Length vs. Content.

[Kid Ego]

I've seen many threads lately, and could have probably posed this question in one of them, but I wanted to hear a more direct discussion on this.

I have a problem actually sitting down and writing a "short story". I tend to get pretty wordy when I write, and before I know it things go from a short 300 words to several thousand. How do you writers buffer yourself down to smaller {several paragraphs instead of pages} stories, and what exercises do you use to move the plot along quickly without seeming rushed?

Reading the assignment on character pieces, I felt that I couldn't even accomplish this feat in anything under several filled pages. If I had any less, it would feel stunted....to me anyway.

Suggestions?

[voltes5]

One suggestion I can give is literally place a word limit in your story. Say about 1,500 to 2,000 words. While you're writing, be aware that you are working with a word limit. Keep checking your word count after you finish a page of text.

It really all depends on the story you're trying to tell. If it's a very specific tale, you can compress it easily enough while strengthening your tale with vivid descriptions and dialogue. If you have an epic story, don't even attempt to write a short story.

Remember, short stories are very "topic-specific." You are not running a marathon, rather, you are sprinting a 1-Meter Dash. As I've suggested before, pick a very specific topic/theme to write about and focus all your creative energies into it.

It's not that I discourage "epic" ideas, but when it comes to short stories, you are handicapped by word count. Your goals as a short story writer is different from a novelist's: You are serving fast food rather than a fancy dinner. But the thing is, you can serve up a nuked burger on your microwave or grill a homemade BBQ burger of your own. Basically, with your short story, you make the best out of every word you use. Make every word *really* count.

Also be prepared to be overtly critical about your written work. Edit it until your short story is as concise and precise as you want it to be. Print it out, carry it in your pocket, and have a handy red pen with you at all times.

Short story writing is not just an art, it's a science.

[Dan Whitehead]

I suffer from the same problem. Once I start writing, I can become horribly verbose. The 500 word assignment was a killer for me, because I used up the word count just setting up the first character.

The trick is to be brutal. Go through the story with a scythe and remove or shorten anything that isn't completely essential. At first, it hurts like hell. You will have to chop out lines that you thought were brilliant. Keep a copy of your long-winded original, as you may want to reinsert some of the material later, once you've trimmed the fat.

But don't fall into the opposite trap. Don't be so self-concsious about length that you under-write. You still need to fit in character and exposition - you just need to do it economically.

[Capt. Eucalyptus]

See I've always had the opposite problem. I think I'm at my best on the short shorts. I have problems writing longer pieces. Once I break the 2000 word barrier it's hard for me to finsh the story. It's also hard for me to know when a longer story is "finished". My character piece is 3200 words and Hastur says it's "done" but I had other readers say its not. When do you stop?

[Dan Whitehead]

capteucalyptus (Scott Roche):
My character piece is 3200 words and Hastur says it's "done" but I had other readers say its not. When do you stop?Here's my belated feedback on your story, as it ties in very well with what you've said here. I don't think it needs to be any longer, but I do think the ending is a bit anti-climactic. It's obviously leading into bigger things, but at the same time drawing a line under this part of the tale. Think of it as the ending of Fellowship Of The Ring. Nothing is resolved, there's no closure, just a sense of the scale of things to come. What your story needs, I think, is a punchier ending - just the last few lines - to create a literary equivalent of the final shot of FOTR: Sam and Frodo standing on top of the mountain looking down across Mordor. Epic, tantalising but also packing an emotional punch. At the moment the story just ends. Your main character needs to say, or think, something that tells the reader that this is a turning point, that things are moving forward. He doesn't have to shake his fists at the heavens while lightning crashes around him, but it needs something meatier to leave the reader on a high.

Great story though, it kept me guessing - and I loved the dialogue in the jogging scene. Very natural and flowing.

[Capt. Eucalyptus]

Thank you sir. :) I want to do more with this character and have something bigger in mind. I want him to be kind of like the supernatural accidental tourist. He goes around helping people with spiritual problems. Kind of an unwilling paranormal investigator, if you get my drift.

Just so I know (and I'm not digging for praise here, or maybe I am wink ) can you qualify what it was that kept you guessing, or is it an intangible thing?

[Dan Whitehead]

capteucalyptus (Scott Roche):
Just so I know (and I'm not digging for praise here, or maybe I am wink ) can you qualify what it was that kept you guessing, or is it an intangible thing?Intangible, I guess. I kind of figured out where things were going vaguely, but as each character was introduced I was trying to fit them into what I thought the story was. If that makes any sense.

The themes you were juggling with are pretty hefty, so there's a real pull there for the reader - it's clear from very early on that there will be no easy cookie-cutter ending.

[Capt. Eucalyptus]

Thanks man. You're a gem.

[Kirby Drummond]

Singer said he knew a story was done when he removed all his favorite sentences.

[Dan Whitehead]

Kirby Drummond:
Singer said he knew a story was done when he removed all his favorite sentences.So that's how "what happens when a toad is struck by lightning" managed to stay in the movie...

[Kirby Drummond]

Isaac Bashevis not Bryan.

[Unbreathless]

The only problem I have is that when I start to do a longer story my mind wanders and I can't stay on track. Short stories are easier for me, Or serialized, but even then the main plot sometimes gets lost.

i think this has to do with the fact that i never write an outline, i keep it in my head. That tends to make it go all over the place after a while.
oh well.

[Dan Whitehead]

Kirby Drummond:
Isaac Bashevis not Bryan.I thought as much, but you try coming up with a glib pop-culture jibe about Isaac Bashevis... :p

[Hastur]

Cap: Done doesn't necessarily mean finished. I think the tale stands pretty well on it's own as a character piece, as it shows why the character is the way he is. This doesn't mean finished, though.

Kid: You should write until you tell the story. Damn the short/long definitions. Then, when it's on paper, go through and see if you can cut it in half without sacrificing story. If you can do that, it was probably too verbose to start with.

I have a friend that uses this idea to write his fiction. Then, when he's halved his story (never fails - this guy will hit more tangents than a pool game), he tries to do it again. He keeps doing this until he can't take out or change anything. Then he gives it to me for a hatchet job. :D

I know another person who does the exact opposite, because his first draft nearly always looks like a staccato outline. "Bob picked up milk at store. Bob killed cat at home. Cat didn't die. Cat ate Bob." For him, writing is akin to getting a tatoo - painful, excruciating, but something he does because he has to, and the final result is gorgeous (And all you tat fans just shut up. It's my analogy. Yeah. *grin*)

The point is, if you can just get your idea on the paper/screen, you can "fix" it from there. The first part, though, is to get it into a format you can work with, and that's sometimes the hardest part.

[Sleeplesslumber]

One thing I do to shorten my stories for my short films is to write down the whole story and once I am done I take the best scene in the long story and just film that scene as my student film, It gives the audience the feeling that it is somehow bigger than the time allowes and the characters are more complete. I find I do this also to some of my short stories.