Short Fiction as Practice

Speaking as a short story writer who's trying a first novel, they're different beasts. You don't have the elbow room in a short story that you have in a novel. For some people it's crippling. For others, it's motivation.

I'm naturally sparse, so I prefer short stories. The novel's really making me work for it. I feel like I'm beating the reader over the head with things that I would have given a passing nod to in a short story.

Short stories are practice in a way that you are getting words on paper, fashioning them into little things called paragraphs, and then sticking those paragraphs together in a way that proves you are functionally literate. Outside of that, it's like comparing football to rugby (IMHO).

In his great article "To Make a Short Story Long," Orson Scott Card likens the short story and the novel to Spanish and Portuguese, related but quite different languages. He learned Spanish first, then Portuguese, and Portuguese chased Spanish out of his head. Similarly, short stories didn't teach him to write novels; writing novels taught him to write novels, and once he became a novelist, he found it difficult to return to the short story.

This is true in my experience. Only writing a novel teaches you to write a novel. Only writing short stories teaches you to write short stories. I actually started out with the long form and had to retrain myself to write short stories after writing several partial and two complete novels.

I'd guess it's more common to start with shorts and then try novels, but I very much doubt I'm alone in doing it the other way around.

In any case, writing either shorts or novels will teach you the basics of fictional structure and style. Which you should go for depends on what you want out of the exercise and what you bring to it.

Do you have a lot of ideas that could be told in a handful of scenes? If so, you have the seeds for a crop of short stories.

Or do you tend to think on a bigger scale? Can you imagine a work of dozens of scenes? Can you see yourself as an architect, planning the structural framework of a sizeable house, then executing the plan? If so, you may have a novel or two wanting to come out, and the temperment to attempt them.

Are you a patient person, or do you need quick gratification? Novels are definitely not for the sprinter, at least not as his first efforts.

Do you want to try your hand at marketing as soon as possible? Shorts, then.

One big advantage that short stories have for the novice is that he can produce them quickly, then revise them quickly, over and over again, thus getting early practice in the all-important discipline of completing what is started and in the critical art of rewriting.

All in all, if you don't have to write a novel, start with the shorts and love them for themselves. Learning one language will make it easier to learn a second.

I started with short stories but didn't really enjoy the experience. I did enjoy writing novel, though and that's what I do mainly. But I have to think up short stories for my granddaughter's bedtime stories. Yesterday, when I saw an ad for short stories for the Education Department's (Aust) School Magazine, I put a couple of the stories on paper - and I enjoyed doing it. So it just depends upon what you enjoy doing. I wouldn't suggest forcing yourself to write short stories because of a theory, or stop writing novels altogether, to write short stories. Just do what comes naturally and enjoy it.

There's also the natural benefit in the duration of a short story...

A budding author can definitely get frustrated when having to write out an entire novel, then edit the whole thing a few dozen times.

With a short story, you might be able to do that in the course of a month. A novel, not so much.

But to each their own...

Short fiction is hardly practice. Most short story writers I have talked to, or read about, seem to think it perhaps more difficult than novel writing.

JBI said:

Short fiction is hardly practice. Most short story writers I have talked to, or read about, seem to think it perhaps more difficult than novel writing.

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True Fact. As one of the other posters mentioned, you have a lot more "elbow room" with a novel; you can let it get a bit "flabby" here and there. With a short story, you don't have room for anything but skin, muscle and bone.

JBI said:

Short fiction is hardly practice. Most short story writers I have talked to, or read about, seem to think it perhaps more difficult than novel writing.

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Yup. It's been said that novelists are failed short story writers. And guess what? It's been said that short story writers are failed poets.

I guess poets are those who failed to think of that one perfect word.

Agree with what everyone else here says. Completely different animals.

Just for another POV, this guy disagrees:

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/sept97/keegan.htm

JBI said:

Short fiction is hardly practice. Most short story writers I have talked to, or read about, seem to think it perhaps more difficult than novel writing.

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I agree with this also. I like to write novels and short stories, but they are two completely separate things. A short story needs to be concise, the author needs to know the beginning middle and end and can't really deviate from that beucase there isn't as much space. Even in a long 8,000 word short the space is still limited.

A novel is different, it lets you expand on ideas with sub-plots ect.

WendyNYC said:

Just for another POV, this guy disagrees:

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/sept97/keegan.htm

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But seeing as he doesn't Wikipedia, his tips don't seem to really carry weight. For an interesting book on short stories however, which offers perhaps the best opinions from the best writers, as well as some of the best short stories,
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0321337220/?tag=absolutewritedm-20

Honestly though, if they were so much easier and such, why is it that readers generally shy away from them. Also, why is it that so many excellent writers, Alice Munro, Katherine Mansfield, Jorge Luis Borges, etc. only write short stories. Novels pay much more, and also tend to ramble on far more about messages.

Apples are pretty tasty. So are oranges. Mmm. I kind of like apples better, but that's just me. Mangoes are also nice.

It isn't like that and you know it. Short fiction is viewed as lesser because of its difficulty, and its length. However, everyone may also note that it is far more difficult for a writer to survive on just short stories, than on novels. Why is it then that short fiction is written, or even read? Because it is a complex art form viewed for its attack on single themes, with often minimal plot.

