Short story / writer relationships are very different to novel / writer relationships.
With a short story there is no creative fatigue. You don’t have night terrors about editing and it’s all wrapped up in a couple of pages, as opposed to dragging on for thirty chapters. Your creative life feels blissful, fun and carefree.
You write a short story, edit it, revise it and share it. After doing all this you put it aside, as in your head it is time to move onto something else. Your short story, however, has other ideas…
It refuses to leave you alone, climbing into your head whilst you sleep and entering your dreams.
As you rise in the morning you feel its presence inside your mind. You go about your daily life trying to ignore it and telling yourself ‘it was just a short story!’ But it won’t go away…
A week later and it is still stalking you in the small hours, hanging out with you whilst you clean the loo and sat in the passenger seat as you drive to work.
It starts to whisper ‘write more of me,’ and ‘I should be a novel!’ which makes you wonder whether this is the start of insanity.
Here’s my advice on handling this challenging situation.
- Expect to enter a denial phase. In your head you will run through all the reasons why you can’t write more of this short story; it was only meant to be a bit of fun, you were not looking for anything serious and it wouldn’t work as a novel.
- Prepare for the short story stalking phase to last a long time. Some stories refuse to leave you alone and I hate to say this, but I have heard story stalking to go on for weeks and even months.
- Expect the short stories to play dirty. Short stories can be demanding and troublesome literary beings. They are also very determined and will bug the hell out of you for as long as it takes to get you to pay them some attention. Expect all sorts of weird stuff happening to you. Your short story is trying to get your attention.
- Tell it to be patient. Best of luck with this one.
- Life’s too short so give it what it wants! Go on, be a devil, write it, turn it into something bigger.
I hope none of you are busy ignoring the demands of a great short story!
What has been your experience with short stories?
Have a fabulous day!
Photo: Upsplash
Lol! Love this! It’s how my Just Friends one time flash fiction piece became a weekly serial!!!
Hey Ritu – it’s great when it happens 🙂
Huggable Hugh is always telling me it’ll make a great book….. Who knows!!!!
Those short stories are pesky buggers, you know that’s happened to me a lot with the blog battles Lucy! 😃
Once you get a one it won’t leave you alone 🙂
Tell me about it lol 😃
Hmm. I didn’t get it much. Well, it was good. The pattern was clear.
Thx for reading 🙂
https://sazzpost.wordpress.com/2016/07/20/the-handwriting-tag/
You’ve been nominated, I guess.
Ha! Yess so much! It took a year of denial and mediation for me to start writing the novel. My friend kept telling me to “finish the story” and I kept saying “that’s the end! The main character dies at the end, how can there be more story?” Them gosh-darn characters just don’t stay dead though 😉 haha
Ha! Yay! A year of denial – wow! Love this! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m often drawn to flash and short pieces often get less than six word replies … all part of a bigger story!
Love to hear that Eric 🙂
Ha! That was a fun read! None of my short stories have become novels yet unfortunately… But maybe that’s because the idea for a novel still hasn’t arrived 😎
I think after this post one will turn into a novel and you can thank me when you are super famous!
Lol – brilliant. I’ve had stories stalk me. I punished them by turning them into short stories. They punish me back by turning those shorts into novellas, which then become full-fledged novels. Which, obviously, become series. I’m now waiting to see where this nightmare will end. Hollywood, anyone?
You have a Hollywood sort of look about you!
It’s a gift… and a curse…
I can imagine lol
Why imagine? Surely you suffer from the same curse?
😂 oh yes – how did you know?
I love short fiction, and sometimes they fight for more time.
I thought you might love short fiction!
I write a little bit. A new book of stories is coming in August.
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Thanking you kindly 🙂
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I love Blogs from another Blonde Writer.
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Yes, I am busy ignoring them but there’s no need to yell at me for it. 😉 I write a lot of micro and flash so they often beg to be made into longer stories. As for a novel, I’m not sure that would work. So, interestingly enough, my problem is micro fiction needing to be short stories not short stories into novels. Did I confuse everyone?
Yes me 🙂 lol nice to see you little Lemon Shark!
I feel like I’m stuck in Phase 1-bliss. There isn’t a story that demands my attention to be written as a novel. I have had ideas to write an anthology of short stories centered around a theme or setting. Recently, I finished a book where the main story was broken into stories where secondary characters had some interaction with the main characters. It was a good book. I’m thinking about trying something like that.
Hey – sounds interesting!
my one YA book, still in the ‘to be edited’ section of My Documents grew from a short story and now wants to be a series… I’m thinking of putting it up for adpotion
That’s a cool idea – story adoption. Love the ‘to be edited’ section of a Writer’s Documents!
One of the reasons I started writing short stories is because a lot of my current novel-sized WIPs are sitting stagnant or abandoned altogether.
Good idea!
Did you have a nice vacation BTW?
Yes I did, thank you! Didn’t do a lot but I was away from work which is always a benefit.
