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azziriaI wish I could write long, plotty stories with time for a slow build and lots of character development, I really do. But I just don't have the time. It's not just a matter of physically having time to actually get the words down, it's even more about having clear time to sit and think, develop stuff. With work, kids, husband, studying etc etc I just don't have the luxury of long periods of uninterrupted me-time very often.
So I write a lot of shorter pieces. But that's good, too, if a slightly different discipline. The challenge with a short piece is to be completely focused. You need to have a clear image or idea that you want to put across, you need to make every word count, you need to make it feel as though it's part of a bigger story/world that exists somewhere, you need to leave your readers feeling as though there's more, you need to leave them with a strong idea or image or emotion to carry away from the piece.
The real secret, of course, is in what you don't say. In what you hint at. In what you leave the reader to fill in for themselves. (Of course in fanfiction you are aided by the fact that most readers will already know something about your characters, which is - mostly - helpful.)
That's why I was pleased with how I must down to the seas came out. From the comments I've had on it, I think I succeeded in what the piece set out to do: to tell in under 500 words a story of two lives together and apart, of love and loss and longing. It's the unspoken, hinted-at backstory that makes it work.
So I write a lot of shorter pieces. But that's good, too, if a slightly different discipline. The challenge with a short piece is to be completely focused. You need to have a clear image or idea that you want to put across, you need to make every word count, you need to make it feel as though it's part of a bigger story/world that exists somewhere, you need to leave your readers feeling as though there's more, you need to leave them with a strong idea or image or emotion to carry away from the piece.
The real secret, of course, is in what you don't say. In what you hint at. In what you leave the reader to fill in for themselves. (Of course in fanfiction you are aided by the fact that most readers will already know something about your characters, which is - mostly - helpful.)
That's why I was pleased with how I must down to the seas came out. From the comments I've had on it, I think I succeeded in what the piece set out to do: to tell in under 500 words a story of two lives together and apart, of love and loss and longing. It's the unspoken, hinted-at backstory that makes it work.
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Date: 2011-04-01 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-04-01 01:43 pm (UTC)I also appreciate the shorter stories because I actually have time to read them :) (I beta'd a 22K story this week, mostly because I knew I'd love it, but wouldn't read it for a long time unless I had someone waiting on me. And it was an amazing story--but reading that many words almost killed me).
I have the same thing--mostly a time issue, but it also seems like my natural "mode" is 1-6K -- a short event or a series of linked scenes--though, like you, I try to inject some kind of larger history into it, if I can--
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Date: 2011-04-01 08:39 pm (UTC)I'd just love to have the time to really devote to some serious writing. Maybe I should try to prioritise some time for that as part of my attempts to sort out my life...
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Date: 2011-04-01 02:18 pm (UTC)Well, you know I feel the same way about my writing. Only with me it's not a lack of time it's (I think) the way my brain is wired!
Needless to say, though, your short stuff is amazingly wonderful! I'm sure if you ever write long stuff, I'll be equally as fan!girl about it. But for now, I'm happy with what you put out there!
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Date: 2011-04-01 08:42 pm (UTC)If the piece comes as being right in its shortness, then that's how you have to write it.
I'm just enjoying writing again. I'm still playing with your idea of trying to write something outside of my comfort zone...
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Date: 2011-04-01 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-04-02 02:01 pm (UTC)Although I have read it done well a few times as a horror story in the Supernatural fandom.
It's when it gets all schmoopy that I lose it... because (a) pregnancy and babies were many things for me, but fluffy-bunny-romantic was sooo not one of them, and (b) your average guy suddenly finding himself pregnant and having to go through all that? Would utterly, utterly freak out and totally not cope with all the messy physical stuff (even if he was a big, bad Navy SEAL who'd been trained to endure torture...).
(I'm suddenly horribly aware that starting to think about the psychology of all this is not the way to stamp on the idea... I think I need to back away from the thinky thoughts right now, and go write some unashamed smut...)
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Date: 2011-04-02 07:30 am (UTC)