I mentioned before that I’m writing and revising some short stories in the Double Helix universe. I also mentioned that short stories aren’t really my thing. I have trouble with them
I want them to be easier. I want to write more of them. I want to figure out how I can write stories that are more than 1000 words and less than 50,000 words. Sound like it should be easy, right?
Yeah, right…
Apparently I can write super short flash fiction stories. And I can write novels. Making a story stretch into a short story but not turn into a novel or novella is hard.
I’ve managed to do it a few times. I have the two short stories in the Sirens Anthologies – Queens and Courtesans, and Witches and Warriors. And I have some of origin stories for the Double Helix characters. And the short story that was my alternate for Witches and Warriors. But they all needed a lot of work. They all started too short or too long.
The only way to get better at it is to do it. To rein in the stories that try to get away and turn into novels. But I want to write the novels as much as the short stories. And I need to make the time to do both.
It’s difficult. I’m not sure I’ll ever get really good or comfortable writing them. But I will keep trying and improving. Hopefully they will be worth reading.
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