I have a short-story up for review this week. Again, the trepidation. It has been literally years since I’ve written a short-story. It used to be my ‘thing’, till I wrote my first novel, that is. Then short-stories went out the window.
I have re-discovered the short story. I primarily write fantasy, but there was a time, long-long-ago when I also dabbled in Science Fiction. While I may not feel confident enough to tackle a SF novel, I don’t have any qualms about attempting a SF short-story. Even with the world of fantasy writing, there are many different sub-genres. Through short stories, you can explore as many as you like.
It is a commitment to write a novel. Not only is it a commitment of time, but it is also a commitment to one set of characters, one main plot, one writing style. What if you get half way through and suddenly decide you don’t like the characters very much after all? Well, I suppose you could just let it sit. It could be argued that you wasted a lot of time on something you have no intention of finishing. (On the other hand, you most likely learned a lot through your writing experience, learning that will never be wasted.)
Short story writing is also a challenge. You have to come up with believable characters, a plot, sufficient conflict to keep a reader’s interest, and an ending that is…well…it’s an ending, you know; the story finishes. All of that in the space of 3000 words, give or take a thousand. At first I took too long to get to the point, and by my first 2,500 words I’d barely introduced the characters, set the scene, and introduced the conflict. Re-write. I did better (in my opinion at least–I guess I’ll soon see what others think) second time around. It was good for me–I had to write concisely, yet still paint a picture. I chose my words carefully. That’s always a good thing.
Now, how about flash-fiction?