Short stories are underrated. They tell stories almost as well as novels if not better than some of them, but they take about a quarter of the time to read. Despite this, they’re often seen as the toy you give away rather than the video game you play over and over again.
I love novels, but when something is that long, there tend to be moments that don’t belong. Little filler pages where a character talks for too long or a location overstays its welcome. Short stories don’t deal with any of this. They cut right to the point, which makes them easy to read and write.
There’s a quote that I really agree with when it comes to this topic:
“I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That’s like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft.”
— George R.R. Martin
Honestly, that quote sums up a good chunk of this article. It’s like I possessed him specifically to say that.
A debut novel is more likely to be an agent of chaos than a masterpiece. Even people who prepare by studying their craft can’t prevent that. Well, some can, but the rest of us have to practice for a while before we achieve the state known as “good.” If we keep in mind that writing a lot is good practice, I’d say that that making an army of short stories is the best way to improve your skills.
I’m not exactly paving a new road by saying this. Plenty of writers agree that writing shorties is a great way to improve your skills. I’m just here to put that into my own words because I love short stories. Here are a few reasons why you should embrace the short side of writing.
It’s On-The-Job Training
There’s a simple piece of advice that writers hand out like candy: “Write every day.” They’ll say it’s the best way to improve your writing skills. I like that advice and I follow it, but if the thing you write every day is your manuscript, how can you be sure that you’re doing it right?
It can take years before you’re ready to show off your rough draft and get feedback on it. Why spend all that time writing in the shadows when you can finish a short story in a day and immediately get people’s thoughts on it?
This goes so far beyond just feedback. Writing shorties can teach you so much because of all the rules that you have to follow. It can teach you:
- How to set a scene: A novel is nothing but scenes. Some have a few too many. A short story doesn’t have this luxury. Every single word has to drive the plot in some way. If there’s a scene where two characters are confronting each other, you can’t waste time going too in-depth with their conflict. Say that storm clouds are raging over their heads, but don’t go on about how they’ve been glaring at each other for three sentences.
- How to show character: Speaking of characters, you don’t have much room to flesh them out. Keep details short and relevant to the plot. If they were in a war, you can say that their body still ached from it and move on. Don’t spend paragraphs explaining what war, what happened, and how they survived.
- How to plot: Short stories allow you to get to the heart of what you’re writing. When you’ve only got around 6,000 words to explore something, you tend to cut out all of the filler. That’s when you’ll realize which moments matter to a plot, and which ones don’t. Once you’ve learned all about how to make a good plot from creating shorties, you can apply what you learned to your future novel.
Short Stories Are Easy to Finish
“Short” is literally in the name, so once again, no major revelations to be had here. There are very few plotlines, chapters, and characters to map out. Your main focus should be the story, the message, and the lengths you’ll go to communicate them.
Most short stories only consist of a handful of scenes. They should take place in one major location and maybe one minor location if you’re feeling bold.
Finishing a story seems like the final step, but it really means you’re only halfway up the ladder. You’ve still got editing and revising to do. This step is important because it’s what transforms your story from a collection of your thoughts to a story worth sharing.
You can learn a lot by editing your own story. It’s properly where you’ll figure out what tone you’re going for. You think you’ll know what it is beforehand, but you’d be surprised how much gets revealed while editing.
Once you’ve finished one short story, you should plan out another one. Remember that this is about establishing an army. You could write five to ten shorties in the time it takes most writers to finish one novel.
It Lets You Experiment
No writer should be afraid to branch out and explore topics and genres that they’re unfamiliar with. I started with science fiction, but now I’m venturing into fantasy and having a great time with it.
If there’s a genre you’ve always wanted to write about, make a short story about it. Even if you decide that it isn’t for you, you can easily finish the story and get it out there as a one and done. You won’t have to go 20 chapters before you realize that you hate the genre and your rough draft is a horrible mess.
I usually start a short story when there’s an idea that I want to explore or a feeling that needs to be expressed. If you’re having a bad day and want to write about it without venting, just cram your feelings into a story. Don’t make it all about your bad day, but let that be the seed that the rest of the story blooms from.
