05 June 2021

Going to Work in Shorts



Okay, not that kind of shorts.

I write, and have written, lots of different things. Articles, poems, essays, technical manuals, even some unpublished/unproduced novels and screenplays. But what I most like to write are short stories. Shorts of all lengths, as long as they're under 20,000 words: flash, short, vignette, novelette, novella, whatever. My published stories have run between 26 words and 18K words, so there's a lot of leeway. (And here's one of those for-what-it's-worth newsflashes: I've made far more money from the under-1000 word stories than from the longer ones. What was that song lyric from the '60s? "I like short shorts.")

The thing is, I'm not alone in choosing to write short instead of long. I'm sure I'm missing someone here, but I know that my friends R.T. Lawton, Barb Goffman, Joseph S. Walker, Michael Bracken, Sandra Murphy, Josh Pachter, Herschel Cozine, Art Taylor, Eve Fisher, Robert Lopresti, and Stephen D. Rogers write shorts exclusively, at least for now and for the immediate future. I think I can speak for all of them in saying we don't feel we're missing out on anything by focusing on short stories instead of novels. For me, they're just more fun to write.

Since I know "it's more fun" probably doesn't sound like a good enough reason by itself--though it actually is--here are some other things that I believe are advantages to writing short fiction:


1. A sense of completion. I can usually dream up, write, edit, and finish a short story in a matter of a few days, certainly no more than a couple of weeks. That allows me to concentrate on a single plot and a specific group of characters for a fairly short while, and then I'm done with that plot and those people and that setting. I can write THE END, and the next day I can start working on an entirely different story, maybe even in a different genre. That flexibility gives me a great feeling of freedom and satisfaction.

2. Time savings. Most novels take several months and sometimes several years to finish. Most short stories take several weeks at the most. And although I suppose this isn't exactly positive thinking, if your novel turns out to be a real stinker, you might've just wasted a LOT of time. If your short story turns out smelling like a pig sty, you've only wasted a few days or weeks. Besides, I have a tendency to get bored with my characters if I live with them too long--but for a week or two we get along just fine.

3. Resalability. Yes, I know that's not a real word--but maybe it should be. My point is, short stories, unlike novels, can be sold over and over again, so long as the market is receptive to previously published work. Reprints seldom pay as much as original stories, but sometimes they do, and besides, who's complaining?--these are stories that have already been written and published once, and maybe many times, so the work's already done. (NOTE: One instance where reprints almost always pay well is when they're selected for annual best-of anthologies. If that's not icing on the cake, I don't know what is.)

4. Practice. Writing with the tightness and economy of language required for a short story is great experience and training for other kinds of writing, whether it's fiction or non-. Also, a resume of a lot of short stories published in respected magazines or anthologies can possibly help you to later find, if that's what you want, an agent or a publisher or other writing opportunities.

5. No agent needed. If you already have a literary agent for longer work, he or she can sometimes be handy in finding short-story markets as well, and is especially helpful in the case of foreign or film deals. But if you don't already have an agent, no worries. You don't really need one, for short stories. They probably won't want to sign you anyway, if you're writing shorts exclusively.


Another thing about short stories, though I'm not sure it would qualify as an advantage, is that the middle of a short story is, well, short. Middles, you see, are hard for me. As an outliner, I like beginnings and endings--I think they're fun to plan and write. Middles, not so much. And loooooooong middles, which is always the case with a novel, are even less fun. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I find short stories more manageable and therefore easier and more enjoyable to write, from start to finish. 

NOTE: This probably goes without saying, but I happen to enjoy reading novels, and I suspect that all the short-story folks I listed above do, too. I also admire the talent it takes to write good novels. I've just found shorts to be a better fit for me. 

Now, what's the downside of writing only short stories? I can think of only one: as a short-story writer you will probably not become famous or make a zillion bucks from your writing. But here's another newsflash: neither will most novelists.

The truth is, we write because we want to, or--as I heard someone say once--because we can't not write. I think it's great fun to create these characters and situations out of thin air and to fiddle around with them until they're polished and logical and ready to send out into the world. If I'm then fortunate enough for an editor and eventual readers to like the story also--well, so much the better. And to know that I can repeat that process and that thrill again and again and again . . . yes, that's fun.

Who wouldn't want to go to work every day in shorts? It just feels good.




27 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. NOTE: I removed the earlier comment by me because the program kept hiccupping and dropping words. Hope it works better this time.

    John – good points, all the way around. The writers you listed are doing excellent work. Yes, we write because we want to.

    As you know, I'm ambidextrous, writing novels and short stories as I go. I like both formats. As soon as I finish a novel, I start another, interrupting the work to write short stories. It isn't pretty, but I get it done. It keeps me moving forward. Hardly any down time. It’s just the way I work.

