tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post377308509676387737..comments2024-03-28T08:02:30.691-04:00Comments on The League of Extraordinary Writers: Short Stories: Compressing Everything into a Few PagesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11431700962951592287noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post-3475463453544239822011-02-07T13:33:19.958-05:002011-02-07T13:33:19.958-05:00I tend to write more short stories than novels.
...I tend to write more short stories than novels. <br /><br />I took a short story workshop last year, and I think the best advice I got is for a short story, you are looking at a moment in time. Short stories should have all that great stuff novels do: characters, setting, voice, plot, theme, etc. <br /><br />A lot of times, I think of short stories as the end of a novel. The culmination of who the characters are and what happens to them. You can't have much or any back story. You focus on the here and now. Every word counts even more in a short story. <br /><br />And, another thing I learned in that workshop is sometimes limiting the amount of characters can help. :)Cherie Reichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16663147386014122939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post-67055059758610380482011-02-07T11:57:58.339-05:002011-02-07T11:57:58.339-05:00Beth,
My writers group just completed and Antholo...Beth,<br /><br />My writers group just completed and Anthology, so I know these feelings all too well!<br /><br />Since you are in short-story-mode, if I could finagle you a copy, would you be interested?C. Michael Fonteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652620112106431443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post-67590743506839209522011-02-07T11:25:54.869-05:002011-02-07T11:25:54.869-05:00One of my favorite short stories is "The Cold...One of my favorite short stories is "The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin. Haunting, simple, and well...cold. <br /><br />And I love anything short by Asimov or Ray Bradbury as well. They were masters of the craft. <br /><br />And I totally sympathize with not being able to write short stories but being able to write novels. I love short stories but I just can't do it. It's so hard!Mandy P.S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02453249544598951624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post-29494285351224630182011-02-07T08:51:01.715-05:002011-02-07T08:51:01.715-05:00That one! I just love the story because it conveys...That one! I just love the story because it conveys so much about the characters wants and needs in few words.<br /><br />I always think of it this way: novels are movies, short stories are photographs. In a short story, you pick up the action at one moment in time and give a small glimpse in that world.Jenna Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07591399291903261245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5468546013884694910.post-76251724027345152152011-02-07T08:50:46.599-05:002011-02-07T08:50:46.599-05:00Some of the best advice I've read for short st...Some of the best advice I've read for short stories (which I also struggle with) is: No subplots.<br /><br />Basically, I think of the short as, rather than the First chapter of a book, the Final one. Because in a novel you're telling the most important events in a character's life. In a short story you're telling the Moment. The Big Moment. Like you said, you build everything in the story around that moment.<br /><br />You might enjoy the short stories of Peter S. Beagle (Of Last unicorn fame)...he's a master at that.<br /><br />I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds 90,000 easier than 9k...or 2.<br /><br />Good luck!Jess of All Tradeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02226845737117403585noreply@blogger.com