A Writer’s Life: Short Stories
Why I want to write them, and why I resist.
When I was younger, I wrote a lot of short stories. Somewhere between 1200 and 5000 words, these were the bread and butter of my writing. I even sold some to magazines in my 30’s. But that was a different genre, and a different lifetime.
Or so it feels now.
I have a notebook where I keep my story ideas (because of course I do. I have a lot of notebooks.) Some of those I have marked as short story ideas.
But every time I thumb through it, and see those, I shake my head and keep looking.
Why?
I’ve put some thought into that recently, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because a new idea popped into my head the other day while watching a history documentary about the Tudor era.
And secondly, because a few weeks ago, a new book in an anthology series I love released.
I’ve been reading these “Once Upon A…” books for years. I’ve found a few authors I really enjoy from them and the stories are entertaining and well written.
(By the title and cover, you would assume this one is all about vampires, but you’d be wrong. In fantasy, bites are not limited to the not-quite-dead.)
I like short stories. I mostly read at night before bed and short stories don’t keep me up past my bedtime. Read one. Maybe read two, and it’s off to dreamland.
You get a glimpse into a short period of time in a character’s life. You see one, maybe two key moments, and how they react, adjust and adapt to the change the moment brings down on them. Often, there’s a lesson tucked away inside one of these gems, but sometimes it’s just the pure emotion you feel at the end.
But short story writing is a whole different ballgame in the fantasy genre, as opposed to what I used to write. You have to be talented enough to cram a whole lot of world into a small amount of words. The characters need to be established quickly. There are not 25 chapters to get your point across. Do it quickly, neatly and deeply.
And truth be told, I’ve let all of that intimidate me, just as a 100K word book used to.
The only way to get out of my comfort zone is to - you guessed it - get out of my comfort zone.
So in addition to making my index cards for The Irish Project this weekend, I’m going to do some brainstorming on the idea I had earlier this week for a short story. I have the beginning and the end on paper already. I know it’s a good idea. Maybe a great idea. So it becomes a matter of stepping up to the plate and digging in.
Here’s to hoping the Muse is kind!
