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Monday 20 August 2012

Does writing shorter pieces help with editing a novel?



I recently wrote three short pieces:

1. Two 75 word stories for paragraph planet: How Times Change and How It Was

2. The last 100 words of a collaborative story started by Michelle Elvy: This Day

3. A travel writing article when returning from holiday for a national newspaper's competition. It didn't win, but I found squeezing my 2 week holiday experience into 500 words a challenge. The angle had to be right and every word had to be geared towards that angle, much like with the plot in a novel. Writing the article was a good exercise and when I returned to my novel the following day, I saw it through different eyes.

I've written short pieces in writing classes before during timed exercises. The difference between timed exercises and having as much time as you like is that you can edit the piece until you're happy with it.

Editing a short piece of writing can take up to an hour or even two hours, but it's not as much work as editing a novel. For all of the above pieces, I wrote more than the required word count and edited down depending on whether words were relevant to the story/ angle. I ended up with pieces I was pleased with. However with How It Was , my editing brain noticed after submitting that it should say: [in its place] instead of [replacing where it had been] because I'd already said [had been] at the beginning of the sentence. If I'd made this change, I would have needed to readjust the rest of the paragraph to make up the 75 words.

Writing short pieces is almost like building muscle in the gym to be a faster runner.

Now that I've sent my manuscript to the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme, I shall be getting back to Book 2 with current working title 'The Painting'. I'd like to write more flash fiction and maybe some short stories too.

I'd be interested to read your comments on anything relevant to the above. Do you have any points to add re editing or writing short fiction/articles?

15 comments:

  1. I absolutely agree that you should tell the story in as few words as possible and that sentence length should ebb and flow with the pace. Short and snappy to increase pace and a descriptive insert to slow things down. That's something I strive to do anyway, and writing something to a specific word count certainly helps to focus the mind.

    Janice xx

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    1. Thanks Janice for your comment. I agree pace is important-reading short pieces aloud always helps me with that.x

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  2. I write at least one short piece a week. It helps me learn how to say a lot without using many words, which is a great tool for a writer. So, yes, it definitely helps.

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    1. That's a great idea Kelly. Thanks for your comment.

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  3. I never used to write much short stuff, but I've written a few short stories recently, including some flash, and it definitely helps with editing and keeping your language economic. I'm just launching into a new novel 1st draft, so I don't think I'll write much else during that - I prefer to keep my brain inside the novel during the first draft. But while I'm editing and while I'm letting the draft stew a bit before coming back to it, writing short stories feels useful.

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    1. Thanks Alison for your comment. I agree-writing short fiction is a useful thing to do whilst a draft proves like bread dough. Best of luck with the first draft of your new novel.

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  4. I have to admit I find it really difficult to write a short story. I've attempted several times but just not happy with them. I like writing Flash of around 400-700 words and I like writing a full length novel. I do think trying something you normally wouldn't is a good exercise and sometime a pleasantly surprising one.

    Good luck with the NWS report and with book 2.

    Sue
    x

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    1. Hi Sue, I have the same problem with short stories and would like to master them. I think reading more of them would help me work out how to get a whole plot into so few words. Thanks for the good luck wish and good luck with yours.x

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  5. I agree with the excellent comments already made and thanks for an interesting topic, Anita. There are times when a restricted word count limits a story's potential but your mention of wanting to change a story after after you'd submitted it reminds me of the benefit of holding on to a piece of work, however short, and not submitting too soon, to allow the unconscious workings of the brain to play their part in the drafting process. This is something I'm still learning to do!

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    1. Hi Josephine, thanks so much for visiting my blog and for your comment. I should have waited for longer before submitting my paragraph-will definitely do next time. Even if I do that though, I'm sure I'd think of a way to change it-always seems to happen after I send off a submission for my novel. It's probably best if I just don't read anything I've sent off to avoid the disappointmenet afterwards!

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    2. and look-a perfect example! disappointment is spelt incorrectly. Was going to edit the paragraph, but thought I'd leave it in to illustrate my point.

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  6. I was a short story and article writer long before tackling novels, and I still love the short form. It's more immediate and helps focus the mind on the relevant points of the story. Perhaps it's also useful for making us more concise in having to make every word count, whereas we can afford to ramble more in a novel!

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    1. Hi Rosemary, thanks for your comment (have just read your blog and it sounds as though you had a lovely cruise!) I hadn't thought about what it's like to go from writing short stories to writing a novel. The skills used are different I think and as I said when replying to Sue above, I'd love to master the art of short story writing.

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    2. 75 words certainly is short!! I've never attempted anything that short, but should imagine that it's an interesting exercise and one that's quite fun. My idea of a short story is between 2,000 and 3,000 words. That's quite an enjoyable length to write. I've done three recently that fell into that length span, and enjoyed doing all of them.

      The master of short stories is Guy de Maupassant. They are well worth reading. My favourite perhaps is La Parure (the necklace). Worth reading if you haven't read them - not a word is wasted, and that surely is the secret of the successful short story.

      Liz X

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    3. Hi Liz, thanks so much for your comment and for your recommendation. I remember reading Boule de Suif for French 'A' Level-a while ago now! Looking back, can't believe that I used to read books in French. Will look out for those stories.

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