by Maggie King
In my July post, I discussed short stories from the point of view of readers. You can read it here. But what about the writers? Why do they write short stories? Why do some not write them?
If you exclusively write short stories, or want to, there are several good reasons why you’re making a good choice:
- There’s a tremendous satisfaction in completing a story in days, a few weeks at the most.
- Short stories can be sold over and over, as long as the market accepts reprints. Reprints don’t pay as much as an original story (I can attest to that!)—still, it’s another publishing credit, and the work’s already done. I understand that reprints often pay well if included in an annual best-of anthology.
- Writing short stories trains you to write with tightness and economy of words. This is great preparation for other kinds of writing, fiction and nonfiction alike.
- For short stories, you don’t need an agent.
- That muddy (aka sagging) middle of a story, so challenging to novelists, may still challenge short story writers–but the middles are, well, short.
But be aware of the pitfalls. John Floyd, author of over a thousand short stories, has this to say: “Now, what’s the downside of writing only short stories? I can think of only one: as a short-story writer you will probably not become famous or make a zillion bucks from your writing. But here’s another newsflash: neither will most novelists.”
Another pitfall short story writers may encounter is the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome: “I don’t get no respect.” There are any number of short story writers who are respected for their work: the aforementioned John Floyd, Barb Goffman, Art Taylor, Eve Fisher, and Michael Bracken are just a few. But short story writing in general is frequently discounted. Anything from “So when’s she going to write a novel?” to “I don’t read short stories” are comments authors often hear. I know a gifted writer of short stories who won’t create a website until she publishes a novel.
Art Taylor, winner of many awards for his short stories, says, “I’ve had people hear me say I’m a short story writer and then tell me straight out that oh, they don’t read those. (I try not to be insulted.)”
My former agent scowled when I mentioned writing short stories. “Write the real stuff,” he advised.
If you primarily write novels, writing short stories can offer a different experience:
- After struggling with your novel, writing short can give you a feeling of accomplishment.
- It helps you to hone your writing skills.
- Writing short is a challenge like any good writing (you need to develop a compelling plot and characters); but as you’re dealing with a minimum of scenes and characters, the process is simpler.
- It gives you fresh material to promote while you’re working on your novel, keeping your readers engaged.
- In a short piece, you can resurrect scenes and characters that were edited out of your novel.
- You can further develop a minor character from your novel in a short piece.
- You can experiment with new genres.
- And you will have respect!
I’m a big fan of writing short stories. To date, I’ve published seven and have several others in various stages of completion. This fall I’m writing two for anthology submissions.
You may be a pro at writing short stories, or you may be getting started (or at least thinking about it), but we can always learn about craft. Read and study the works of the greats, like Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, Ruth Rendell, and many others. Note that these are crime writers, but the basic principles apply to all genres.
On a final note, consider this advice from the late, great Ray Bradbury: “The best hygiene for beginning writers or intermediate writers is to write a hell of a lot of short stories. If you can write one short story a week—it doesn’t matter what the quality is to start, but at least you’re practicing, and at the end of the year you have 52 short stories, and I defy you to write 52 bad ones. Can’t be done. At the end of 30 weeks or 40 weeks or at the end of the year, all of a sudden a story will come that’s just wonderful.”
For more information on writing short stories, check these resources:
What is a Mystery Short Story? And How Do You Write One? by John Floyd
Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 Tips on How to Write a Great Story. Some fascinating and surprising insights here
Short Mystery Fiction Society(SMFS). Join and maybe you’ll win a Derringer!
Our own Gayle Bartos-Pool wrote an excellent guide, THE ANATOMY OF A SHORT STORY WORKBOOK
Do you write short stories? If so, tell us about your experience.
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The Writers in Residence 
Maggie, what a wonderful post, and extremely helpful. I have printed it out, and checked the links you include. My short story, Farang, almost made it into the Ellery Queen magazine, but finally was a no-go so I published it on amazon. Thank you for all the tips.
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I’m glad you found my post helpful. With EQMM it’s an honor to get close. It’s my dream to be accepted by them or Alfred Hitchcock.
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I wrote my first children’s book, Finding Mac, and self-published it on Amazon. As a new author, I need to improve my writing skills, so I am writing a short story. Would it be possible if someone could read it and provide feedback? Drop me a note at rkovar1msn.com.
I appreciate your consideration and look forward to following your group.
Russ Kovar
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Great article, Maggie. And you mentioned somebody who helped me immensely when I wrote a few short stories all with the same main character. Dear Ray Bradbury told me personally about what he did with a batch of his short stories. His agent said to consolidate them in a single book, just link them together since they were all science fiction stories…and The Martian Chronicles was published. I did that with my Johnny Casino stories and have three published books with Johnny as the main character. So people who might look down on short stories can read these as though they are just chapters in a novel-length book. And another thing, what do people think movies and TV shows are? They’re short stories – filmed. Most scripts are roughly the length of a short story. And writing them takes the same skill as writing a novel. Sometimes more… Thanks for the post.
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How fortunate to have met Ray Bradbury! And to get such wonderful advice from him. Yes, I believe collections are a good way to attract readers, especially if the stories feature the same characters (my own stories are standalones at this point) And many TV shows and movies are based on short stories. Perhaps shorts are experiencing a renaissance—let’s hope!
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Maggie, this was fascinating. Thank you. Lots of useful information, too. I love reading Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle short stories – Rosamund Pilcher stories, too. And it’s a wonderful exercise in economy of words, as you said. I still tend to write War & Peace, if I’m not stopped. So short stories would be a good approach for me. And I remember when Gayle met Ray Bradbury – she had a wonderful photo taken (by Jackie Houchin) with him! Great post, Maggie.
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I hope anyone who attempts a War & Peace-like story is stopped! I wonder how many short stories it would make. Lol.
I’ve seen the picture of Gayle with Ray Bradbury— what a wonderful memory.
I need to check out Rosamund Pitcher’s stories.
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Loved your post, Maggie, because you took me back in time to a very exciting time in my life…the very first writing I had published was a short story in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and I’m old as dirt and at that time everything was in paper and remember I was so excited!!! (you subscribed or bought at grocery store check out) And there it was, something from my mind was being shared with so many…I still have that acceptance letter and the complementary issue…I think I’ll go dig out..I even remember the editor’s name at that time…a lovely lady…Kathleen Jordan maybe??…memory lane.
Thank you sooo much for your post here, different time, no internet, so many things that have changed the writing and publishing process…
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Madeline, thanks so much for sharing the story of your first publishing credit. I remember my first, so I know how exciting it must have been for you (and still is!). Maybe you’ll share it with us?
So much has changed in the writing world, some for the good, some questionable. I think things are still working out.
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Like Madeline, I went back in time when reading your post, Maggie. My first published fiction was a short story in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine–and I won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for that year’s best first mystery short story! I’ve written several short stories since then but mostly publish novels. But your delightful post made me wonder if I should consider short stories again too! Thanks for the inspirational post.
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Linda, I hope you do pen more shorts. And congratulations on your award, especially for your first published work.
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Maggie … I love this post. I am a great fan of Art Taylor and his wonderful short stories. Personally, I find writing them rather intimidating. It takes a certain skill and confidence to write concisely and on point. I don’t think I have it … but I am tempted now to give it a try!!
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Hannah, I hope you do. It’s a wonderful challenge.
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