Good 🙂
I’ve a couple of short stories that have been trying to give me ideas. One story has me thinking of trying to make a series along the same lines as it (sort of a Fantasy version of Nancy Drew), and one story has me thinking of actually turning it into a book (thanks to reader’s suggestion).
I’m too into brevity to turn many short stories into books – I struggle to turn flash fiction into short stories!!
Good post. Those little critters can drive us up a wall. Happy weekend.
Hey thx – happy weekend to you to!
Just going through this now. Written what was supposed to be a short story (thought a bit on the long side), and now it seems to be hinting that it wants to be even longer. This is why I have no short stories.
Oh dear sounds like you are in for the long haul 🙂
This is what happened to me during BlogBattle. 🙂
Short stories definitely can be interesting little darlings… I started one recently with the theme of love and it ended up quite peculiar! Perhaps it has the potential to be developed…
Yes agree! Happy Saturday
Have a great weekend. Marje. 🙂
Haha! You’re so funny! Sacha is right, this is exactly what has happened to me with Swanskin… it was only ever meant to be a short and simple novella, but beta readers are FORCING me to turn it into a novel. I am kicking and screaming against it but they’re just ignoring me. Sigh. And I really cant stop thinking about it…
Reblogged this on Still Another Writer's Blog.
Thank you!
You are welcome. I find the idea of a “short story stalking” the writer interesting. That, itself, sounds like an X-Files episode. 😈 👽
Lol – am loving ‘short story stalking’ phrase
ACTUALLY, I think the X-Files DID have an episode with a (sort of) similar idea: http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Milagro Seems like it might be due for some kind of re-write. (How does that go? “Great artists steal”?) 😈
Happens to me all the time, especially when I write flash fiction! Lol
I think I’m going backwards. Started working on a novel, then caved to writing short stories – started with stories within the universe of the novel, then went completely unrelated. I’m pretty sure the new babies will haunt me at some point, haha! Anyway, great post 🙂
You sound like me 🙂 lol happy Saturday BTW
I loved this post! Sometimes I truly despise the space and old short story occupies in my mind, because it adds another large project I’d like to finish to my Neverending pile of projects.
I really enjoyed your perspective, thanks for sharing.
Thx for reading and happy Friday!
You too!
Ms. Mitchell, just wanted to say very true, very true. I wrote an 8 page short story once, titled They’re Dead and put it in a folder. Years later I found it, thought about it and the short story became my second novel, The Cards. Ideas never die, though, writers I suppose do! Any how thanks for your great blog post.
Thank you for reading 🙂 I am glad you could relate to it.
Great post! As someone who enjoys writing as well, I’ve gone through some of the symptoms in this hilarious post that’s funny but also true xD Really enjoyed it!
Hey thx – appreciate the read. Happy Wednesday
Im still in that bliss phase 😀 Loved your post! Just started my own story blog! Max a 22 year old searching for his identity. Check it out!
http://www.maxsjourney.com/2016/10/04/a-cappella-2/
I will check it out – thanks for reading 🙂
So true. I just stumbled upon your post, and it pretty well sums up a few of my shorts, constantly rattling in my noggin, wanting to be expanded (or made into a graphic novel). One of the most wonderful thing about flash and shorts, in my opinion, is that you can let yourself be enthused and inspired by a story and have a first draft in the same day. Sure, you may want to revisit and revise, perhaps expand to full-length, but that first blast of inspiration is so pure and wonderful in its near instant-satisfaction speed.
Yes I totally agree! So many good things come from shorts and flash fiction. Thx for reading
I am hoping that I will be inspired to challenge myself to something longer one day, so far only written a few short stories, (been writing for about a year) I lie thinking about them being read on radio four, perhaps I need to think about screen plays and actually finding out if anyone likes them.
Hey thx for reading! You need to think about expanding them 🙂 good luck
I thought I was the only one being stalked by short stories. The world is a very peculiar place.
Hey I agree! I am really interested in the power of the short story 🙂
You blog is still turning over in my mind. The author of a short story has a liberty that a novelist doesn’t. And I think the reader understands that.
Agree. I also think that writers rush to write novels and miss the opportunity to validate the concept via a short story first. I think short stories are so important for writers and sometimes overlooked.
Oh no! I hadn’t even realised this could happen. I’ve always been okay at just letting it be.. I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight now. Darn those short stories!
Yep!! They are v naughty so careful with them 🙂
As soon as I read this, the short story came to mind lol. I think it finally needs to become a novel. This was a great read 😊
Thank you for reading! Happy Wednesday!
Thank you for this.
I wrote a short story recently and after its completion, I decided to make it a part of a series . . . so now, I have a never-ending “short” story, hahaha. I enjoyed this post; much relate-able.
Wow this was very encouraging me to start this novel I’ve been over procrastinating on! Maybe you can take a look at my blog and let me know what you think
Happens to me all the time. TOO many! Argh! *swims away* 🐠