Making a career of short fiction

[tammay]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to verify some notions that I've always had about short fiction. I always got the impression that short story collections and/or novella collections/novella+short story collections got published once an author had already published a novel or novels. For some reason, I understood (don't ask me where) that a first time novelist couldn't go out with a collection of shorter works. Is that true?

I'm heading towards a PhD in Creative Writing (hopefully - if I get accepted!) and I've been talking to several CW students who say they want to write only shorter works and are doing short story collections for their dissertations. For me, I've always felt that my writing style works better for shorter works. I tend to write dense, character-based literary stories that are more psychological reality than fast-paced plot type of stories. I've been trying to work on a novel but I'm always getting caught by how weighed down it seems. I know that could be my own unbiast perception, but I'm starting to think that I would enjoy and have more success with shorter works. I enjoy writing short stories but often feel that it's not worth the time to really revise them (talking about 4 or more revisions) because it seems like novel publishing is where ultimately the success is. Also, I'm not sure if you could find an agent sending out a collection of shorter works.

Anyone have any insights on this? I'd like to eventually publish a book-length work (as many as I can :D) rather than sending out short stories to magazines.

Tam

[Greer]

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to verify some notions that I've always had about short fiction. I always got the impression that short story collections and/or novella collections/novella+short story collections got published once an author had already published a novel or novels. For some reason, I understood (don't ask me where) that a first time novelist couldn't go out with a collection of shorter works. Is that true?
Well, first, a first-time novelist would be going out with a novel, not a collection of short stories. :) To answer your question, though, it is extremely difficult to get a collection of short stories published as a first book, but not impossible. However, you will have to get them published in journals first, and often you will need to win a Pushcart or O. Henry or something comparable to really grab an agent's attention. Even then, short fiction is often only published as the front-end of a two-book deal, the second, of course, being a novel. There are exceptions, of course, for some writers who really specialize in short fiction. Alice Munro or Steve Almond for example.


I'm heading towards a PhD in Creative Writing (hopefully - if I get accepted!) and I've been talking to several CW students who say they want to write only shorter works and are doing short story collections for their dissertations.
This is very common in grad school; short fiction is easier to workshop, and is a good way to cut your teeth (in the literary fiction world, anyway).

For me, I've always felt that my writing style works better for shorter works. I tend to write dense, character-based literary stories that are more psychological reality than fast-paced plot type of stories. I've been trying to work on a novel but I'm always getting caught by how weighed down it seems. I know that could be my own unbiast perception, but I'm starting to think that I would enjoy and have more success with shorter works. Then by all means, write short fiction. There are many journals which publish good short work. Just be aware you probably won't make a living doing it. Especially literary short fiction. You can, however, parlay it into a teaching career if that is your goal.

I enjoy writing short stories but often feel that it's not worth the time to really revise them (talking about 4 or more revisions) because it seems like novel publishing is where ultimately the success is. Also, I'm not sure if you could find an agent sending out a collection of shorter works.
First, if you're going to write short fiction, and especially if you're going to grad school, get used to the idea of revision. If you don't think that it is "worth the time" to revise your stories, perhaps you shouldn't be writing them. Sorry to be blunt, but that's the way it is. Writing is hard work, short or long. Second, getting an agent should really be the last thing on your mind right now. From your post it sounds like you are relatively early in your career; at this point, the writing is the thing. Really. Write good stuff, get it published in top journals, and the agents will take care of themselves. Trust me. That being said, agents most likely aren't going to look at your collection unless the stories are published individually and you have a novel ready to go as a follow-up.

Anyone have any insights on this? I'd like to eventually publish a book-length work (as many as I can :D) rather than sending out short stories to magazines.
As I said, you can't get around sending stories to magazines if you want to publish a collection (thought a few university presses do sponsor contests for complete collections). If your concern is more with publishing books than writing, short stories might not be the quickest route.

[tammay]

Greer,
Thanks for the thoughtful and thorough response. I'm not against revision by any means and I've been doing a lot of it lately - both for grad school and my fiction. I see what you're saying, though - short fiction can work as a suppliment (and is probably necessary) for a teaching career, especially if I plan to teach creative writing (which I hope to do). But for a specific writing career, novels is more of a quick way to go (if you can call getting published quick...)

I guess the bottom line is that I should write what I enjoy and what suits my style and work on getting that perfected and out there to the public eye and the rest will follow.

Thanks for that perspective.

Tam

[pickman]

Novelists tend to start off by getting as much short fiction published as possible. Not only does this improve your reputation and help you in finding an agent, it is also good for honing your prose style for a longer work.

As an unknown writer, your most likely route to getting a collection of short fiction published would be through self-publishing, but I would not recommend it.