Blog 32: Short and Sweet

Well, hello there! I am quite excited at the moment because my birthday is coming up later this week. Not only that, but I found out that it coincides with National Be An Angel Day. How cool is that! It feels like a double celebration, one for me and one for Angel Editing.

Anyway, the reason I’m looking forward to my birthday isn’t because I’m a huge child who has never grown up, okay, it is a little bit. Well, a lot, but I won’t be having party games, eating jelly and ice cream, and having a shed load of balloons. Though maybe I will for my 50^th next year. What I will be doing is going out for a meal at my local Chinese restaurant. It’s my favourite eating place at the moment. All the food is ordered through an app on your phone. It’s a buffet, so you order as many of the dishes as you want, which also includes the pudding part of the menu. All the dishes are small, so you aren’t over-faced, and if you want more, you just order it. And the food is sooo good! But that isn’t the best part. Get ready for this. Are you ready? Because this is the best thing EVER. They have kitty robots that bring the food to your table! Mind blown, right? For those of you who may not know, I am a major cat lover, so anything to do with cats and I’m one happy Angie. Imagine me around kitty robots, eating lots of dishes of delicious food, and sipping on a pina colada. Yes, they have cocktails too!

The idea of having lots of little dishes is perfect for me. I’m the type of person who can never decide what I want, and always say I wish I could try smaller portions of a few different meals. It’s a bit like reading; sometimes you are in the mood for an anthology of short stories that offer something a little different in each. I’m tempted to buy a new one that has a mix of stories with sci-fi and humour. Currently, I’m about three-quarters of the way through an 800-page high fantasy novel. So a book of short stories might be just the ticket before I start another full novel.

I have a few collections of short stories. As they say, good things come in little packages. And I should know, as I’m only 5ft 1. Some of my anthologies are written by a single author, and others are compiled from different ones. One of my favourites is Mark Haddon’s The Pier Falls, as it features a variety of stories, including sci-fi, folklore, and historical elements. For those of you who are partial to something a little different, I think it comes under transgressive fiction; The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes is a collection with dark and disturbing themes.

Writing a short story can be a useful way of practising your skills without getting bogged down or overwhelmed with a piece of work that goes on for 300 or more pages. Some authors begin with a novella and then later continue the story in another, or expand it into a full novel. Steven King wrote The Green Mile series, with the first five books at 96 pages and the final one at 144. However, you can now buy this collection as one book. If you haven’t read that one, you have to run to the store right now and grab a copy! In addition, the film, starring Tom Hanks, I find portrays it incredibly well, unlike a lot of other book-to-film adaptations.

Another example is Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes in 1959, and seven years later it was published in a full novel format, having been given more depth. Some fantasy authors begin small while they get to know their world and characters, and then delve into the fuller story later on.

Of course, completing a short story, ranging from 1000 to 15000 words, which you should be able to read in one sitting, is very different from writing a standard-length book, where the word count comes out at around 60,000 to 100,000 (not including fantasy, which can go on for so much longer). The fact that it is condensed means you don’t have a lot of time for the buildup, a complex plot, or numerous characters, and every line has to prove its worth. And though it is significantly smaller, that in itself can be an added challenge. So, how is the best way to tackle these compact little bad boys?

• Plot: This can’t be anything complicated or long-winded. An event that occurs over one or more days is the ideal timescale, even over an intense hour. Have a structure in mind, such as the three or five-act structure with beginning, middle, and end. You can, of course, start at the end and then steer back to explain the events that led up to it. However, any other non-linear style of back story and flash forwards would be too complex for this length.

• Exposition (beginning): You should jump straight into the action here, as there is no time for a long setup.

  
  

• Brevity: Details such as description and dialogue should be kept cut back and precise. Make sure the words you choose are short and to the point, revealing exactly what they need to and pulling the story along.

• Conflict: As with any length, this is key, motivates the character and gives momentum to take them along in their journey.

• Infer: Don’t spell out everything that happens in detail. Give your reader credit to read between the lines.

• Ending: It goes without saying that there has to be a satisfying conclusion. It can be fun to have a twist or leave the reader wondering what will happen next. A bit like those horror stories, where the monster has been defeated, but then something hints that it may still return. You also don’t have to tie everything up with a nice little bow. Take the character down a path that gives them hope and a chance of opportunity, and let the reader imagine where that could take them.

• Chop shop: Yep, you’re gonna have to do a little trimming here and there. First drafts always have too much detail or unnecessary wording, padding it all out. Go through with a critical eye and take out what isn’t needed. If you have even a line in there that, if removed, makes no difference to the overall piece of writing, treat it like a splinter in your hand – whip that tinker out!

• Editing: The editor in me wants to remind you to check for repetition and consistency issues. Read your work aloud or use the computer to read it for you and listen out for repeated words, phrases, and actions. And while you’re there, make sure you have kept your important factors the same, such as characters’ names, places, details in rooms, the weather, times, etc. Don’t forget to check your spelling too!

Good practice before you even begin is to read some short stories. I would suggest doing it several times. Read them through to get the general information: plot, characters, and details. Then read through again and make notes that you feel are helpful, in relation to the above tips.

Writing Exercise!

Instead of a writing exercise, I would love you all to send me a birthday present. I wish! Seriously, you realise this is going to be short story-based this week.

1.       Think of a short story idea, remembering what type of plot would be suitable, and work through the tips to craft your story. Perhaps try a different genre from what you usually write, to shake things up a bit.

2.       Or you could go back to one of the short stories you have written already, and see if you can refine it.

Have fun and let me know how you get on. Just think, when you read my next blog, I will be a year older and hopefully be working my way through some birthday chocolate. Mmm.

Catch you next time.