Which one are you more of? A Short Story writer or a Novel/Novella writer. I guess we all start with short stories, some stick with them, some stick with them AND do novels, I guess I'm the latter. I do more short stories though. So, what art thou?
Always have been a novelist, always will be a novelist. I only write short stories if I plan on entering a contest or other events that force me to.
Novel. Most things I have to say are too long for a short story. But I work on short-short stories too.
I've never been able to work within the short story form. It feels like I have to cut all the really good bits out to keep the length down.
I really don't like writing short stories. It makes me feel like I have a limit (which I do, considering it has to be short) and so I start repressing my imagination to keep myself from really taking off with the story. I greatly prefer no real limits, so I'd be a novelist. And no, I for one did not start with short stories. I started with fan fiction.
Since it will be a long time till I can really sit down and pound out a novel, I do short stories. Although there have been changes- they've grown from really short stories, like just two-page snippets, to actual, plotted, mini-novels. Not quite novellas, but longer than my standard fare, so that's progress.
I do both, but I prefer novels to short stories, and in percentage than would be 80% novelist and 20% other. I would second people who said novels, that it doesn't limit my writing space, let's my imagination flow and is definitely more fun to write.
My first story was of 1000 words. the second was 2500 words. Third - 4500. Fourth - 12000. Fifth - 18000. Sixth - 21000. As you can see, i started writing short stories, but then branched into novellas and am now finally writing my first novel
I have written two short stories and am currently working on a somewhat stalled novel, so not sure I am either. Possibly both. Not something I get tied up in personally but other people might feel differently. I guess quite a few big name novelists never wrote a short story ...can't think of anyone except Thomas Harris. Maybe he did and it was never published. I don't suppose Dickens ever wrote anything that short! I would guess most people have a bit of both in them.
been both... the first serious writing i ever started was a novel... then [while working on the novel] i began writing short stories, articles, columns, non-fiction books, serious poetry, stage plays, a screenplay and song lyrics... since i stopped writing for money/paid publication, i've been writing mostly essays and 'philosetry' [philosophical poetry], but also started a few books [fiction and non-] and wrote a weekly newspaper column till they insisted on paying me for it and i had to drop it...
I'm a novel person. I've written short stories sure but I never really enjoy them. I like to get really into a story the way only a novle or a longer work can. There are a few exceptions of course but as a general rule I prefer novels.
Technically, all he wrote were short stories...they just added up over time. (Dickens was a serialist- novels like Great Expectations were published in chapters for the public to comment on. His novels literally changed course to fit the audience's reaction. I wish I could write a story like that...)
It seems I'm more of a novel person at this point, but I will eventually get more into short story writing.
I like the economy of the short story. Some tales are really meant for a short story format, and trying to turn them into a novel just bloats the story beyond all reason. On the other hand, a couple of my short stories have demanded a larger story to pull in the necessary background and character development. One of those is in the works now as a novel, if I can actually carry it through. I'm still considering the other in that light as well. I think the story chooses which format is better for it.
I've written both novels and short stories. I prefer novels, but right now with time constrains and obligations, I don't have the time to tackle another novel. So I'll continue to focus on short stories at least until summer. Terry
Two interesting points were made about Dickens never writing short stories i.e that originally his novels were serialized and even amended according to public reaction to earlier instalments, and that they contain "short stories" within them. If they could be bought in a serialized form now I think that would be a better way of reading them. I have just finished Bleak House and whilst I recognize that it is quite a literary achievement, it is a lot of book to digest in one piece. I wonder if serial novels would have a market now - Stephen King has done two to my knowledge and they seem to have done OK, although I have no figures to back this up
Green Mile was serial, but I'm not sure what the other you're thinking of is. Personally, I'm too impatient to read a serialised novel. And I prefer to write novels, because the confines of the short story drive me crazy. But I do think that the short story is the more difficult art. It takes discipline to make every word count.
I pretty much believe in making every word count, regardless of the format. That probably means I will never write a long novel that qualifies as a blunt object if the hardcover version is thrown at someone. Expelling words at the reader with casual abandon is a trend I often see with famous writers as they get older. Robert Heinlein, for example, seemed to suffer from verbal incontinence in his later works. Or rather, his readers suffered from it. Save a forest. Deliver your message with surgical precision.
