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Wednesday 2 April 2014

How's a short story different from a novel?




 
Writing a short story can feel like a breath of fresh air after focussing on novels as less time and concentration is needed. I mentioned in my previous post: How do you write? (Part II) that I need at least a three hour block to get into novel-writing. I found a 2000 word story could be done in one hour blocks because there wasn’t as much to remember when going back to it.

I’ve written flash fiction (Paragraph Planet and Novelicious Pinterest Prompt) and taken part in a collaborative story, but have wanted to write short stories for years and have several attempts saved on my computer. Recently, however I had an idea which wouldn’t go away and managed to finish a story of 2000 words.  

So, how is a short story different from a novel?

After novel-writing, it’s a treat time-wise.

There’s no big plan and the idea needs to be simple.

Usually hardly any research is needed. I got by using my old friend, Google.

Starting at the right point is crucial. Cutting the first few sentences from an initial draft helps.

Editing 2000 words (about the length of a chapter in a novel) is a dream compared to 70-80,000 words and a good way to hone editing skills.

Proofreading a novel can take half a day and it’s difficult to do in one go. With a short story it takes 5-10 minutes.

Squeezing a compelling beginning, middle and end into 2000 words can be a challenge.

With short stories the ending’s often unexpected. For me, that required a lot of mulling time.

Style needs to be more telling than in a novel. There are fewer opportunities to ‘zoom-in’ on a moment.

If you’re stuck in a rut with your novel, it’s worth having a go and if you finish one, it’s a real confidence boost.

The Easter holidays have arrived and the countryside around here's looking stunning. I’m looking forward to days out in the spring sunshine and catching up with friends and family. Last week I filled in my form for the RNA Conference in July and I can’t wait! Hope to see some of you there.

14 comments:

  1. Lately I've been considering venturing into short story writing Anita. As you say less words are involved. The thing that holds me back though is squeezing the beginning, middle and end in.

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    1. It took a few attempts to work out the ending, just by going over it again and again. It's worth a try Cathy-hope it goes well if you decide to give it a go!

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  2. Have enjoyed writing a couple of short stories, myself, Anita. I always mean to enter them into a competition, as they just sit on the computer and never get read. I agree, it's a whole new skill crafting a complete story into 2000 words - quite a fun challenge though!

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    1. Thanks for visiting Heather-hope you're well. I have loads of stories I've started on my computer over the years, but never finished. Perhaps I'll go back to them now I've managed to complete one. There are loads of competitions to enter, worth a try Heather!

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  3. I'm the other way around! I am more used to writing short stories and struggle with novels because I have been channelled into writing flash fiction by our mutual friend and mentor Ruth Brandt. She set us homework each week to write a short (flash fiction) story each week under 300 words. I rarely managed to keep it quite so short but it is good practice for creating a scene. When I finished going to her classes, I got together with some fellow ex-students because we all wanted to write longer short stories of 1500-2000 words. I find this length more manageable because you can get a lot more detail in but in less time. I think it is more like a scene, than a full story.

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    1. Hi Kay, thanks so much for visiting my blog again! Hope you're well. I remember Ruth's 300 word homework-great for getting words onto the page. I ended up treating the short story mentioned like a chapter from a novel, with more telling and backstory thrown in though. I expect if you're trying it from the other way round (from short stories to novel), you could write a few (with a loose plot in mind) and try to put them together. Best of luck with your writing-I enjoyed the excerpts you read out at The Hurtwood Inn. Hope to see you on one of Ruth's courses soon.x

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  4. Hi Anita, wasn't sure if you would remember me, as I couldn't work out how to add a photo to my profile! Yes, I am planning to go to Ruth's weekend away in November again. Did you go to the one in March? I couldn't go, as I had too many other things on that month but wondered how it went.
    Thanks for your advise on doing longer pieces of work. I have almost finished a Novella -I think I am up to 36,000 words at the moment. The trouble is that I keep putting it down for ages in between bursts of enthusiasm, so it has taken 4 years so far! I have sent the first 5000 words to the Good Housekeeping magazine competition to give myself a deadline to get it finished.

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    1. Hi Kay, try Gravatar for adding a photo to your profile. I missed Ruth's latest weekend course too, but hope to go to the next one. Good luck with the novella and the Good Housekeeping competition!

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  5. I too have enjoyed trying shorter works lately, Anita, and agree it can be a real boost and a feeling of achievement once you complete a short story. I also love the fact it doesn't take as long to edit, as this is the part of novel writing I hate!! I'm sure now you've completed a 2,000 word one lots of others will be waiting to flow onto the page/screen. Good luck!

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    1. Hi Vikki, enjoyed reading your Writing Process post earlier. Thanks-yes, hopefully it won't take too long to come up with some more short stories!

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  6. A very interesting post, Anita. I know what you mean when you say you need a 3 hour block to pick up the threads of a novel. I've written short stories too and I found that it helped me to hone my writing skills with feedback from competitions - especially from Writers' Forum!!

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    1. Thanks for visiting Jean! Didn't know Writers' Forum provided feedback, that must have been very useful.

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  7. Great post. I find short stories difficult to write and should be working on one now, so this post has spurred me to get on with it.

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    1. Thanks Georgina! Good luck with your short stories.

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