I have no problem coming up with ideas and starting writing projects. My problem is finishing them. It's not I don't work on them. I put in some writing or editing time everyday (well, almost everyday). The stories are always expanding into larger projects. Last week I came up with an idea for a fairy tale retelling. The market wants stories in the 1500 to 2000 range. No problem, I thought. I can finish this off in a few days. At 1400 words, I knew I had a problem. I sent it off to a writing buddy for a second opinion. Yup, the story wasn't working, not enough context to support the action. I likely need 4 to 6k to tell a satisfying tale. Argh. So much for that market. I've lost count of the number of flash stories that tripled or quadrupled in size. Sometimes writing stories is like mowing a lawn that grows faster than you can mow.
Until next month, keep writing.
A familiar tale. I try not to worry about it and just write the damned story as it needs to be written. But it is hard when you see those upper-limit word counts whizzing by...
ReplyDeleteSound advice. I think my success (well, I view my feeble attempts at success, lol) in flash fiction is that I stick with a single scene of a story, a vignette. If the story demands more than that, then yeah, it'll be longer than 2k words.
DeleteI have a tough time writing 1,500 to 2,000 anymore, because like you, they always end up being longer. My current novel in progress I planned to be around 60 - 70K, but I'm almost finished with my rough draft and it'll be at 45-50K. I've noticed that most of my work, when finished, doubles what the rough draft was, so once again, I'll be over my mark. Maybe we need to simplify our story ideas more?
ReplyDeleteYou share your ideas and I'll finish them for you. And I've yet to hit a word count I can't stay under. (Sometimes that's not a good thing though...)
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me with chapters and novels! Between revisions and adding in things my CPs want, everything expands to twice its original size. I don't write shorts anymore because my ideas tend to be novel-ish and won't fit. Like Erin, I'm worried my current WIP will go over my intended word count. But, we gotta just keep on plugging away, right?
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me too! I can't seem to write a small story, less than 2k. I'm so used to writing longer ones! Just keep writing and you'll get it figured out. Finishing is hard, but very rewarding!
ReplyDeleteThat happens to me. I've been practicing by writing short and flash pieces for years now. It's taken a long time for me to learn how to write a short story. Yet I also think sometimes stories know what they're about and you just have to go with the flow. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true! And sometimes I think I know what I'm going to write and then the story takes over and I end up somewhere totally different. I'm not nearly as in charge as I think I am.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. You asked about birthday for my MC and the numerology. As fate would have it, I had already chosen the birthday early on because I needed it to be important for another event in her childhood. So, it was kismet.
ReplyDeleteWell, now you know your niche. I suppose that trying to pare a story down is a good exercise so long as you don't allow it to completely frustrate you.
That happens to me constantly. I need a closer. Or at least a relief writer, like a relief pitcher to come in at the last three chapters or so and finish it for me! lol!
ReplyDeleteI would just finish that story anyway - there may be a market for it later. Or, if it's just not working, shelve it and come back to it later and focus on something does work for you. I don't think any of our writing is wasted. It's all good practice, and eventually, it may all be usable.
ReplyDeleteI've been attempting to write flash fiction lately, but I've also been attempting hint fiction (25 words or less), twitter fiction, dribbles, and drabbles (less than 50 and less than 100). I don't do as well as I would like with those super short stories, but after I've tried those, a flash fiction piece feels roomy. I plot out the intro (100-200 words), then the inciting incident/rising action (100-200 words), then the mirror moment (character realization moment - 100-200 words), then the climax, then the ending . .. if I keep each section in the 100-200 word range, it seems doable. Of course, there are other days when I just write by the seat of my pants instead. I try to write out flash and super short stories by hand and handwriting generally keeps the stories shorter . . .
Anyway, those are all just ideas, and probably more than you wanted for writing short stuff.
Happy writing! Happy 4th!
Great tips. Very similar to what I've done. I actually started out with micro-fiction, then "graduated" to flash fiction. Finally was able to pen a short story, now I'm up to novella length! Soon, I'll get to the novel, haha.
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