Sorry, I couldn’t resist that title. 😛
Many people write short stories, many people read them. Probably just as many don’t. I didn’t pay much attention to the comments of those who don’t until I wrote one and it became published. Now I scratch my head a lot.
Yes, I do understand a short is NOT a novel. They each have different benefits. However a short story most certainly has it’s uses. First of all, they are often cheaper (or free). They are a great way to test out if you like the way an author writes. They are wonderful for filling in little gaps in larger series or works, or showing something from the view of another character or even a minor characters back story. My favorite reason is that they are short. I don’t always have time to hunker down and real a full length novel. However, I want to read something, and be able to finish it as well. Ever start a book, get busy, set it aside and when you do make it back you don’t remember all that you read? Ya, like that. They are of course, perfect for short car/bus rides, waiting room reading and for those times you’ll be more than a minute in the bathroom. 😛
One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard about short stories lately is that they want more! Definitely true with a short story… however shouldn’t this also be true with a novel? If the story is written well you always want more, you never want it to end.
My short story Jump I wrote in just a couple of days. The idea came after I’d been talking to my parents on the phone, and gotten a few lectures. 🙂 Though, “If someone asked you to jump off a bridge would you?” wasn’t one of them, for some reason that phrase popped into my head and the story was born. I was in a rather silly, sarcastic mood at the time, which lent to the humorous aspects of the story.
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Author Jen Wylie's Blog 
I couldn’t agree with you more! I love reading/writing novels, but I’m also a short story author. The short story is an art form all of its own. It is not meant to read as a novel, it’s meant to entertain you, make you think. You’re short story Jump is fantastic! I was able to ‘jump’ into the MC’s mind and experience things, and of course I want more! But it’s satisfying to read something as a whole in a short period and feel completed by it also. Great post!
Shorts are good because, like you said, you can usually finish it in one reading but as a reader when I want ‘more’, I sometimes want more in depth with the character. Sometimes shorts, like many novels, are plot driven and you don’t get to see the emotion or the character. Most of the time in shorts, I don’t necessarily want more or the same character, but that’s just me. Sometimes I want a short to be just that, a short, complete story.
Shorts are great, just for the reason that they are short. I have 4 kids, ages 18, 17, 8 and 1 years old. It’s the rare occasion that I get to sit down and read a novel, though I love them. I’ve had one of the newer Lee Child books for over a week now and haven’t had a chance to read it, though my husband has. I have however had the time to read some great shorts and to write some. And if it leaves you wanting more, so much the better. That means there is a possibility for another short with said character, just as there is with a novel.
My favorite thing is they don’t take long to write, and they don’t take long to read. Sometimes, whether you are a reader or a writer, that’s all you want.
As basically a short story author, I like the quickness of going from an idea to a finished product in very little time. I’m like most of your commenters in that I have a full time job, have two teenagers at home and am working on a 50-book series (don’t worry, they are short stories because they are fact based and educational for the kids but entertaining and most can get through my books in one sitting). I’ve not written a novel and really don’t have a desire to write a novel. I got started writing by entering contests and most of those are short stories. I was hooked after taking a shared second place in my first ever contest (that is how my state series was born, actually). I have written a YA novelette because at just about 56,000 words, I can’t consider it a novel. But that story took a couple of years to come to fruition even though I did sort of write it during NaNo. Everything else I’ve ever had published or entered in contests has been a short story. Short stories rock – lol – E 😉
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Elysabeth Eldering
Author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad, 50-state, mystery, trivia series
Where will the adventure take you next?
http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com
A 50 book series!! ~faint~ And here I thought I wrote a lot LOL
Thanks for stopping by!
I like the punchiness of short stories. They have to be tight, like a weeked break rather than a grand tour. I write novels and shorts, and love both, but the reason I love writing the shorts is that the length invites the use of a sharp twist, and also provides a different kind of challenge because there is so little room to make a big impact on the reader.
Wow…that’s a hard question to answer!
I so agree. I love reading novels, but I have thrown more than one down harshly on the bed because I was upset it was over. As a mother of four as well as a “co-parent” with my one year old nephew, I find it difficult to find time to read a full length novel, which is upsetting. Short stories are great. It gets to the point, provides insight and entertainment and if it is well written makes me stop and think. So, here’s to short stories, *raises coffee cup up for toast*
Exactly! Cheers! 😀
I love shorts. I love to write them and to read them. Short stories give you both a taste test of an author as well as potentially a world that you’ll get to see again, without devoting the time and money in a novel. Additionally, shorts often give you a much more intense ride than their longer counterparts.
Long live short fiction!
And our lucky winner today by random number draw is….
Seleste!!
Thanks so much for posting everyone!
Happy writing! (and reading!)
Woohoo! More reading material : ) ❤
I love writing shorts, I usually wear a pair of dark blue… Oh, never mind.
But I do enjoy writing the short story, I feel as if all mine start out that way….short. From here they sometimes grow.
I was thinking recently, (I know, I have been told to stop) of the short I wrote for a contest, it is begining to blossom into something much larger.