Lately I've been thinking about my own writing, particularly with my tendency to write flash fiction rather than fully developed stories. I find that not only is it easier to write extremely short narratives, attempts to develop longer, richer stories with more developed characters and plots seem to result in writing that feels cheesy and forced. Do any of you have any tips for writing longer works and overcoming the loss of motivation or the feeling of cheesiness that might emerge in the process?
In my point of view, a successful story writer should be as near to the main points or events as possible. Furthermore, the ideas should be strongly related to each other and condensed, serving one goal and idea.
For me, longer fiction needs some solid planning. A lot of people can write without a plan, but the longer the work is, the harder it is to keep hold of it.
That makes sense, especially for retaining clarity and logic in events, as far as a general formula goes. I like your assertion of "main points" rather than only events. It reminds me much of how the chapters in American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis where the narrator does nothing more than rant about a musical artist that they enjoy help support the development of their character, even though they seem like complete tangents from the rest of the novel. I agree. I feel like I lose interest in a given plot or character if I don't know what will happen next (in the context of my own writing). Thank you both for your input on this!
Well it depends on how long your flash-fic is. I have a couple in the 7-10K range, and have read some that could very well fall into the Novella category (well short stories and not flash-fic). I am one who does enjoy a good compilation of shorts by an author. It is a good way of figuring out whether they are worth reading their larger works or not. Though some are just well written, and are as bland as hell. And some are trying to hard. Granted this can be said about full length novels as well, and may or may not give you the want to continue reading their works. But now a days, most are all hook and go to shit shortly after you are already invested. So in the very least try to avoid making continuity errors, plot demands, and throw away characters. While Novella/Novels are much longer they can still be compelling as long as you put the work into making it so. So outlined or off the cuff, do the best you can to tell a story that is interesting and fun to read.
The earning potential for flash fiction is no where near what it is for the average length short story. More work, more money. But to really write stories that are in the typical 3k to 5k words, you really have to read a ton of them. I think that's the only way to learn how to do it. Reading is really the answer to most writing problems.
