Friday, October 21, 2011

Short Story Endeavor

I'm going to attempt to write a short story. My humorous womens fiction novel 30 GUYS IN 30 DAYS is still in the querying world and seeing as the novel ideas are still being perfected and I'm dreaming of a white christmas a short story was the perfect way to feel a void.

I might fail. Then again, I  might soar. The point is I'm going to try it. I see so many fabulous bloggers who write poetry, short stories, and novels. I commend you, it cannot be easy but with your talents I'm sure you'll go far.

I'm not looking to publish anything, this is actually just my chance to get to write the christmas story I've always dreamed of. It also allows me not to butcher it too much with a much smaller word count.

How do you start to write a short story? Yeah, you won't get that advice here... when I'm finished I'll share, but for the meantime I'm still learning.

What random writing projects have you started? Working on holiday projects? Any advice on what to do about this short story I'm writing?

25 comments:

Diana Mieczan said...

I think you will do great! Have a wonderful Friday. Hope you had a lovely week. Kisses

LynnRush said...

You'll do great. I know I've tried to start a few short stories and they turned into 80,000-word novels. So, you just never know where it's going to take you.

Write on, my friend!

Anonymous said...

Good luck! I think you'll do great! I haven't written a short story yet, but I'd like to. I'd also like to write a Christmas story since it's my favorite time of year. But I'm not feeling very Christmas-y. Maybe once the season really starts I'll be in the mood to write about Christmas and snow and chilly nights in warm beds...

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

Short stories kind of freak me out just because there's so much that has to go into such a small space. Give me 50-80k and I'm good...under 25? I don't think I'm ready yet!

Good luck, brave writer! I look forward to seeing how you do and how you do it. :)

Cynthia DiFilippo Elomaa said...

I commend you. I think shorter is hard, at least for me. I tend to go on and on. I guess I'll have to challenge myself one day. :-)

Stina said...

Good luck with the short story. I have no idea how to write one, other than you make it simple and there are no subplots (obviously). :D

Unknown said...

I took to writing a short story once. It scared the crap out of me. I'm used to writing long novels. However, I found I liked doing shorts. You may be the same. I hope it goes well for you.

Matthew MacNish said...

I do a lot of flash fiction, but I don't think I've ever written an actual short story.

Sarah Tokeley said...

I hope you have lots of fun with it. It's great to get out of the comfort zone and try something new just because we want to.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Wise decision, girl. Don't lay stagnant, waiting on queryland, but forge ahead. While letting the ideas for your next novel brew, there's nothing wrong with writing a short story. As a matter of fact, I recommend it. :)

Valerie Geary said...

This is a fabulous idea! I love writing short stories when I'm in between novels. Some stories I submit for publication, others just stay in the drawer. But they all help keep my writing skills sharp and my Muse from falling asleep. The thing to remember above all with short stories: Have Fun!

Angela said...

I think it's so cool that you have a short story project. Are you going to post a link to it on your blog when you're finished?

Stephsco said...

Maybe you could post the short story on the blog at some point as an extra fun bit! Especially cool once you're a published author. Keeping my fingers crossed for your querying process!

Anna said...

Yay, go for it! Short stories are fun to experiment with different settings, themes or characters that excite you when you aren't ready to make a commitment. My short stories usually start with a concept rather than a plot. I have to write myself into the plot. They're also easier to manage individually, but the temptation is to start a bunch at once because they're so short (or at least that's what I do). Good luck!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm not very good at the short stories. Good luck! I'm sure humor will be involved.

Stacy McKitrick said...

I've written short stories about the back story of characters from my novels. That information wasn't really needed in the book, but it was something I needed to know. It helped me understand my character better, too.

Writing short stories can be fun and a great project in between two larger ones. Good luck!

Raymund Hensley said...

For me, the best way to start is to just jump right on in and see what happens. No ideas. Totally random, lol ^_^

Nicole Zoltack said...

Short stories are fun. Just don't have too many characters and start with action or conflict. You can't have much background info in a short story. That's what I've learned. Best of luck with it!

I'm working on my princess and griffin story. :)

LTM said...

not working on any holiday projects, but as for short stories... hmm... I don't think I start them any different way. They're just. Shorter. :D Good luck w/it!!! <3

Michelle Merrill said...

Good luck! Writing shorts are completely different than writing novels, but it's a great challenge! In fact, I think writing the ones I wrote helped me with my novel writing. I had a word count limit and had to literally only tell what needed to be told. Have fun :)

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

I did a challenge for myself where I wrote a short story every week for a year. Or at least, that was the plan. I didn't end up writing a story EVERY week, but I did have a lot of fun. It was definitely a challenge. :)

Best of luck! I think it's great to explore different writing frontiers. Good for you!

Amy

Jemi Fraser said...

I've only written a very few short stories, and they have a much different voice than my longer works. My stories seem to want to be dark & take weird turns. Yet my novels always have HEA!

Sarah Ahiers said...

ooh, i'm so excited for you! I write a lot of short stories and i think they're so much fun!

Unknown said...

queryland is a strange purgatory....it is best to keep moving those fingers! My only advice, fall into your story, love it to pieces and then write your second short story! "keep swimming"

Leslie S. Rose said...

I feared the short story until I found a gem of a book called: RON CARLSON WRITES A STORY. He has you sitting right there on the chair with him as he navigates a short story. It rocks.