There is art in telling stories, whether novellas, novels, epics, or shorter works. Short, short stories, those under 2500 words, are notably more art than longer stories. The longer tales with intricate plots, complex characters, and lots of small stories inside the narrative add things you can’t have in shorter works.
Accounts told quickly must grab the reader, hold their attention, and move to the conclusion in a manner where you feel you have all you need to have. There is enough detail to help the reader understand, not so much as to bog them down, and a pace that doesn’t slow down.
Longer stories are a Roller Coaster ride, while short stories are more a Shoot the Chute, a type of log ride, which carries you from point A to point B in one quick shot, usually straight downhill at a blinding speed. That isn’t to say the story won’t have peaks and valleys, but they are traversed at a dazzling rate.
Sometimes I write from writing prompts. Kill Thy Neighbor and From the Darkness were both from writing prompts. One prompt was feuding neighbors, while the other was then I woke up.
They seemed, to me, to be complete once I finished the first draft, so they weren’t expanded. Either could have been. Maybe I’ll do just that in the future, but for the time being, these little stories are whole and complete.
I was thinking about the process of writing, and these thoughts burst into my brain, so I typed my thoughts and shared them here.
