I submitted my first short story since about 1993 on Friday. I sent it off to Analog first, we’ll see what they think of it. This is one of the stories that came out of the “30 in 30” challenge I’m working on.
Speaking of, I’m up to 9 stories so far this month, 10 once I get done tonight. Some of them are very not publishable (mostly due to subject matter…what can I say, sometimes inspiration gets kinky) but in the main, I’ve been impressed.
Writing short stories is not like writing novels. Several times I ached to expand the story out (and I may still do that) but I tried to stay within the 2k-5k range. Most periodicals are looking for stories in that range. You have to/get to pay a lot more attention to your sentences and paragraphs, though I’m not sure if I’m writing any better despite that focus. But, on with the theory, all of your words need to do double or triple duty. You have to do more with less.
One thing I’ve notices in this past week or so is that the more I use my imagination, the more imagination I seem to have. I ran out of story ideas (sort of) after a couple of days but every time I’ve sat down to write, the well has been full. I get ideas walking, showering or sitting on the bus. It’s like a muscle that gets stronger the more I work it. Now we just have to see if I can sustain this for the whole month.
Wish me luck, on the Analog submission and on making it through this month.
Speaking of, I’m up to 9 stories so far this month, 10 once I get done tonight. Some of them are very not publishable (mostly due to subject matter…what can I say, sometimes inspiration gets kinky) but in the main, I’ve been impressed.
Writing short stories is not like writing novels. Several times I ached to expand the story out (and I may still do that) but I tried to stay within the 2k-5k range. Most periodicals are looking for stories in that range. You have to/get to pay a lot more attention to your sentences and paragraphs, though I’m not sure if I’m writing any better despite that focus. But, on with the theory, all of your words need to do double or triple duty. You have to do more with less.
One thing I’ve notices in this past week or so is that the more I use my imagination, the more imagination I seem to have. I ran out of story ideas (sort of) after a couple of days but every time I’ve sat down to write, the well has been full. I get ideas walking, showering or sitting on the bus. It’s like a muscle that gets stronger the more I work it. Now we just have to see if I can sustain this for the whole month.
Wish me luck, on the Analog submission and on making it through this month.
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