tradeoffs in short and long

[marycatelli]

Time spent writing one thing is time not spent writing something else. 

So there is an inevitable trade-off between writing short stories and writing novels.  Which might not be too bad, given that it's obviously impossible to support more than your writing habit on writing short stories nowadays, and frequently enough not even that.

On the other hand, novels are no guarantee of selling either, and they take longer.  A lot longer, if you write like me.  And there are short markets.  Especially anthologies, which tend to be interesting because they also tend to be fleeting.  And more novel-work you do, the more likely it is that you would have to conjure up a story idea to fit it.  And then write it in time.  And then go out and compete with all the other stories in the slushpiles, because every theme anthology makes its presence known there.  (Was in an online discussion about an anthology on dirigibles, and someone observed that slush piles would be floating for a while until the magazines had bounced them all.)

sigh

Comments

[domynoe.livejournal.com]

I rarely write shorts anymore—they just aren't my length. They're difficult for me to write, don't make enough money for the frustration involved in the submission process, and aren't necessary to getting novels noticed, so why bother to push myself into doing them?

Shorts tend to make me cranky. lol

[marycatelli]

Some people's metier is short, some people's is long.

Me, it took over a decade before my attempts at novels didn't fizzle shorter than some short stories. (My first novel snuck up on me pretending to be a novelette, and then a novella, before it admitted to being a novel.)

[alphien.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I write shorts as the mood comes, but not with any real dedication. If, say, I'm not in the mood to write my current novel, I'll take a couple hours and write out an idea that's been niggling for a while. The instant gratification factor really tends to get me back in the writing mood. Like, I can work for months at one novel with what seems like very little progress, but when I've got a completed short staring at me in the face, I feel like I've done something.

[marycatelli]

Yeah, that's one real attraction of shorts: Accomplishment!