It Could Lead to More
Then there are times when your concept will go beyond the 6,000-word cage you’ve trapped it in.
More than a few novels started off as short stories that were expanded. Some authors even start shorties with the intention of testing out an idea for a novel.
You could easily use shorties to explore a universe that you’ve created but haven’t written about yet. It’s a great way to get a feel for the world. The series I’m working on is full of characters that I love to death. It’d be effortless to give any of them their own “episode.” Do you think any of your side characters could drive their own story? There’s only one way to find out.
If you’re not sure how to expand, just start at the plot. You probably began your shorty just before its ending, which is how most of them are written. It’s the quickest way to get to the action. That means you have an entire beginning sequence that hasn’t been explored. What happened to your characters before the story began? What brought them to the moments you wrote about? Why does one of them have a robot arm while another carries a sword?
Complementing your novel with short stories is a great way to create a dynamic universe. Creating shorties that lead up to your main novel will help prepare you for it. I absolutely recommend doing that to get a feel for your story’s tone.
It Could Build Your Audience
Every writer wants fans. People who will buy whatever you write because they love it and you. It’s a dream come true just to get a handful of those people. Unfortunately, something that good is about as hard to obtain as you think. There’s no easy way to build an audience, but creating shorties is a great way to get started.
Once you’ve written an army of them as I’ve suggested, you can release them to make a name for yourself. Here are a few ways to go about that:
- Submissions: This road will probably lead to the most success if you’re talented and lucky. Once you’ve written a short story, you can submit it to various websites and magazines that will publish it for its readers. It’ll take each of them anywhere from six weeks to six months to get back to you. They’ll reject you most of the time, but that’s just how the writing world is. If you keep at it and get one of them to publish your story, you’ll get paid and you might make a few new fans. Use this list to get started.
- Freebies: If all you want is for people to read your story, then this is what you’ll want to do. Once your story is edited and has a nice cover, you give it out for free. You can do this through most websites that allow self-published eBooks. This path might not directly make money, but if you’re creative, you can get a lot of value out of this.
- Mailing list bribes: If you have a mailing list that needs to be filled up, this is a good way to do it. When you’re advertising your list, make sure to let people know that they can get a free story when they sign up. That’ll usually get people’s attention. Please do not actually call it a bribe; I cannot be held responsible if you do.
- Bundles: I swear this is different from the next thing on the list. When you release your first novel, you may want to bundle it with something. Something that entices people. Why not a bonus story? You can include a short story in the back of your novel and advertise it on the cover or in your book description.
- Collections: Selling a short story by itself isn’t appealing. Not when there are tons of websites where you can read them for free. Once you’ve amassed your army of short stories, you can put them all together and sell them as one big collection. Now that’s enticing.
It’s Fun
I may have just written this section to gush about short stories and the writing process in general. It also includes my miscellaneous thoughts surrounding story planning. If you hate passion, feel free to skip this section.
When I suggest writing an army of shorties, I mean it. It seems like ten to twenty hours is how long it’ll take most people to write one. That means you could easily write a different one or two every week until you feel ready to tackle a novel. If you think of each one like a dumbbell for your brain, that’s a lot of training.
That’s not to say that training isn’t fun. Once you’ve written one short story, you’ll understand what makes them so great. There’s something so satisfying about a short, self-contained story that’ll usually leave you with more questions than answers.
Conclusion
Creating a short story and creating a novel are similar processes. The main difference is how much easier it is to do the former. Everyone’s heard of practice makes perfect, but that’s not entirely accurate. Perfect is impossible. Even Harry Potter has plot holes.
What you should really strive for is the creation of a habit. You should write shorties until you understand what makes for a good story. Once you’ve got the planning, the development, and the crying down, you’re ready to move on and apply it to that novel you’ve always wanted to write.
Practice makes permanent is real. Practice cycling until you’ve got the hang of it. Practice that omelet until it’s just as cheesy and delicious as you’d like it. Practice that sport until you’re good enough to destroy your friends at it.
Just practice.
Kesten E. Harris is a writer on the internet who wants you to write short stories and flood the market with them. Check out his YA box set and join his mailing list to get his 6 ingredients for an interesting novel as well as updates on his books.