Phaeal said:

Apples are pretty tasty. So are oranges. Mmm. I kind of like apples better, but that's just me. Mangoes are also nice.

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And flash fiction is like pistachio nuts.

They really are different animals. Although I do agree with the advice that writing shorts is useful in building discipline and good work habits, I don't agree that trying a novel first is like trying to paint the Sistine Chapel as your first work. Who says you can't practice on your first novel? The Sistine Chapel is more like your fifth or sixth novel.

But some painters would do better to work a small still-life than an entire landscape mural...

Some could handle the mural fine, but others would find the task daunting.

Soccer Mom said:

And flash fiction is like pistachio nuts.

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Is this a comment on the writing or the writers?

Ronan said:

I have lateley considered working solely on short fiction, to hone my skills before I embark on writing something that will take almost certainly years. That isn't to say I see short fiction as just practice (despite using that word in my title), in fact this idea is also spurred on by inspiration drew from reading Italo Calvino. Really I was just wondering if anybody else uses short fiction as preparation, or what anybody thinks of this method

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That's what I'm doing now. I do know that short stories and novels are very different forms, so I'm not looking to learn how to "write a novel" from writing short stories.

Writing shorts is helping me in a number of ways, mostly about my writing process.

First, I'm learning how to translate ideas into stories. I have lots of ideas, very few of which I've turned into stories. Working on short stories gets me into the habit of using the many idea-to-story techniques that I know but that I too often forget to apply.

Similarly, I also have a large bag of tricks for jiggling myself loose when I'm stuck. But when I'm stuck I too often forget to reach into the bag. Working on short stories gives me practice at (1) noticing that I'm stuck and (2) treating stuckness as a signal to reach into my bag of tricks.

Finally, writing short stories is getting me (slowly) into the habit of sitting down to write. Surely that can't hurt when it comes to novels ;-)

I suspect that writing short stories will also help me hone my focus, clarity, word choice, and a host of other characteristics that will surely help my novels.

Dale

Different animals or not, writing short fiction gives you some immediate satisfaction and a chance to hone your chops before embarking on the novel roller coaster. I started out with short fiction because I was clueless as to what it took to write novel, and the thought of pumping out 100,000 words scared the bejeezus out of me. Setting down to write a tight 3 to 5 grand wasn't as intimidating. It was also a blast!

Both take time and work, but starting out with short fiction is like trying a 5k run before taking a shot at the Boston Marathon: You get a chance to see what it feels like and get your stride.

Pike

I think short fiction is a great practice for novel writing. It has been for me, in any case. I started on my novel at the same time as I started writing short fiction, and I see a tremendous improvement in pacing, description, character development, overall cohesion, attention to word choice. The only thing that SS writing doesn't help me with is plotting. Short stories are easy to plot. Novels are much harder due to being much longer.

Also let's not forget the social aspect. While writing and marketing my fiction I met published writers and editors, and learned a lot about the industry.

They also say that short story sales are a good thing to have on your novel query.

Great points, Rose! You summed that up nicely.

Pike

I think everyone here agrees that writing short stories is different than writing novels. My own thought is that while writing a short story may not teach you all you need to know about writing novels, it does teach you a lot about writing. Many of those skills are transferable.

It teaches:
--How to finish a work.
--Whether the draft then polish method works better for you than edit as you go.
--Discipline
--How to control POV and other technical skills such as active vs. passive voice.

So while it may not teach everything a novelist needs to know, there are definitely a lot of things a writer can learn from short stories regardless of what form they end up choosing.

Yes some of the skills are different, others are the same, and for those who need to polish all their skills polishing the common skills will help them improve regardless of the form they end up writing.

I much prefer writing novels and have found short stories much more difficult to do. I've taught myself how to write them and found that they are a good way to learn discipline as a writer.

I got started on short stories when I read somewhere that getting shorts published was a way to get "street cred" that would make the process of getting a novel published easier down the line. Years later, I don't know if that's true or not, but it's allowed me to explore a format I probably wouldn't have worked in otherwise.

I love using short fiction as a tool to learn about situations and characters, also to teach myself the discipline of getting to the point without rambling. In short stories you have to really stick with an idea, and give a clear message right away. Writing short stories has actually helped me to get "into" Chapters. If I have a chapter of 10 or 20 pages, I often tackle it at first as though I am writing a short story of that length. I feel that the Zissner method of chaining really helps. Writing short stories also helps me practice the sort of control I want to have over some section or chapter. It is also a way to jot down transient ideas that might eventually go to a larger fiction format.

Oh... also, there are some ideas that are not strong enough to write in novel form. These ideas are good as little "tidbits," but would not sustain a longer book. It is a pity short stories are not published as much as they once were.

I write primarily short fiction.

I agree that short fiction & novels are completely different things, and I like Orson Scott Card's comparison of Spanish & Portuguese.

The short form allows practice in many ways - use it if you are writing a novel and it will help you write tight, concise pieces. Use *all* literary forms and devices in order to get your voice right and your words in meaningful order. There's no rule against writing in every form possible in order to get the craft of writing to flow for you.