I'm a fan of Wikipedia for general research, not quotable text. It's
a great place to start, as it usually has a great compilation of information
from other sources. Often, when I Google a question, Wikipedia is the first page
to pop up. So I'll begin my search and then dig deeper based on my findings,
and in the case of my mysteries, especially where the cause of death and ways to
die are an essential part of the story, I seek out scientific journals and
experts in that specific field. There, that's my disclosure. On to my blog post.
:)
Recently, I had a quick question on the popularity of short stories. I agreed with Wikipedia until I read ... "Sometimes,
authors who do not have the time or money to write a novella or novel decide to
write short stories instead..." Wikipedia
What???
"Short stories date back to oral storytelling traditions which
originally produced epics such as Homer's
Iliad and Odyssey circa 7th or 8th century" -- Wikipedia, again (I didn't see the need to research further.) But I say they go back even further ... Jesus told parables so that his followers could
better understand his teachings.
Charles Dickens and Washington Irving -- who were famous for novels
and biographies -- wrote short stories, and of course, Edgar Allan Poe argued
that a literary work should be short enough for a reader to finish in one
sitting. And yet, when I went looking for advertising, I found it almost
impossible to find a website that was willing to promote my short stories ... even if
I was willing to pay the same amount as I would to advertise a full novel. I also noticed
many publishers refuse to publish short stories, which as far as money goes, I
can understand that. They would have to shell out money for a cover for little
return.
And now for the craziest thing, I wrote my short stories, knowing
I was going to give them away. Yep. I wrote my first short, The Pit Stop, as an exercise and to have
fun with my readers, which a lot of them happened to be authors. We'd write
five hundred words a week on my website, and when we finished, I informed them
I'd publish it and pay tribute to my top contributors.
But then something happened ... Readers demanded more -- I love it when
that happens. Per readers' requests, I wrote The Depot. And then ... based on those
two short stories, again per readers' demands , I wrote a follow-up novel.
And with no awesome book advertising, but because of word of mouth
from some great readers, The Pit Stop and The Depot hit #1 in
Mystery Short Stories and spent plenty of time in the top 100 in the last few years. When I received my rights back from the publisher, I had to re-upload them. Again they the hit #1 and #2 spots! The Pit Stop is still available as a free download, but I decided to include The Depot with its follow-up novel, The Library, so readers wouldn't happenstance on The Library and miss the beginning.
My thoughts on short stories ... An average movie is one and a half
to two hours long, and yet, it can still convey a full life -- from birth to death -- of a character. We can solve a ten-year-old murder mystery, or view a first date
as it matures into marriage and kids. So why wouldn't I like a quick escape when
I'm sitting at the DMV, waiting in the doctor's office, and a hundred other
places where we waste hours of our time? The answer is: I do like that. In fact,
I love it! I've read many short stories on car trips across the state, flights,
and waiting while my car gets serviced.
Short stories are a great way to meet an author without a long
commitment or a nice release when you need just a little escape before going to
bed, since there's no risk of staying up too late to finish the story, as most
short stories take less than an hour to read.
Well ... that's it ... Just my thoughts on why I write and read short
stories. And so you know ... I would never think to compare myself to the "greats" I pictured above; they were just my point that short stories can be great and are an art. I have a long way to go, but my little short stories do have hundreds of reviews averaging four-plus stars. So if you want to try one on for size, you can download The Pit Stop (This Stop Might be Life or Death) absolutely FREE from Amazon here or from one of the other eBook retailers listed below. I
hope you enjoy the quick escape from reality!
Oh, and if you like that in-between story that we often call the novella, I wrote a couple of those too. My most recent novella, Unlucky In Love, is a stand-alone prequel to my new novel, Some Lucky Woman, and yes, it's FREE! Think of it as a thirty percent sample of a pie. It'll fill you up, but you might be hungry enough to buy the entire pie.
Oh, and if you like that in-between story that we often call the novella, I wrote a couple of those too. My most recent novella, Unlucky In Love, is a stand-alone prequel to my new novel, Some Lucky Woman, and yes, it's FREE! Think of it as a thirty percent sample of a pie. It'll fill you up, but you might be hungry enough to buy the entire pie.
As always, happy reading, friends.
Carmen
Thank you for stopping by my place and reading my
musings. Remember, these are just my opinions and shouldn't be
taken too seriously. If you have questions, please feel free to leave
them in the comment section, and I promise you I will answer. If you're
curious about what I write, please visit one of my author pages, where
you can read all about my novels and short stories. And hey, I'll even
give you a couple free books just for stopping by.
If
the books aren't available free in your area, use…
I really enjoyed your article. I never use to be big on writing short stories as I preferred novels. Now though I'm finding writing short stories has got me out of my writer's block and by publishing them on my blog it is gain me a readership as well as a chance to practice and improve my craft, ready for when I get back to writing/editing my novel next year. http://thestoryfiles.wordpress.com/
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I agree! They also make great starts to a series. They still need a beginning, a middle, and an end, but then if readers love the characters, you can bring them back for another adventure.
DeleteGood luck and happy writing! :)
Carmen, I found your link on Twitter, and I enjoyed what you have to say. More power to you, I also say (for what that's worth), in driving readers by having a short story approach (or even a serialization approach, as Dickens did, for one example). From a reader's perspective, I have loved short stories in many genres, from horror and science fiction to straight-ahead literary fiction. As a writer, I really enjoy the challenge of a short story, because it requires such distillation, if not crystallization, of plot, characterization, language, and everything in between. Again, I appreciate this post. The art of the short story is not dead; I'm thankful to know that people like you are still writing (and reading) it.
ReplyDeleteWow, Leigh! What a great comment! Thank you so much for stopping by.
DeleteI love short stories, and I agree with you, obviously; they are an art, one I'm not sure if I'll ever maser, but I enjoy them just the same.
:)