No matter what we do in life, it’s always a learning experience. Writing is one of those experiences. Short stories specifically helps with that experience as well as learning about writing as a whole.
I Ramble A Lot
I mean, I guess I kind of already knew this one. I ramble in my novels, I ramble in my blog posts, I ramble when I talk. That’s just how I roll. Writing short stories had made me realize that I really do ramble a lot but also that I can control my rambling. I get surprised when I read through old short stories and then read through more recent ones. I’ve definitely improved on my rambling and have learned to cut back – and not just through editing but by through the first draft as well.
I Have A Lot Of Ideas
There are days when I feel like I’ve run out of ideas, but if I look back at all the short stories I’ve written, I realize that there’s a lot of novel potential out of them all. Some are perfect as short stories but some would be cool to expand on. I have expanded upon most of them too. If my Short Story Sundays are any indication. Not to mention that one of my Wattpad novellas was based off a short story.
I’m Not Too Bad Of A Writer
We all have that self-doubt that plagues our minds as we write. During the first draft of any story, I always feel like it’s not good. I know I’m not the only one who thinks that but I have to admit that writing short stories has made me feel like I’m less inadequate if that makes sense. Writing short stories has allowed me to hone my writing skills and tighten up my words which means I write better dialogue and description.
Overall, writing short stories has been one of the better writing decisions I’ve ever made.
What have you learned while writing short stories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you liked this post, please share it around.
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Most of what I learned about writing came from working on short fiction. After writing twenty or so over the past two decades, I finally feel confident in my abilities to write a tight, well put together short story.
I agree. Short Stories teach us more than we realize and it allows us to hone those skills.
I’ve never really mastered it. While I can write tight, concise non-fiction pieces, my fiction ideas tend to be book length! But so far, that’s worked out pretty well for me!
Nothing wrong with that! My ideas tend to expand as well, but I’ve been trying to fight the urge to turn every single piee of fiction I write into a novel, lol.
I’m currently working on a short story. I’ve learned that I tend to meander in plot, and it has helped me to think about narrative in a new way. I find myself asking: what chunk of my protagonist’s life do I want to focus on?
That’s a good question to think about! I’ll definitely write that one down. I always ask, “why does this story need to be told?” Because seriously, a lot of my shorts are totally random and can be meaningless, lol.
I have the opposite problem, trying to pack too much sub-level meaning into too little scenes and then expanding and it’s no longer a short story 😅
I try so hard for that to not happen. I have too many novel ideas already, lol.
Same 😁 That reminds me; I once read that when Roald Dahl passed, they found hundreds of novel ideas in his notebooks. 😮
Omg, that’s going to be me! Did anyone take his ideas and continue them at all?