas”. IT’S YOUR FAULT! And thank you, ma’am.
LOL.
You’re very welcome.