Saturday, August 15, 2015

Short Doesn’t Mean Easy by Alison Henderson

I'm currently working on edits for my holiday short story collection SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS TALES, to be released this fall. I was inspired by the annual holiday short stories some of the authors of The Roses of Prose have written for the blog the past three years. I'd never written a short story before we began our tradition, and it's been so much fun I wanted to expand on it by writing my own collection of ten stories.

Ten short stories--less than 50K words. Easy peasy for a writer used to producing full-length novels, right? Let me tell you, I'm exhausted. The creative well was down to the last dregs by the final story. My critique partners can vouch for that. 

Here's why:
  1. Each short story is just that--a complete story. It needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Because our ROP Christmas stories span multiple days, I learned to structure my stories in three parts, one for each of three days. Those became the beginning, middle, and end. For this collection, I had to come up with ten separate and complete plots.
  2. Because I'm a plotter, I needed to work out and write down what was going to happen in each of the three acts before I began. After the first couple of stories, I tried winging it and it was a disaster. It might seem like a waste of precious time to write a synopsis for a short story, but I learned that without one I froze up or muddled around, wasting even more time.
  3. Characters are just as important in a short story--maybe even more so because there isn't enough room for an elaborate plot. Since the characters carry the story, I began each new story by writing character descriptions. They didn't have to be as detailed as the ones I write before I begin a novel, but I had to have them. That meant ten heroes and heroines, along with assorted secondary characters, who needed names, personalities, hopes, and problems.
  4. Each story in this collection is set in a fictional small town in a different state from coast to coast, from Maine to California. I needed to create ten settings in places I knew well enough to make the setting an integral part of the story. I've traveled quite a bit, but this was a challenge. 
  5. And lastly, a story doesn't flow for me until I have a title I'm happy with. I've never been able to write without a title, or even with something I consider a working title. I have a fairly easy time coming up with titles, but ten separate titles in a few short months taxed my creativity.
It hasn't been as simple as I expected, but at the end of this process, I'm happy to say I've learned a great deal about writing short. Some of the lessons will also apply to my longer books. If you haven't written a short story, I recommend it. Just don't expect it to be easy.

Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com

11 comments:

Margo Hoornstra said...

Good information. Short stories were my sole fiction venue for a long time. They sure aren't as easy as they seem. Congratulations on the great accomplishment and best of luck!

Jannine Gallant said...

What's that saying, "Nothing good ever comes easy." I know your stories will all be great, so of course it was a struggle! LOL It's very tough to write short. Fewer supporting characters means the focus is always on the protagonists. It can be exhausting. And wrapping up any sort of plot in roughly 5000 words is a struggle. I seem to leave mine more like real life than a novel--with a "the story continues from here" feel. Congrats on finishing them all!

Liz Flaherty said...

I've written two novellas this year (my first time ever) and while they were difficult--I kept having to take plot points out because of no room!--they were also fun. Good luck to both of us!

Rolynn Anderson said...

Wow! Talk about a tale of immersion! I wrote short for the ROP holiday book last year...about killed me! And I've offered to do it again. What? Are we all nuts? Actually, yes, in a good way. I like to try new things with my writing...this last time, in FEAR LAND, I experimented with the paranormal. I call it normal paranormal. It was fun, but I questioned myself the whole way. Here's to success on your short story anthology, Alison!

Alison Henderson said...

I'm just back from a long, hot slog to the San Jose airport and back to send my daughter back to Chicago after a week-long visit. It was much too short for all of us. But back to business..

Thanks to everyone for your support while I tackled this new project. And Liz, I hope your novellas rack up the readers - I know I'm looking forward to them. I love all your books!

Donna Michaels said...

Best of luck with your anthology, Alison! Writing short is a wonderful exercise that forces us to write concise. Between your writing, and your plots, this anthology is going to be wonderful!

Alison Henderson said...

Thanks, Donna. It was a fun, if surprising, project.

Brenda Whiteside said...

I used to love writing short stories. But not so much anymore. It's tough to get a lot into a little. Good going, Alison!

Leah St. James said...

Writing "short" is a definite skill. Sounds like you've mastered it! Looking forward to reading your stories!

Diane Burton said...

Alison does short so well. As one of her crit partners, I've read each story. They are super! Wish I had her talent.

Alison Henderson said...

Aww shucks, Diane. Thanks so much for your help on these, especially the "rougher" ones.