Writing Short Stories

Okay, last week we covered series writing. This week is for the opposite end of the spectrum writers. This one's for the folks like me who love to write short.

What is your ideal length for a short story? How do you make sure that you're able to get one full story in that length?

Rosemary Claire Smith: The bulk of my published fiction consists of short stories. They were where I began my writerly journey. I still love them and just finished one yesterday. I don’t have an ideal length, but the ones that garnered the most attention are the longer ones: 8,000-14,000 words. I love the challenge of flash fiction and find the 1,000-word limit great inducement for cutting every extraneous word and sentence. Those left are expected to do double and triple duty.

Sheela Leyh: I know that it's more than 1000 words. Anything 1000 words or less gives me a major headache to write. I do write poetry from time to time. I do comb through my words for more impact when writing shorter.

John Morgan 'Bat' Neal: The most recent story I have written is 806 words. It doesn't need one word more.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Went to Penguicon, a great one for writers. One of the panels was about How To Keep Your Short Story from Turning Into A Novel. Some of my notes from the panel were:

• The formula is 1/4 setup, 1/2 meat, 1/4 wrap/ twist
• Stay on task, make a plan, and stick to it
• Give yourself a word count and stick to it
• Make every word count
• Short stories do not have subplots,
• Don’t write to cut down, write light to add later,
• No backstory, use efficient descriptions,
• Economy like poetry

Jessica Nettles: I don't have an ideal length. Each story has a way of finding its length. I know that sounds metaphysical, but that's how it works in my world. Sometimes, I am writing to a specific word count, and I work hard to get to that word count and make the story work in that frame. That's good exercise for me. Other times, I'm writing for me, so I can go as I feel like going and let the story find its way.

Sean Hillman: I would say 3k to 7k is my ideal

David Payne: Exactly as long as the story needs to be to tell the story. I range from under 500 words up to ~15k. There is probably a cluster in the 1k-2k range, but that's because that's how long those stories were.

Bobby Nash: Not sure if it’s ideal, but most publishers request short stories of roughly 10,000 words, so that is my go-to length for most short stories. It really depends on what the publisher is asking for, though. They set the length.

Anita Stewart: I don't have an ideal length. Generally, the story dictates the length.

Can Wiggins: I write short stories and have found 5K is my usual sweet spot, although I also write flash fic of 500 words and those get published on the reg. Check what the pub wants and have at it.

Marian Allen: It depends. Helpful, eh? I have been known to take a 1000-word flash and pare it down to 150 words. I generally go 5000 words-ish, but I love flash fiction. You curate the length by finding the heart of the story (not the action climax, the important, transformative turning point) and either trim or expand.

Sean Taylor: This may seem like a copout, but in most cases, it's whatever word count my publisher is looking for. Having written for many anthologies, each tends to have a preferred word count, so I've learned to write for word counts (though the real skill, I think, is plotting for word counts so that the story doesn't overwhelm the page limit). Because of that, I've become pretty comfortable with lenghts of 3k, 5k, 10k, and 15k, though, of course, each of those works with different planning. 

Juliet Rose: 2k to 5k for me. Anything longer and I want to make it a book. I tend to think of a short as one concept/POV. I don't write a lot of shorts, but if an idea hits and fits, I'll jot it down. I never force it either way.

2. Does the "one short story = one scene" rule work for you, or are you the kind of writer who still fits multiple scenes into a short piece of fiction? How do you make it work?

Marian Allen: It depends. (AGAIN?) The shorter the story, the less likely it is to need a scene break. But the story and my whim dictate. Lemme do one for you:

Ma said, "Safe travels. Bring me a souvenir." 

Not a long trip. Business. Go, get 'er done, home. 

"Here, Ma. For you." "Oh, lovely! I don't know which I like best." She picked each up and admired it -- the shining seashell, the locks of our enemies' hair, and the teeth of her sister.

Anita Stewart: Shorter pieces are usually one scene (especially flash fiction), but if the story needs more than one scene, then I write it and use scene breaks.

Bobby Nash: I try to tell a complete story. If that can be done in one scene, great. Most of the time, I am writing multiple scenes, even in short stories. I do whatever the story and characters need. I trust the characters to get me where I need to go.

Sean Taylor: This tends to be genre-specific for me. For example, a literary short story is far more likely to fit this mold for me. But a crime story or a fantasy tale, those will require more scenes, and a pulp novellette will need to be written almost as a mini-novel, complete with "chapters" (in some cases, actual chapters). 

David Payne: Depends on the story - some are one scene, some are more.

Sean Hillman: I write multiple scenes in my shorts. It requires an economy of words.

Jessica Nettles: I've done both. I view stories like small plays or snapshots. This means that the cast is small and the scope is generally small as well. That doesn't limit the scene to one scene always. If I go with a literal snapshot approach, then I may only have a scene or two or a long shot where the action just keeps moving and doesn't really break. Other stories need more scenes and movement to get us where we're going.

