How often do you write short stories?

The Lonely One · Jul 14, 2009

At first glance this may seem to be a question for another section, but I was hoping to get answers from novelists so I posted it here.

How often, as a novel writer, do you write short stories? Interested in answers both from published and unpublished writers.

I find my love affair with short fiction to be torrid and warmly fulfilling. It is a love I hope I never lose even if it holds no financial value in my life.

So, my public. What's what? Bang out a few one-nighters with shorts?

Cav Guy · Jul 14, 2009

Very rarely. I'd say I write one after every second or third novel draft, although sometimes I go on a tear and write three or four back to back. Can't say that I enjoy them as much as I do longer projects, but they do make for a good diversion or a way to test out a character or two to see if they can carry a novel.

ccarver30 · Jul 14, 2009

I wrote a "short story" and it was 22,352 words. :\

gonovelgo · Jul 14, 2009

I've never written a short story. I don't think I'd be very good at it. My initial instinct when a 'story idea' pops into my head is to immediately inflate it to something novel-length.

lucidzfl · Jul 14, 2009

I used to write short stories. Now adays I have such big tasks with my WIPs, I just don't have time. If I have a good idea, I write it down in a little notepad.

Over time, some of the ideas and concepts for short stories can work themselves into a narrative and make a novel.

The novel I'm currently working on has some "short story" ideas in it.

(Its based on a dream I had, at its core, though, and that is rad)

Travis J. Smith · Jul 14, 2009

Back when I first got into writing I was exclusively a short-story writer, writing one a day, it seemed. Everything changed when I wrote my first novel; like gonovelgo, I am plagued by thoughts of how to turn every "short-story idea" into something novel length.

Last time I wrote a short story was when I joined the creative writing club when I was at the community college for a semester because I was wait-listed for that semester at Pitt. Wanted to contribute something other than novel excerpts, edited a little more each time. But those short stories haven't even gone through a proper revision process yet because my novels are what have my attention.

JoNightshade · Jul 14, 2009

I started out writing short stories, lots of them. Then my "short" stories kept getting longer. Then I expanded a short story into a novel. For a while I wrote both, interspersed, and got a few short story pubs that I could use in queries. But I haven't written a short story now in several years. The desire has just evaporated. I used to read a lot of short stories, too, but don't anymore. Whether I'm reading or writing, now I feel like if I am going to invest time and "caring" into a project, I want to be able to stay with it for a long time. Which means novels. I'm in love with novels and I don't think I'll ever go back.

James D. Macdonald · Jul 14, 2009

How often do you write short stories?

About twice a year.

scarletpeaches · Jul 14, 2009

Never have, never will.

RG570 · Jul 14, 2009

Once or twice a year. Not really my thing.

Izz · Jul 14, 2009

I'm always working on short stories. Often the pattern goes: novel words in the morning, short story words in the afternoon. Novels and shorties are two different art forms, and i find that working on both at the same time helps keep me fresh.

That being said, i don't think i'm especially good at the short story yet, but i'm getting there.

ETA: oh, and often writing up and polishing a short story until i think it's ready to sub takes me longer (in overall time) than it does to write a novel first-draft.

FOTSGreg · Jul 14, 2009

I'm trying currently to write 1 a month.

I am, unfortunately, a bit farther behind in this endeavor than I'd like to be - 7 months into the year and I have 4 completed and 3 in various stages of being written.

I've let myself become sidetracked by longer works and most recently by a new novel WIP.

Linda Adams · Jul 14, 2009

I used to, but I don't any more. The first reason is that the magazines really don't publish the kind of fiction I write. But also, I was--and still do--have such a problem with novel lengths that I had to cut myself off from short stories so I wouldn't return to short habits. I still can't do subplots.

