Why Short Stories?
Reflections on writing short fiction and why it's my chosen form
March 24th is an important date for me. Next week, I’ll be celebrating the one year anniversary of starting this newsletter and all the short essays, articles, and fiction that have come as a result. Hard for me to fully grasp that this silly Substack was born out of a routine trip to my local library and stumbling upon a massive collection of pulp fiction stories. Much has changed since then but that day in the library still lives in my mind. Two years prior, I rediscovered my lost love of writing stories after a nearly 10 year hiatus. In those 10 years, there have been a three one-act plays, two musicals for children’s theater, dozens of terrible fan fiction, one poor attempt at a screenplay, and many, many, many abandoned outlines, “character sketches”, and drafts of unfinished manuscripts. In 2020, stuck at home with new found free time, I returned to fiction and wrote my “first” short story : a short tale of terror set in the American Civil War South about a young wife’s paranoia toward her untrustworthy husband.
It was pretty bad.
But that was unimportant to me at the time. What truly mattered was that I picked up writing fiction again. Fast forward two years, with 14-15 short stories written, thousands of dollars spent on studying (craft books, courses, mentorships, short fiction volumes, etc.), and new relationships with beginning and professional writers along the way, I’ve managed to build my confidence as a young storyteller and produce work more consistently. Now I’m nowhere near the level of mastery, that comes with decades of dedicated practice, but I’m in a much better skill level that I ever thought I could be in. Who knew that getting out of my own way and just allowing myself to have fun writing stories would net such positive results?1
In April 2022, I wrote a love letter to this idea titled The Case for Short-Form Storytelling. Nearly a year later, I believe I’ve found the words to help expand those thoughts and explain why I’m 1000% bullish on short stories for the future.
Why Short Stories?
Short fiction is well - short. There’s flash fiction, micro fiction, drabbles, stories with a maximum count of 6,000-7,000 words, along with other. What draws me to the form is the intimacy of the story, usually with minimal characters and often single settings, as well as constrains placed on the author to maximize the space allotted. It is often misunderstood that short stories are somehow easier than novels; I used to buy into that philosophy myself in the early days. Writing a novel as a first-timer is often seen as daunting, too great a task for the novice to tackle. Having witness two aspiring pro authors write and finish (one even published) a novel within the last year, I now believe that 99% of failed first attempts at writing a novel are simply mental roadblocks; a self-reflection of your own skill or lack thereof and the unnecessary pressure you put on yourself to achieve perfect results quickly.
As Ray Bradbury said to writers such as Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson and William F. Nolan when they were beginning their careers: “start writing a short story a week for a year and you can’t go wrong. You begin to write quality.”
What started out as simple practice of writing and finishing, soon became a love affair that has given me true bliss as a writer. This medium offered me the opportunity to experiment with ideas, to play in a tiny sandbox to construct not palatial estates, but intimate, cozy cottages of stories that although junior in scale, still require a level of love, detail, skill and craftsmanship in their creation. Not every story I write is perfect, but that’s not the point.
My philosophy is that every story written is all a matter of practice. By adopting that attitude, you learn to let go of the mental hangups of perfection and start to really have a great deal of fun telling stories.
To quote Bradbury again
“Writing is not a serious business. It’s a joy and a celebration. You should be having fun at it. Ignore the authors who say ‘oh my God what work…’ No to Hell with that! If it’s work, stop it and do something else!”2
Masters of the Craft
The short story was my gateway drug to fiction. When introduced to Flannery O’Connor, Shirley Jackson, Hemingway, Bradbury in my youth, it was through their short fiction that lead me to their great body of work.
Although it was the pulps that drove me back into writing stories, I’ve gone further back to read and study the work of the masters such as Guy de Maupassant, Poe, Kafka, Chekov, Chopin, and others to help broaden my education. Fear not though for I still read pulp fiction time to time. I believe it’s important for a student to consume a wide variety of art to inform his style and influence.
As I work my way through various volumes and collections, I keep a record of the ones that truly make a lasting impression on me and examine them closely to help sharpen my own skills.
Short Fiction and the Future
While my passion for the medium is rooted in its style and unique characteristics, there is also the business side of my mind that is often delighted with thoughts of what the future holds. Far be it from me to predict the future of literature, but I truly believe that more and more people in time will be picking up an omnibus of short stories over the latest novel.
In my previous post regarding short-from storytelling, I highlighted how the current age is saturated with trilogies, multiple 10-20 novels in a single series, and big budget cinematic universes, along with the erosion of the average attention span these days. I don’t think you have to be Nostradamus to see where the pendulum may be swinging in the next decade concerning all this. Novels and longer works will still have their place in society, of course, but a boom for short fiction may be coming. We are already seeing new magazines in the style of the old pulps pop up in recent years. I wouldn’t be surprised if more ragtag groups of short story writers appeared online, giving way to a new wave artistic scene.
But, hey, what do I know?
Short stories are not going away and I may never leave the craft behind. That doesn’t mean I’ll never attempt a novel in my lifetime. It just means I’m having too much fun writing stories under 6,000 words.
In the introduction of his collection, Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales, Stephen King correctly titles it “Practicing the (Almost) Lost Art”.
He writes:
Because if you want to write short stories, you have to do more than think about writing short stories. It is not like riding a bicycle but more like working out in the gym: your choice is use it or lose it.
I’ve dedicated myself to learning and practicing everyday till the good Lord takes me. Until that day comes, I’ll be doing my best to continue to build a body of work that I can be proud of.
‘Till next time.
Somewhere my wife is smiling to herself and whispering, “I told you so” two-hundred times.
An Evening with Ray Bradbury 2001 - University of California If you want to write fiction, then watch/listen to this wonderful lecture. Please don’t argue with me just do it! It will be good for your soul.
I think you can make the same argument with flash fiction. I went back to writing flash fiction again (while revisiting those I've stored away in my hard drive) and it's amazing how crisp your writing can be when you are forced to keep it under 1,000 words.
Oh yes, we've probably all seen novels that were padded out. Disgusting.