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    1. Ambidextrous and multi-talented, O'Neil. You and so many of our mutual friends are able to balance their writing of novels and shorts, and use both to, as you said, move forward. My mind is just better able to handle the shorter stuff. Keep doin' what you're doin'.

      By the way, the biggest mystery about this mystery blog is the way Blogger seems to handle the entry of comments. Sorry for the bother.

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  3. Huzzah for shorts! I think the main reason I write short stories is because I grew up in a house where everyone was 40 years older than I was, and everyone was a pretty good story teller. Oral stories are short, but they pack a punch. Same with written.

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    1. Good thought, Eve. I too grew up around storytellers, both in and outside the family. That kind of thing probably does contribute to the way we now tell our own stories.

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  4. Said it all here, John. Really hard to argue with the success of you and everyone else you mention here, too.

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    1. That's kind of you, Steve. But I do envy folks like you and O'Neil and so many others who write both short and long and are able to do both well.

      Thanks as always.

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  5. I enjoy short stories for a number of reasons one of which you didn't mention here. In a short piece I can test an idea for a series character or a new setting. The short form requires precision in every aspect, no wandering around for twenty pages trying to figure out (Oops! "explore") what a character thinks or feels. It either works or it doesn't. There's a lot of room in a novel, unfortunately, for a writer to get it not quite right while the overall story is pretty good. Can't do that in a short story. In sum, John, I like shorts for all the reasons you gave and a few more.

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  6. Hey Susan. Good point! In fact I know several novelists who "tried out" their series character first in a short story. And yep, there's no wasting of words or romps through the literary daisies in a short story. Or shouldn't be.

    Thanks for stopping in, and for adding to the list of advantages of the short stuff.

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  7. Thanks for the shout-out, John! Absolutely agree with everything you say here, especially the part about the fun and flexibility of shorts. Last week I was writing a story about international Lego smuggling (an actual thing that happens); this week I'm writing a horror story set in 1826; next week, if all goes according to plan, I'll be doing a Holmes pastiche. Getting to try out all these different voices and settings makes it a pleasure to go to the keyboard every day.

    I'd add another item to your list of advantages: socializing. Publishing in anthologies and magazines gives you a chance to get to know a lot of editors, as well as the other authors involved. Not only does this make writing a little less solitary, but it can lead to real friendships (and, not incidentally, sometimes additional writing opportunities). This has been especially important to me during this time of not being able to go to conferences or signings.

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    1. Joe, I too like switching around from mysteries to SF to westerns, etc.--though I write more mystery/crime than anything else--and I think it helps. I know it helps keep me from getting in too much of a rut.

      As for anthologies, that's a good point. It's always fun to see authors you know in Table of Contents with you, and when there are those you don't know, it's fun to find out about them and read their stories (and get to know them). Something I find interesting is that there seem to be so many more anthology opportunities out there now than in the past. And therefore more markets for our stories.

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  8. John, fascinating to see your thinking on writing short -- and I totally get the appeal! Although I started out writing short stories, I gave them up for about a decade to work on longer projects like novels and screenplays. Eventually, I found that I missed short fiction. These days, I write short stories either as a way to escape the grind of a long project or in the gaps between longer projects. And I love doing them! Plus, every once in a while they become the seed for something longer ....

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    1. Adam, you are another of those writers who seem to have found success in both worlds (long writing and short), and that's a good thing. I can certainly see how shorts would provide a "break" for you, between long projects, and it's interesting that you like doing both.

      Thanks as always for the observations.

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  9. Hi, John. Thanks for mentioning me. I love writing short stories because they fit with my personality well. I like the faster pace than someone who is writing a novel will find themselves in. When I was in college I knew I wanted to work in written media, but I didn't know what kind. So I interned for a summer at a monthly magazine, and that was not the right fit for me. You spent an entire month just working on one issue, on one article. So I then moved to newspapers and I loved the fast turnaround. I loved coming up with an idea and researching it and writing it and the next day it came out in the paper. And then I'd do the whole thing all over again. It all just fit with me so much better. And writing short stories is so similar.

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    1. Barb, I've always envied those who knew at an early age that they wanted to be writers. I didn't see the light until I was in my forties and well into a different career--though I'm probably lucky, incomewise, that things happened in that order. As for the fast turnaround, that (as I said) is one of the big reasons I love writing the short stuff. I'd never thought about the similarity to newspaper pieces, but you're right. I don't much like long, long projects (of any kind).

      By the way, you were the first writer I thought of when I started putting together my little list of those who write ONLY shorts. I'm not saying I'll never write another novel, but the short stories are truly my first love.

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  11. I tried to respond to this on my phone, John, but it ate all of my words, so I'm trying again from my desktop computer.

    Yes, I write exclusively short stories, and I agree with every word you said about the why of it and the rewards of it.

    In my case, I'd add that, since I have a demanding full-time day job and at least a mild case of ADD, I don't think I — hey, check out that squirrel! — what was I saying? — oh, right, I don't think I have the time or the focus to write a novel.