Shadow_Ferret · Jul 14, 2009

I started out writing short stories, wrote them for most of my writing career until I finally finished a novel. Now I write them as the mood strikes me. Mostly flash. It's weird, I write either flash or a novel. One extreme to the other. It's nice that they finally invented flash because I used to not have a market for my stuff.

defcon6000 · Jul 14, 2009

Rather infrequently. I have two short stories over a span of a few years (although one is more flash fiction).

efkelley · Jul 14, 2009

Now that I'm getting serious about writing, I'm finding that the advice for an aspiring novelist is to write short stories. LOTS of short stories. The idea for this point in my career is to get a few dozen credits in solid publications to help buff out the qualifications portion of the query letter.

So, my strategy is to switch to a short story when I find myself bogged down in my novel. So far since April the novel is at 32k words, and I've got 3 short stories finished. It's not as much progress as I'd like, but the short stories have slowed me down since I am really not used to writing those.

It's interesting that writing short stories has actually improved the novel in my eyes. Working within a fixed word count has forced me to stick to the absolute essentials to tell the story. The problem is that on the first editing pass, I'll probably chop a cool 5k out of the earlier portion of the story and end up with something that falls short on word count.

K_Woods · Jul 14, 2009

Until about six weeks ago, the last short story I had written was in my senior year of high school...nearly ten years ago. I've always veered toward longform.

Now that I've started doing the challenges over in SYW (SF/F), I've tried for one complete short per month. (Didn't make it for June.) My main project is the novel, which is taking up most of my headspace right now. Or, rather, most of what's left over after the toddler.

Matera the Mad · Jul 14, 2009

I've actually written more shorts than novels. They're my vacation days.

Sean D. Schaffer · Jul 14, 2009

The Lonely One said:
At first glance this may seem to be a question for another section, but I was hoping to get answers from novelists so I posted it here.

How often, as a novel writer, do you write short stories? Interested in answers both from published and unpublished writers.

I find my love affair with short fiction to be torrid and warmly fulfilling. It is a love I hope I never lose even if it holds no financial value in my life.

So, my public. What's what? Bang out a few one-nighters with shorts?

I haven't written a good short story in years. I've written shorts, mind you, just not good ones.

My love for short stories kind of died out a few years ago. I guess when I started to delve more into my novel-length manuscripts, I just kind of lost interest in short stories. I sometimes kick myself for that, because back in my teen years, I could write a pretty mean short story. I still could, if I just got motivated to do it again.

If you love them, though, by all means continue to write them. There's nothing like writing something you love to get the creative juices flowing.

Blessed Be.

D.A.G. · Jul 14, 2009

Reading through the responses, I don't feel so guilty about being dedicated to my novel-length WIPs. I occasionally start short stories when I get an interesting idea in mind, but the stories always die when they reach 500-1,000 words--aka the middle--because there isn't another "story spark" to carry them through. Having already completed a novel and most of its sequel, I'm finding short stories difficult to write or complete because of the word limitations. I'm also not as invested in the characters, a problem which inevitably rears its ugly head during editing.

dgrintalis · Jul 14, 2009

I never used to write short stories. Poetry was always my thing. I started writing them a few months ago, though, and now I write them whenever I have an idea. I always know when they are a short story, too. it's kind of weird. I write them while I'm working on a WIP or while editing. I think of them as brain exercise, a way to keep the word machine in shape, so to speak.

Cranky · Jul 14, 2009

They are all I write anymore. I have sort of given up on writing novels, at least for the time being. Maybe I'll start writing a novel again before NaNo, but I somehow doubt it.

Shweta · Jul 14, 2009

I'm a short fiction writer who's trying to do this novel thing, so I'm not really the target -- but I wanted to say I'm amazed at the people who can write one a day.

The least time I've managed for even very short fiction is 3-5 days. (Though that's non-flash; I can write and edit a flash piece in a day.)

year90ninezero · Jul 14, 2009

Always working on two or three, and finish about the same in a year.

RunawayScribe · Jul 14, 2009

I write two or three shorts a year, I'd say.

How often do you write short stories?

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