Sheela Leyh: I'm the fit in the amount of scenes the story needs. I use the natural transitions between scenes to my advantage and let the pacing help that effect out when I can.

Rosemary Claire Smith: A one-scene story works for me when it consists of the most interesting point in a character’s life. That said, my short fiction usually has three or four scenes. It works for me by restricting the number of characters and events, not the number of scenes.

3. There's an axiom that goes (mostly from writing classes, I'm convinced) "Start after the beginning and end before the ending," particularly in regard to short stories. Do you find this to be truthful and helpful for you, or do you ignore it and just follow your heart into the mists of storytelling?

Jessica Nettles: All stories start in the middle of something, just like life. We are literally born in the middle of the story (unless we are Adam and Eve, and even then, there was something before them). My point is that there is a before the story starts, and you have to consider that before to know where to start. Most of my stories start with a lot that's not told but will be referenced or connected in some way later. My werewolf story, "Renewal," has a whole backstory and world it connects to that is explained as the story proceeds.

Sean Taylor: I learned that in college writing classes, but I relearned it when writing for comic books as this instead: "Start at the high point of action or character." That works better for me because of the genre work I'm doing. Sometimes a good knife fight makes a good beginning because it draws in the reader even if it is before the actual beginning of the story (like the first kill in a horror movie). But sometimes, I have to hit where the character is, revealing some turning point or some challenge they don't even know they're facing yet. 

Bobby Nash: I do what works best for the story I’m telling. If it requires a start at the beginning, so be it. I typically like to start with the POV character doing something or feeling something and build out from there. In a short story, there’s not a lot of time, so I get the story started where it’s most effective.

I guess it’s telling that, until this question, I don’t recall ever being told to “Start after the beginning and end before the ending.”

Marian Allen: I often "write my way into a story," then find where the story really begins and delete the first bit.

Rosemary Claire Smith: I do start at the beginning. This is inefficient because I frequently find I need to trash the first 5, 10, or 20 pages. Ah, well.

Sheela Leyh: I tend to ignore this one and let the story itself dictate where it starts and stops. Sometimes, a story needs to end after the actual ending, and other times it needs to stop at the same time that the ending does.

Sean Hillman: I think like a lot of advice it is fun to say, but not that useful. (Almost) Every story does this, regardless of length.

David Payne: Haven't heard that axiom. Sounds too general to be useful for me, but I've found that about many axioms.

Anita Stewart: I just write the story until I'm satisfied with it.

4. Do you find short stories more fulfilling to you as a writer than longer works? Why or why not?

Rosemary Claire Smith:  It’s easier for me to find a publisher, and hence readers, for my short fiction. So that’s more satisfying. OTOH, completing a novel feels like a bigger accomplishment.

Sheela Leyh: I find both equally worth the effort. It's more of the effect that I'm going for and getting the points across meaningfully.

Jessica Nettles: I like short story writing because the dopamine hit comes faster. It's like doing a live performance vs. a taped performance. I love doing live theater because the audience response is immediate. If I'm funny, I know I'm funny. If I impact the audience significantly, I can feel it--right then. Short fiction isn't quite like that, but sort of is. The finished product happens quicker, and publication turnaround is much faster (usually). This means it gets to an audience quicker as well. Do I like it better than writing novels? I'm not sure. Both are pretty satisfying. I like the way I get to really know the characters and stay with them when I write novels.

Sean Hillman: I do not think more fulfilling is how I would characterize shorts. They do have a quicker turnaround of satisfaction.

Sean Taylor: I've never hidden my love of short stories. I still feel they are a higher art form in writing. Yeah, I know. Call me a snob. I wear it proudly. I think I'll always write more short stories than novels, although I'm learning that the way to make any money and build a sustainable fanbase today as a writer is to do novels almost exclusively. But, as an art form, I just have always preferred shorts. I think it takes a lot of skill to write succinctly and make a point that speaks beyond the plot, and I always feel accomplished when I can get that sense at the end of a story I'm writing. 

David Payne: An author I know likened writing short stories to eating candy. It is sweet and satisfying, but often the joy from eating it is too short. For me, I enjoy eating candy all the time, so it is no surprise I've written over 200 short stories.

Bobby Nash: Not really. I find writing in general fulfilling. My preference is longer works, but short stories are fun breaks from the longer works where I get to tell stories that don’t need to be longer. It allows me to write genres I might not have written before or characters I don’t own that are fun to write. I’ve been fortunate to write some characters whose stories I grew up enjoying. That’s fun. Short stories allowed that to happen.

Anita Stewart: I write short stories because I enjoy writing shorter tales; not every story in my head needs to be a novel.

Marian Allen: I like short stories better because I can write them faster and each creation is a little burst of happy juice. Short stories = many shots of happy. It's why I do Story A Day May every year.

Jon Rogers: After struggling for most of my life with getting my ideas for longer works completed, I’m finding that short stories are more attainable as a goal, and more fun to do without the huge expectations attached. I am like Bobby in that I want to try and tell a complete story if at all possible, treat it almost like a self-contained TV episode in structure.