Thursday, August 15, 2013

Writing Short-Stories


How often do you write short-stories? How often do you read short-stories? What short-story contests do you follow?

I’ve been on a bit of a short-story writing binge, which is unusual for me, since I’m typically a strictly novelist type of writer (with some poetry once in a while). One thing I’ve really enjoyed about writing short-stories lately is that I can finish a 2,000 to 5,000 word story in a day, instead of taking three months to craft out an 85,000 word novel. So it’s pretty satisfying in that respect. Some of my favorite short-stories to read include Joyce, London, Irving, and Hawthorne.

What do you like to write? Novel? Non-fiction? Short-story? Poetry? Screenplay? Onstage drama? What types of contests have you found where you like to submit your work? 


17 comments:

  1. I wrote a couple short stories when I was a teen, but haven't written them since.
    I see you follow Milo, the short story master. Now there's someone who is dedicated.

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  2. I need to read more short stories. I used to all the time, but haven't in a while. You've prompted me to restart, Mark. :)

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  3. I mostly write full-length, but I'm working on a short story right now. It fits in between books 1 and 2 and provides the story of a character that's only referred to.

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  4. That's really neat, Mark! Short stories are definitely a different world. But I can see how they would be satisfying. I wonder if I'll ever venture to do a short story... for now, I've only written novels.

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  5. I love writing short essay style articles, non-fiction posts. They are my favorite. I love being able to say, concisely, what I want to convey. It's the joy of choosing the write words and narrowing in on the exact idea you want your readers to hear.

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  6. I hope you start submitting some of those short stories for publication. :)

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  7. I wrote a number of short stories before I started writing novels and loved it precisely because it was so satisfying. Unfortunately, right now my novels are pretty much all-consuming!

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  8. I'll write the occasional short story here and there. It's relaxing to take a break and do something different from time to time. I will also read short stories often, too.

    Have a great weekend!

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  9. Keep churning out those stories! I find that the shorter form helps me to tighten my prose for the longer tales. I write a story a month, and the rest of the time, I work on revising and querying my novels. So far, submitting my short stories to magazines has gone well, and I plan to keep it up.

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  10. When I take a break from my novel writing, I write short stories.

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  11. I've wanted to get into more short stories. But I'm currently in the foxholes of editing and refuse to start anything new until I'm done.

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  12. I enjoy short stories and love a good piece of flash fiction. I am meaning to write more short pieces...need to find that extra time :)

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  13. I enjoy writing short stories, though nowadays I write features for the newspaper supplements (all within 1400 words)so short stories are slowly being nudged out due to work pressure. I am keen to write a few short stories next month.

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  14. I like writing short stories, flash fiction, and poetry, although for the last few years I've been writing MG novels. I miss the stories and would like to get back to them when I finish the MG mystery series I'm working on. I have been writing a little poetry again.

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  15. I need to write more short stories, as I've been very focused on crafting a great novel. It does make for a good, satisfying kick!

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  16. Cool to see that so many of you are into short-stories too! It's still somewhat new ground for me, but I am definitely enjoying it:)

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  17. i love it all! and wen i am stuck on the novel, i write smaller. always lots of ideas! Sometimes short is better!

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