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It's Friday!

But today isn't just about the start to the weekend. It's also about short stories, and one of the final reasons why I like them so much. We might seem like we're getting repetitive at this point, but trust me, there's something big to this little blog post.

Smaller

I like short stories because they're smaller. We've pretty much been saying that since the beginning of this series, that short stories are fun because they're short, and novels are fun because they're long, but here I want to talk about why I like short short stories.


See, short stories teach us how to keep our writing concise. They force us to focus on even the most minute of details, because every word counts when we only have so few. Most places that publish short stories want something under 5,000 words — and for those of us who spend a lot of time in novels, 5,000 is not very many words.

So with short stories, we have to choose our words very wisely. It takes time to be so concise, so perfect, in each and every word choice. There's a lot to consider, and lot that makes us stop and think in how to edit, how to cut, how to revise the work to be the best in can be in that small number of words.

That's why I like short stories.

Novels get to be the opposite, they let us explore and create in nearly as many words as we like, but short stories get to be the strict uncle who keeps us always in line.

That's why I say it's good for us novelists to frequently go back and write a short story, and try to get it published. Doing so teaches us a lot about writing in general, and helps us to appreciate novels all the more.

And you never know — you might find that you like short stories a lot more than you'd at first considered.


Have a good weekend, everyone! <3

[love]

{Rani D.}