    Some wit — Oscar Wilde? Dwight D. Eisenhower? — once said he only wrote novels when he didn't have enough time to write short stories. (Actually, Ike said it about long vs. short letters, but his point was the same.) That is indeed a witty comment, but — at least from my perspective — it's bs. I can write a marketable short story in anything from a day to a couple of weeks, but the one time I tried to write a novel (which I finished, but which never sold until I cut so much out of it that it turned out to be a short story EQMM bought and published) it took me forever and a day to complete, and every single step of that journey was agony. Lesson learned? Why devote a huge amount of time to doing something I don't enjoy? So back to short stories I went, and that's where I remain to this — wow, those cicadas are loud!

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    1. Sorry about the problem with commenting via your phone, Josh. Blogger does have a tendency to eat comments now and then. Glad you tried it a different way.

      Yes, I know that quote, and it does sound like BS, but I get his point. Less really is better, at times. And I think it's interesting that you took your unsold novel and whittled it down to a story you sold to EQMM!! (One usually hears of a short story that got so long it turned into a novel.) Maybe I need to try shortening my novel-length projects and see what happens . . .

      No cicadas for us this time, down here. Last time we had them, though, they were so loud I couldn't hear myself think. (There has to be a story in that, somewhere.)

      Thanks as always!

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  12. Well put, John.

    When I was younger, I read primarily novels, and that's what I struggled to write (emphasis on "struggle"). Though I always wrote short stories, now that is all that I write, and pretty much all that I read.

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    1. Bob, I should've put you in my list!

      Like you, I read a lot of short stories, but I do still read novels also. (I've even been re-reading a lot of novels, by favorite authors.) I find that most of the short stories I read are from the mystery magazines and from the many anthologies that have been published recently.

      Thanks for stopping in. Keep up the good work!

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  13. I think you covered all the many good and few bad points about writing short stories. Plus, everyone’s comments said pretty much what I was going to say. That’s the problem with being last to show up at the party. And, Josh explained quite well how he and I are more apt to write short, since we both seem to be Short Attention Span. It’s nice to be in such great company.

    Other than the fact that I read a lot as a kid, I think my urge to write short stories comes from the after actions of an operation where we would gather in a bar to analyze what went right and what went wrong and how we could do it better the next time. Invariably, the evening ended with seeing who could tell the funniest or oddest (short) story about the actions or reactions of one of the evening’s defendants, agents, cops or civilians on site. Some of these stories almost became legendary. All fodder to put in print.

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    1. Hey RT. Yep, I can see how those memories of law-enforcement operations could trigger story thoughts, especially mystery/crime stories. And, like you, I always read a LOT as a kid. Sometimes too much: I can remember sitting in the swing on our front porch in the summertime, shelling beans or peas in a giant bowl in my lap with a book propped open on the far side of the bowl, and paying a lot more attention to whatever action was happening on the page than the work I was supposedly doing at the same time.

      Whatever it was that led us to do what we do now, in our writing, I guess it paid off.

      Thanks for the comment. Take care, and stay in touch!

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  14. One of the key reasons I concentrated on short stories early on—and this relates to your comment about "time saving"—is that my income from short stories exceeded my income from novels. I was selling short stories to nationally distributed consumer magazines that paid a few hundred to several hundred dollars per story, and I was, for a time, selling several stories each month. My novels, which on average took five years from first word to published book, were published by small presses that didn't pay advances.

    A handful of novels still generate royalties and, until recently, short story reprints were few and far between. So, in the short term, short stories were the best bet. In the long term, who knows? Maybe some of the novels will continue generating royalties and the sum total might someday make for a nice bottom line.

    Alas, the short story markets have changed. While there seems to be an increase in the number of markets for short stories, they don't often pay particularly well.

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    1. Michael, I didn't start writing until long after you did, and I found out fairly soon that there's usually not much money in writing short stories. BUT I also discovered that, as you said, there are always a few markets that pay more than others, and if a writer's lucky enough to get a foothold in one of those (in my case it was Woman's World) it can pay really well.

      And yes, as surprising as it is, there do seem to be more short-story opportunities out there at the moment than a few years ago. Maybe that's because of the anthology possibilities, which I really believe have increased, but thanks to some of the newer mystery magazines there also seem to be a good many mag markets as well, if you look hard enough.

      I continue to be impressed by writers like you, who can make a living only from writing and writing-related jobs. More power to you!

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  15. Great post! And thanks for the shout-out too, of course. :-)
    Agree on so many points here--including that downside. (No zillion dollars in my account yet....) And appreciate your perspectives, as always--inspiring and motivating!

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    1. Hey Art -- Thanks for checking in. Hey, nobody ever said writing would make us rich, right?

      Congrats once again on the recent anniversary, and hi to Tara!

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