May 1st, 2006 marked my first day as an official writer. I swore to myself before I left the safety of my parents house, I would give being a full time writer a shot. On this day, I commited myself to writing two new short stories every month, editing two stories from a previous month, and double-checking/submitting edited stories from the month before that. It’s one of the first promises I made to myself that I actually followed through on.
Almost one year to the day later, I got my first publication. Then the people wanting to publish my work seemed to explode like popcorn under my feet. The more/better my credentials became, the better things got.
When I moved to Washington, I made another big commitment change. I decided to leave the short story world, and try my hand at novels instead. For those of you tired of the marathon vs. sprinter analogy, it’s kind of like shaping bonsai trees all your life and then moving on to growing record breaking pumpkins.
This post here reminded me of that dark time floundering between two different styles. I ran out of plot at 25,000 words on my first draft because in short stories detail is minimal. Not to mention you only focus on one thing at a time. Not to mention there are no sub plots. Not to mention…you get the idea.
Writing a novel has been interesting, and I believe I’m going to enjoy writing them every bit as much as I enjoy short stories–once I figure out the writing process.
How do you feel about short stories vs. novels?
A.M. Kuska's Blog 
Aug 25, 2010 @ 12:46:13
I wrote my novel first, so my transition went in reverse. Now that I’ve written a few short stories, I find that I like writing them. The ratio of effort / gratification is better with short stories, and publishing one, if only on my blog, is more satisfying than having a manuscript sitting in a file. The monetary reward may never materialize on either count, but it’s not all about money.
Aug 25, 2010 @ 13:36:22
“…ran out of plot at 25,000 words.” 🙂 A familiar experience, leaving me wondering whether I’ve failed to develop things far enough or am trying to stretch what’s basically a short work into a lengthy masterpiece. Always bad, that. Like adding more water to tea…..it just dilutes the strength.
I think there’s a place for both novels and short stories and it’s best not to get too caught up in finding niche. Rather to have a good story to tell and to tell it well. The writer has work to do in sculpting and shaping, but sometimes also stepping back and letting the story BE what it is, whatever the length and complexity.
Aug 25, 2010 @ 14:06:20
When I was younger, I wrote short stories, science fiction, of all things, but had little success. Life, as they say, intervened. As I could eke out moments I wrote novels, short ones, and then spent many years earning a living with articles and such. It wasn’t until I took Holly’s classes that I began to feel that I could write a real, true, novel. Life continues to intervene, but I’m making progress with my revision and feel hopeful–and I’ll be riotously glad to be finished with this one so I can go on to the next one.
There’s the rub: Writing a novel is a long-haul commitment, and I’m just a cross-town kind of gal.
Question: Did you just stop writing short stories at all? If so, why? Lots of folks do both. Thanks for the interesting post!
Aug 26, 2010 @ 07:56:39
A wonderful success story.
A budding author blooming into a novelist. Congratulations.
Where did you get your first short story published?