A questions for short story writers

[ksmith]

...especially if you write novels as well...

Do you sit down and start that first paragraph, that first scene, is your approach different depending on whether it's part of a novel or a shorter work?

I'm about 4-5 pages into Incident, and I find myself weighing every word and trying to fit every hint and shade into the first few paragraphs. This is going to be a longer short work, 10K or more, so I have a little room to maneuver. And I want to allude to Jani's backstory and meanwhile, the plot itself is happening.

Just wondering.

Comments

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I still need some idea of where it's going, particularly with short fiction. I can't start unless I have an end in mind (this is because I have an untidy head and if I don't have an end in mind, my plot all goes to pot).

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I have the barebones of a plot. I know how it ends.

I've heard it so often that Every Word Needs to Count in short fiction that I would be reluctant to write a piece unless I had it well thought out. Maybe that's a good thing, or maybe I'm painting myself into corners.

[msisolak.livejournal.com]

Well, as someone who has tried to stuff all sorts of things into her short and long fiction, I guess my advice is to relax. Novels have time to develop, and you'll probably end up adding more, while spreading it around. Short stories will most likely end up being pruned, if you've nailed the plot and motivations.

Every Word Need to Count, yes, but that doesn't mean you can't write until you figure it completely out. Most of my short fiction is written until I do figure it out, and then I go back and distill. There's a fair amount I discover I don't need on the rewrites.

Novels? A whole different matter: write until it's so big I can't imagine how I'm going to resolve everything. Stop.

(Eventually I get finished, but it's usually two years on pause before I can face tying knots in all my open threads.)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Well, as someone who has tried to stuff all sorts of things into her short and long fiction, I guess my advice is to relax.

I should probably take this under advisement.