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Ran through a couple of iterations of the story I finished last night. After re-reading it, I only made minor changes to the story...last night I thought the continuity was out of wack, but on reviewing today, it worked (with some minor adjustments). I called it Clearing, and it is now sitting in the inbox for Wanderings Magazine. So, 1 sold, 2 pending.
I'll take another look at my slush pile tomorrow and decide if I want to start something anew or re-hash one of the 14 unfinished stories I've been dragging around since, oh, probably about 2000. No idea why it took me so long to finish one. Actually, I know exactly why: I never felt it was a 'good thing' to write short stories, but wasn't at a point in my development as a writer to finish a novel.
Not sure if I'm there yet, but I think I'll be walking down that path before the end of the year.
Convention packing list time!
2 years ago
4 comments:
Thanks for visiting my blog, Jeremy. And how weird - I've only read two stories in the Niteblade anthology so far and one of them is yours (the title grabbed me) and the other was Felicity Dowker's (she's a fellow blogger). I'm going to add you to my blog roll. :)
That's actually how I found your blog: I followed a link from Niteblade over to Felicity Dowker's page, and I followed some of her links. I really like reading other author's blogs, it makes me feel less alone ;-) . Thanks for the note, I'll add you to my roster as well...and thanks for reading the antho! It was my first finished and first published story...a little bit different, but it a lot of fun getting into Billy's head for a few days.
There is nothing wrong with a short story. It is an art form that has taken many twists over the centuries. Many of our best loved authors reveled in the form. I am unsure why the novel, other than the obvious length, has become the end all be all of the publishing community. If you are good at writing the short story you are in good company (i.e. Hemmingway, Poe, Twain, Proulx, I could go on) Do what you like and what you excel in and you will be a happy writer.
I totally agree...now. Looking back, I'm not sure where my stigma came from, but honestly, committing myself to short stories was one of the smartest things I've ever done. I've really learned a lot, not the least of which is the importance of focusing on the story and only using the words that you need to do so. And, I really like doing it...I feel like I can go back and shape and mold, whereas with long stories I felt like I was under pressure to fill in the gaps between keyframes, and a lot of what filled the empty spaces was crap.
Who knows; with people's attention spans getting shorter every year, maybe short stories are the long-term future of literature.
Thanks for the feedback!
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