this semester i'm taking a fiction workshop class and a short story writing class. both classes are ten weeks long, and will be ending in a few weeks.
when i first started this semester my main goal was to challenge myself to learn and understand the dynamics of short story writing, and to further or should i say deepen my understanding of fiction writing.
i can honestly say that i am finally confident that i understand fiction writing. notice i said understand. i have not, by any stretch of the imagination or pen mastered it, or even "learned" it.
fiction writing is not something you master or learn, it is something you continually work at understanding and crafting. it is very much like art.
fiction writing is art.
in art, a piece is never abandoned, it is simply abandoned at interesting places. (not my quote...someone else..but true).
if we really understand fiction writing, and let's just say creative writing as a whole, we know that it is the art of understanding, interrupting, and relating the stories of life and humanness.
that is my definition. that is what i've come to understand creative writing, and more importantly fiction writing as.
the key word is art, it is an art...how do you color this or that experience, how do you shape it, how do you present it, how is it to be viewed...how is it to be consumed. all of these things are why i believe we can never truly master or learn art..we simply learn how to deal with each particular piece of art in its context. the next one may be different.
a cupcake or a slice of cake? the difference between a short story and a novel.
so, now that i have given you my definition of fiction/creative writing...let me share with you how i am coming to learn and understand the short story.
the first thing i've learned is that a short story is not a teeny-tiny novel, nor is it a long poem. a short story is itself a separate unit. it has different goals, objectives, purposes.
here's an analogy. a cupcake and a cake.
sure they are very similar, they have the same ingredients but their experiences are different. when you look at a cupcake you don't see a slice of cake, you see a complete dessert. not a piece of a whole like a slice of cake is.
a short story is the same, it is not a piece of a novel...it is its on unit of story telling. it has its own beginning, middle, and end. it has its own rise and fall, it can (and should) stand alone.
i didn't understand this when i first went into this semester. the concept of the short story to me, having spent the last year working on a novel, was a small chapter from a greater novel.
a short story was a piece of a greater whole. i was wrong.
this week, in my short story writing class we started work-shopping our stories. one lady read her story and though it was well written, there was lots of great imagery, the characters were fairly well sketched, there was a lot of questions at the end of her reading. we all felt like we didn't have questions answered, we didn't know the purpose, the whys, the who's. we wanted more, we felt sort of incomplete.
when she was finally able to respond (because during work-shopping the author cannot speak until everyone else has spoken and discussed the piece) she shared with us that she thought of the "story" as a sort of prologue or chapter one of a larger novel.
"ahhhh" we all sung out collectively, "well in that case...let us re-read it and give you our thoughts"
why would you have to re-read it? let me explain.
when a reader sits down to read a short story and a novel they come to the piece with different expectations and hopes. when we sit down to read a novel we are hoping to be brought into the reading spell...we hope to enter a world that is outside of our own, that will capture our hearts, or imagination, that will entertain us, challenge us, and push our thinking and/or feelings...for a while.
for a while.
we expect to invest time into the piece. we do not expect to finish reading it in one sitting. we want to linger in it, we want to be captivated and taken on a journey with the characters and hopefully the author and ourselves will get out the way...and we will live and feel with the characters. that is successful fiction writing.
all that for a while...that is the key word...for a while.
now, when a reader sits down to read a short story they expect to have their imaginations captured, to be entertained, perhaps challenged and/or pushed in their thinking and feelings also...but...for a short while.
for a short while.
the investment for a reader into a short story is a much smaller span of time then for a novel. when we sit down to read a short story, we have the same expectations, but we have some other ones added on. we expect to have our questions answered (to some degree) by the end of the piece. we expect to have an understanding of the purpose of the story, and of the characters. we expect to know why the author is taking our time to tell us about these particular characters in this particular setting dealing with this particular issue. sometimes the ending doesn't come together in a neat box, but we still have some sort of understanding about the character/situation at the end.
here is another expectation of short story readers: we expect to finish the piece and have all of that by the end, which should come in one (maybe two but your pushing it into novella realm) sittings.
