Comments on: Different kinds of bliss

By: Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:49:54 +0000

I really hope you enjoy “The Five Days…”, Alexander! And have fun with your short stories. I think that as writers the best thing we can do is stretch ourselves in ways that challenge and delight us – it’s so important to keep that element of joy and fun in our writing!

By: Alexander Field

Alexander Field — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:41:40 +0000

Great post, I totally relate to your thinking here. In fact, coming from the nonfiction writing world where I’ve spent a lot of time, I have leapt straight from nonfiction writing to working on a novel and writing short stories didn’t occur to me until more recently. I’ve knocked out a few of them and have recently discovered the burgeoning world of online short fiction mags. So thanks for your validation of the form (as I’ve recently finished a new story!) and I will also be heading over to BCS to check out your work! : )

By: Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:34:02 +0000

Hi Merrie! Now’s where I have to rembarrass myself by admitting that, when I sit down and really think back on it, my sleep-deprived mommy brain is completely failing to toss up the details of those other blog posts….I remember Greg’s entry clearly, and I remember seeing various other entries on the subject…but alas, none of the others have stuck with me. *hiding head in shame…*

By: Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:32:12 +0000

I used to have that problem – short stories that were really just openings of novels – all the time, I think because I read mostly novels, and therefore that was the structure that my subconscious wanted to fit ALL my stories into, all the time. Really, at least for me, it all comes back to reading tons and tons of short stories, until that form is completely absorbed into your subconscious, which then sighs and gives in and starts giving out real short story ideas instead of wannabe novels.

And of course if what you really want to write is novels, then there’s absolutely no need to write short stories – there are plenty of successful novelists who’ve never published (or even written, as far as I know) a single short story…but yeah, for me, short stories did teach me a lot about writing in general, even if not how to write a *novel* in particular.

By: Radish

Radish — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:52:51 +0000

cedunkley sez :
“I’ve tried my hand at short stories and they mostly turned into scenes or snippets of world building.”

That’s my problem. All my little stories want to grow up and become novels. And then the novels want to sprawl into frakkin’ epics. Is there any way to corral this rampaging expansion?

It’s the characters’ fault, really — they insist that *I’m* the figment.

By: cedunkley

cedunkley — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:14:34 +0000

I’ve tried my hand at short stories and they mostly turned into scenes or snippets of world building.

I have been given them more thought lately, though, even if it’s as a vehicle to write and submit, as opposed to just write for a long time, which novels require.

And to break into publishing. Though in reality I don’t think breaking into the short story market is any easier than getting a novel published.

I know I’m a novel writer. I think in long term when it comes to characters and plot. But the short story is something I need to think about more. I do believe that improving my short story form writing will improve my novel writing overall.

By: Merrie Haskell

Merrie Haskell — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:02:42 +0000

I’ve run into a couple of these blog posts, too, but not more than Greg Van Eekhout’s and… crap, I can’t remember the other person. Do you have links to any of the others?

I was wondering where the conversation began…

By: Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:57:43 +0000

It’s funny how those different forms can tap into different parts of the imagination, isn’t it? I’ve written a bunch of contemporary fantasy short stories and even a few science fiction short stories, whereas with novels I’m purely a historical fantasy girl – nothing else works to tap my inspiration for such long projects. I love that we have the freedom to explore all our different sides in our writing!

By: attackfish

attackfish — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:21:44 +0000

it’s weird, I write two different genres when I write novels and short stories. I do full out secondary world fantasy in my novels, and mostly magical realism and urban fantasy when I write short stories. Every time I’ve tried to write a secondary world fantasy short story, it turns into a novel. Anyone else have genre differences between their short and long writing that way?

I started writing short stories when I started writing fanfic because all the world building was done for me and I could focus on whatever minute I wanted to zero in on. Great way to start.

By: Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:11:45 +0000

Eugene, you’re absolutely right to keep your priorities sensibly straight – I think writing short stories would stop being good for me the moment it started interfering with my novel production, which is of course my actual career (and also my main passion). I’m very lucky in that I only owe one 70,000-word novel a year to my publishers, and I am a stay-at-home mom with all the time I can manage to wrangle away from my baby to write whatever I like, but I would never say that anybody else *should* write both forms. It’s all about working out what feels best to you.