Long Short Stories

I had the same idea about knocking off a few shorts so I could get some publishing credits to go in that embarrassing white space in my query letter. Turns out, it's a tough market. Oh, well.

In order to keep them short, I find I have to write a good outline first, so I know what's story and what's fluff while I'm writing. And unless you're very different from me, if you write a short story like I wrote my book (aimless wandering, wondering where I would land next,) your story won't be very efficient.

Shorts

katiemac said:

I'd like to attempt some short stories. I'm winding down on the first novel (slowly, but it is winding) and I'd like to start submitting shorts while I work through the editing process and hopefully build up some kind of record or at the very least a little bit of extra cash for the fall.

Problem being, I haven't written a short story since grade school, and even then "short" was anywhere around 100 pages, which at the time I thought was novel length anyway.

My mind seems to run away with me when it comes to "short" and I certainly don't want another novel on my hands. I know there are people who have the opposite problem, but does anyone have any tips or thoughts on keeping it short? Books, articles, magazines to look into?

Thanks in advance!

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The fiist tip is just to read as many short stories as possible, and to write as many as possible. Not much you can do without these two steps.

Next tip would be to remember that a short story is a snapshot, not a movie. A short story usually covers one event, and does so over a limited time. At the very most, you have about 7,500 words to use, and it's really tough selling anything over 5,000 words. So make the short story about one event, and leave out everything that doesn't directly concern that one event.

Third tip would be to forget about it. The good credit/paying short story market is a hundred times tougher than the novel market. The credits are great, but the reason they're great is because it's so incredibly tough to crack decent short story markets. You can write short story after short story for years and years before breaking into a worthwhile market. It really is immensely easier to sell a novel.

The reason to write short stories is because you love reading short stories, and because you really, truly love writing short stories. If you really loved writing short stories enough to write the twenty or fifty or hundred or two hundred or more that it takes to get good at it, you'd probably already be writing them day in and day out.

I think I would be one of those who fall into your opposite category. All of my stories end up being shorts. I can't seem to conceive an idea big enough to fill out a novel.

James is right that the short story market is tough. Because they're so short, they really are expected to be perfect, where a novel can be forgiven a flaw or two.

If you are going to try, you might want to consider that a novel has many conflicts, the main plot and subplots, but a short story focuses on one conflict.

Yes, and read! Maybe pick up a few of the Best American Short Story anthologies. Those are usually very good. I'm reading the 2004 edition right now which is great. Zoetrope All-Story always has amazing shorts. Or if you wanted to read collections by single authors, maybe try Lorrie Moore, A.M. Homes, Raymond Carver, Sherman Alexie, T.C. Boyle... to name just my favorites.

Are those the numbers from The Lost under your username? I love that show!

I'm also planning to start sending my MS out this fall. <gulp!> While I go through editing, however, I'm also juggling another novel idea and several short story ideas. While the novel will one day (hopefully) go to the shelves, the short stories are being written for another purpose entirely: Stress relief.

I love short stories, but I don't have the time/skill to hack my way into that market yet. So for now, I'll just write for myself.
I suggest you do the same - it keeps my muse active, and it gives me a way to exercise my writing abilities in a different style. Also, you could always enter competitions with the stories you amass.

Good luck!

As someone recently diagnosed with adult ADD, I have come to appreciate short stories, not just as a reader, but as a writer. I still focus (if you can call it that) mainly on novels, but if I have a market in mind, or a contest, with a word count limit, I try to find a story that would fit into that space.

For instance, the Writer's Digest has a short story competition this summer: 4000 words max. I started a story, but found it was too long to fit into 4000 words. There's only so much chopping one can do, right? So I began another, and it fit perfectly into that size. I'm also eyeing the Writers of the Future contest, which allows stories up to 17,000 words. I have a story I'm working on for that, too. Currently, it's just over 15,000.

Maybe having a word count limit goal will help you find a story to write that'll fit within that boundary. I've found that the magazines in my genre generally prefer, as James said, 7500 or fewer. I figure if I shoot for 5000 words, I can't go wrong.