I wrapped up the first draft of my first novel three days ago. It felt good. Not great, but good. The following day, all I could think about was all the stuff that needed to be rethought, reworked and rewritten. The prospect of doing those things is daunting and exciting. I look forward to the revision process, but I also look forward to some weeks away from the novel.
To that end, I am working to stretch my short story muscles a bit. I’ve entered a few contests hosted by Jay Lake, Susan Adrian and Ken Scholes, but those were all of the flash variety. Until I started entering these contests, I hadn’t done much with short fiction since primary school. I am thankful opportunities like these exist. It is unlikely I would have written any short fiction while working on my novel if not for these authors’ offering incentive to do so. Now that I’ve done some, I’m encouraged to do more for the sake of writing. Prizes are nice (not that I’ve won any), but to explore short fiction can only help to better my writing.
Also, it is a nice break from working on one concept to explore many. The challenge for me will be to see if I can convey the feelings, tones, characters and stories economically. Today I’m mapping out the bones of a fantasy short story, probably something in the 3,000 to 6,000 word range. I’m trying out some tools I’ve come across with regard to setting up the story, so it’s an exercise of sorts. It’s also an exercise I plan to submit for publication.
Short stories are so hard for me to write, I’ve never been good at them! To create a world & believable characters in that 3,000 – 6,000 range is a real challenge. I’m going to do what you’re doing, Jonathan, and finish my novel, then write a couple of short stories.
Good luck! Let us know when and where they’re published, because I’d love to read them.
Teresa
I’m curious to see if I can accomplish those things (characters, world, and heck, maybe even plot!) in a short story. There’s something about having parameters that helps me to some extent. I’m hoping to increase the economy of my writing this way. Do you have a time frame for your work?
I had hoped to have the rewrites on my current WIP almost finished by now; however, life and the full time job has interceded to slow me down. My original timeframe was late summer/early fall. I’m being pushed back a bit, but I’m still shooting to have the final edits (including beta readers) done by the first of the year.
I believe that if I had been a member of OWW from the beginning of the novel, I would be done by now. Unfortunately, I’m having to completely rewrite portions of the last half of the novel, and while I’m pleased with the overall outcome, I’m chomping at the bit on the time factor.
There is one small press that I know of that is opening to submissions after January 1, 2010, and I thought about submitting to them. I also intend to try the traditional route of querying agents.
While I’m gathering my notes for my second novel, I would like to try writing a couple of short stories. I already have ideas and notes, but I haven’t had the most precious component — time. 😉