Finally! Here is a tidbit I picked up from the Willamette Writers Conference.
A few months back, I questioned whether writers can work on short and long pieces at the same time. Published writer Eric Witchey says not only can you, but you should.
Witchey offered some great ideas in his session Short Fiction for Fun, Money, and Skill. The fun is obvious–short fiction allows you to play without a huge time commitment.
The money is also pretty self-explanatory. Write the stories, then sell them to paying publications. Witchey gave us some URLs to find sources for our shorts. He has posted these links on his website. He also advised going to the highest-paying publication first, rather than trying to build street cred (aka, a publishing history) through lower-paying publications. Everyone seems to have their own opinions about this, but Witchey’s thought is that the story is what sells you, not your previous credits. Write a good story, and keep submitting it until it gets published.
The skill part is the piece I hadn’t really thought of before. A short story allows you to experiment with a different style, focus on improving a particular facet of your writing, and practice your craft on something you will finish in a reasonable amount of time. If you begin an experiment on a novel, you may not know how it works for you for six months or a year. With a short story, you could know within a week or two, depending on the length of the story and how fast you write. And, if the experiment doesn’t work out, you can set that story aside and go on to the next with the lesson learned. And all of the lessons you are learning by writing short stories can be applied to your novel.
My big objection to the idea of writer promiscuity is that I will be taking away from my larger project by doing the smaller side projects. Witchey’s presentation helped me shift my thinking. By honing my craft with shorter pieces, I am ensuring that the time I spend on my novel is more focused and incorporates all of the stylistic improvements I learn from my shorter pieces.
If you get a chance to attend one of Eric Witchey’s presentations or to take one of his courses, I recommend it highly. He is a dynamic speaker who invites audience participation and works hard to meet their needs. And he is funny–which was a nice break in the middle of the conference.
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[...] Choosing Short Fiction Markets Victoria Janssen provides a good guide for selecting the right markets for your short stories. Is pay the most important criterion? Prestige? Not sure why you would waste your time on short stories when you could be writing your novel? For the answer to that question, please review my post regarding short stories as a learning tool. [...]
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