this to me is the difference between short stories and novels.
with novels, chapters do not have to end neatly and answer question, in fact it is advised that they don't. in novels you have time to set the scenes, use time to establish settings and or characters. not so much time in short stories. you have to set the scene, sketch the characters, set up the problem/situation and bring it all to a conclusion in a small space of pages/reading time.
this is why not all novel chapters cannot be short stories.
getting back to the girl in my class. she asked us, so what should i do? tell you (the reader) why he does this or that, explain how this happens, answer this question, or not?
the answer? it depends.
if it is a short story, you cannot leave your reader not knowing more about the main character(s), why s/he has this problem, how did s/he get there, and why and how it can only be solved by this or that character. as a short story reader i would resent you, you gave me all the questions -- and never answered one of them. you raised the tension well, you brought me to the climax of the story and never resolved it, never gave me a release or satisfaction.
now...if this was a prologue or chapter one, i am happy. you are giving me my money and time's worth because i want to keep reading. i have questions. i want to know why. i want to know more. and i will pull the book away from my nose and eyeglasses...look at all the pages ahead of me and settle in to find out. very content.
with a novel you have time. not so much with a short story.
now there are other things to learn about short stories...there are so many different types of short stories and approaches. that's another post or two.
but the first thing to consider when deciding if a story is or should be a short story or a chapter of a novel...is to consider the time of the reader, and approach it accordingly.
if you want to take your time, or have a long story to tell...you've got a novel. if it is shorter than a novel...novella...and you've got a short story...be mindful of your readers expectations and write accordingly. meaning...structure your story/plot accordingly.
me and my writing
i am proud to say, i have written my first true short story. it is completely isolated from the novel i've been working on (meaning i didn't turn a chapter into a short story - though i may one day). it is about 2200 words/8 pages...a slice of life story, and i think it is good. in other words, i like it.
i'm going to try and workshop it in the remaining class time i have...and hopefully it will be ready to send out within the next two weeks.
my professor in my short story class has already let me know he has an editor of a literary magazine he knows and wants me to send it out to. i don't know the literary magazine yet, and it isn't a sure thing that she will accept it, but it is a lead and he has told me he thinks it is a marketable story.
i agree.
after having the experience of writing a short story, i'm not so sure i know how i'm walking away from it. i don't know if i want to write more or not, and i don't know if i consider one easier, or more advantagious than the other.
my experience was hard, but not on the same level as novel writing. writing a novel is a long haul of work. there is so much to write, and keep track off, and to consider. it is a stupendous amount of work. but it is also wonderful. i don't feel rushed when writing in my novel's world...i can take the time to explain and create beautiful images and rich characters and settings.
not so much with a short story. but, with this short story i spent a couple of weeks sweating over the story and then came away with something beautiful. i've spent a year sweating over my novel. there is relief in sight with a short story, and you feel a sense of instant gratification (when compared to a novel). and also with a short story, you can work hard for a month or two (depending on how well/fast you write) and then have something to send out and get instant (publishable) feedback. the process is no where near that fast with a novel..unless your some mega talent, and only then -- maybe.
the hardest thing i encountered with writing my first short story was finding an idea i could write well and quickly (meaning page numbers not time), and of course not turning it into the first chapter of a longer novel/novella. there were also so many images, metaphors and such that i wanted to include that i didn't have the space or "reading" time to include ( i was trying to write something ten pages and under).
i think, well, i hope that now that i feel i have a good understanding of the difference between a short story and a novel when grains of story ideas come to me i will know if it should be a short story or novel...and will treat it accordingly.
we can't forget poetry, but i'm not educated enough to speak on it. but what i do know is that a poem should tell a story too. so, being that poems are generally smaller than short stories...poems are in my eyes that much harder to do right. you have even less time to tell the reader what you want them to know. not to mention all the other things that come into play with poetry.
one day i'll have to take a class on poetry, for now i'm being a true autodidact and reading books to educate myself.
now..go out and read some art!
peace and writing...
ki
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