I love short stories, reading them and writing them. They have a very varied spectrum in terms of type and genre, as much as any other form of writing or story. They might describe an entire event, or the impact on just one individual. They can reflect just a moment in time from a lifetime of events, which is my favourite sort to write. They don't have a build up just an event, or an encounter and they're over - gone; leaving us to work out what happened before and after, which may or may not be what the writer intended.
Some writers like to cross every t and dot every i, they describe everything and everyone, which is fine if you enjoy long descriptions. I prefer to let the readers populate all those things themselves, using just a skeleton or framework to hold the plot (my plots usually need all the help they can get) and let the reader do the rest.
Comments
Plots need manure
I agree about short stories benefitting from fertilisation provided by the readers experience and imagination. Too much description in a story and as a reader my attention drifts.
Rhona McCloud
Short Stories
Yes, sometimes too much description can bog down a story.
What do you do about fans that hound you to write a follow up?
Or, fans who write their own follow up if you don't bother to?
"We want more! We want more!"
Okay, okay... here's the rest of the story...?
LOL
Holly Wholeman
Yes, the weird author with the boob fetish.
Wanting more is always a problem,
When a story is well done we "tune" into the main character, and want to know what happened to them next.
Short story fan
and quite happy to hang my own speculation onto the end of the plot.
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."
That's Easy for You to Say
I agree with what you're saying, but you have the talent to write a compelling short story while others simply don't.
You're recent short story is an indication of how you can develop three characters to the point where we care about them within a matter of paragraphs. You leave us wondering about the back story and the future. Very pleasant.
I'm sure you would agree with me that if the author is more comfortable writing serials, and would quit writing rather than struggle with short stories, she should stick to serials.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Short Stories
Most of my stories start off in my head as only a few pages, but somehow they seem to make themselves longer.
Melanie
Personally I'm an omnivore
when it comes to reading. I like short stories for the reason mentioned but I also quite enjoy many longer, more detailed stories as well. However, I quite agree that we shouldn't try to push anyone to write stories that they aren't comfortable with.
Requires writing skills which few possess
I think almost every story on this site would benefit by being shorter. How many start with the life history - yawn - of the protagonist. Every author should write st least one short story.
Most of my stories start off as short and then grow and grow. Interestingly, my story with the highest kudos is probably my shortest. I don't think it's all that good!
In my writing group, each month we're limited to 750 words, which is incredible discipline. Each month, my first draft is probably 900 and I have to start cutting and burning unnecessary words - even whole paragraphs. The work is better for it. I'd recommend every writer should try it.