 Short Stories: April 20, 2011 Issue [#4350] |
  Short Stories
This week: This would make a GREAT novel Edited by: Ben Langhinrichs  
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Greetings! I am one of the editors for the Short Stories Newsletter, and I hope to share some of my thoughts on writing short stories, and perhaps about writing in general. I suggest you treat these not as pearls of wisdom dropped from on high, but rather musings of a fellow writer, written to inspire, provoke or stimulate your personal muse. I welcome your thoughts, feedback and suggestions.
~ Ben Langhinrichs
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This would make a GREAT novel
Have you ever read a short story you have written and thought, "This would make a GREAT novel" while visions of fame and fortune danced in your head? I certainly have.
To be blunt, it won't.
Now, I can almost hear people say, "But what about [insert title of classic novel by great writer based on a short story]?" To which I say, read what I said carefully. I didn't say you couldn't write a great novel based on the same plot and characters. I think you could, because I think YOU can write a great novel. The story just isn't going to do it alone, or even be very helpful.
The process goes something like this for a beginning writer. I am speaking from direct experience here, but I imagine others will nod and wince at certain places.
The author writes a story that captures his (or her) imagination. The characters or world or plot jump off the page with a vibrancy and resonance that hasn't happened in many other stories by the author, and he can't shake the idea that this is the foundation he has sought for the first novel. This story is so rich and full of potential, he can see being interested in writing 75,000 words.
Here he makes his first mistake. For many beginning writers, the word count is both daunting and all-important, so after the author creates a brand shiny new document in his word processor, he then copies in the entire short story, often keeping the title as that of his story. Wow, without any effort at all, he has 6k written. That's 10% of the novel if he makes it 60,000 words, and he has certainly read that 60k is enough these days.
Leaning back and feeling quite satisfied with this head start, the author thinks about where to go next. Backstory. There's so much luxurious room, he can write two or three chapters leading up to the story. The words flow, and he is finally about to explore how the main character got to this point.
Here he makes his second mistake. Beginning writers hate to mess up something that already works, so when extending something, they add to the beginning and ending. The problem is, the story had a natural beginning and ending, but those don't come until what is now chapter three, and heaven knows what the author will add after that chapter, which ends so nicely now. Also, it turns out that those initial chapters only add up to 2K. The author searches for a blog post that says 45-50K is acceptable for a novel these days, and figures out that 8K is one sixth of 48K. He reassures himself that he isn't going for the low end of 45K and those extra 3K prove that he is serious about doing this right, but it feels a bit hollow.
Grimly now, he starts the slog of writing chapter after chapter. The original story is simply an incident now in a bigger story, but he keeps discovering conflicts between what the characters or story said in that story and what needs to happen for the full novel.
Here he makes his third mistake. The only part of this novel which he knows to be good is that original story, but he can't figure out how to reconcile the longer plot with the original. Worse, he can't do away with the original story because of the many ways he has woven the additional chapters to fit in.
Suffice it to say, the novel is either not finished or finished with serious structural problems. The author suffers from a serious blow to his confidence, and can't quite figure out what went wrong.
In my pseudo-omniscient role as editor, I'll use an analogy to explain to the author. Imagine you wanted to build a grand hotel with a particular retro feel, but were not certain the exact style to use. You wander around the city, and happen upon a street with the most adorable Victorian houses. One in particular catches your eye. It is the perfect look for your hotel, and it's even for sale.
What do you do next? Do you buy the house, move it to your hotel site, and then start adding rooms? No, you draw sketches of the house, capturing the barest outlines, the essence of the place, then walk away and spend six months designing your hotel. When you are done, you still remember the charm of the original house, and think you have captured its style and essence, but it might be very hard for someone else to see any resemblance.
Save your story. Savor it in its perfection. Then, put it away and write a novel designed to be a novel, capturing the essence without constraining yourself to the specifics. Nobody will stop you from saying "Based on a short story" after it is published.
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Feedback from readers
The newsletter these readers were responding to is
"Worlds of Wonder" by Ben Langhinrichs
Through the eyes of a child, even when writing for adults. (Short Stories Newsletter - March 23, 2011)
Meaux  offers The Quarter with the comment: I recently finished a story told from the perspective of a child. Personally I find a child's perspective to be easier than an adults perspective. It allows you to illustrate an issue without having to comment on the 'rightness' or 'wrongness' of that issue.
Zeke  When we think of our perspectives as a child, I think we tend to fantasize a little.
vickie obara I agree with what you said. I once wrote a short story called "Brown Eyes" and it was about a child fear about moving away from her friends and a place she knew all her life only to find that she was moving around the corner to a bigger house.So it is great to write stories from a child's view.
Brother Nature offers Christmas Play of 1969 with the comment: One of my first short stories , Written from the perspective of a 8yr old boy. Perhaps with the same writing skills.
atwhatcost I like writing stories from a child's perspective as much as writing stories for adults. Right now, my mind is formulating a story about the mafia, but from a neighborhood perspective. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes a child's perspective for an adult story is just the right ticket.
tegh offers Invalid Item with the comment: I recently wrote this short story which I'm hoping to have published. I'm just wondering how it stand's up in your opinion. I'm new to the site, and haven't seen much of the writing here (I'm trying but there's a lot to go through), so i was just curious. Thanks!
-Tegh
A response to an earlier newsletter, "The Ending Comes Before the Beginning" by Ben Langhinrichs
Planning your story will ensure you're not just wandering about in the woods. (Short Stories Newsletter - January 26, 2011)
workin nights Ben
I have to agree with you about writing the ending before the beginning. I started a story and could not figure out how to end it... so in a way I didn't and those that have read it have thrown the pages at me as they were very upset leaving them hanging with a pearls of pauline ending... Guess I will have to go back and come up with one.
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