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This got away from me, so I apologize if you find it a bit long. I do encourage you to read, especially if you're a novelist and don't or have not written much/any short fiction.
TLDR much of the writing advice out there encourages writers to write short fiction to learn the basics of writing and storytelling. Good advice, but I always hear that as coming from writers with a background of writing short fiction who are trying to convince novelists their way is better, or even an objective "best" for learning how to write and tell stories. As a novelist who later began to write short fiction, I wish I had started--or, at least, included--short fiction among my projects in my early writing career. The reason is this: the 2-3 lessons I learned by writing a novel over 18 months could have been learned in less than half the time by writing short fiction.
I encounter this issue, this writing advice, over and over again in podcasts, YouTube vids and other writing advice and instructions. And I'm writing this because of the Writing Fantasy for Barbarians (Spotify link, but also on Audible and likely elsewhere) podcast episode I listened to this morning. Many writers write short fiction--short stories of 5k or 10k words, or flash fiction of 1k words, or even shorter. Yet, my understanding is that the vast majority of readers only read novels. Short fiction's heyday was the mid-twentieth century. It's been all novels and (largely) only novels for decades now. In my understanding...
So why should aspiring authors (traditional or self-pub) write short fiction? I began writing novels. Epic Fantasy trilogies! I was scared of short fiction, scared that I wouldn't be able to keep it short because the moment I put any work into my early ideas, they immediately expanded to the N-th degree. They became novels and series. Now, twenty years on, I have been trying my hand at short fiction for a number of years. I started slow about a decade ago and I've been totally open to short stories, flash and even microfiction for the past 5 or 6 years.
I wish I'd started sooner. Even back when I first began writing. I think I'd be a much better writer today if I had.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Well, I'm doing it now.
The thing about the writing advice/instructional stuff is that it/they include all the right words. That short fiction lets you learn all the stuff. They are saying the right things. But I always hear the podcaster/influencer/editor/whomever coming at it from the wrong direction. I interpret them as having the background of a short fiction writer trying to convince novelists that short fiction is best for learning the craft, both its basics and its more advanced intricacies. And I hear them declaring this as objective fact.
That's wrong. As a novelist who easily spends 18 months on a single novel--and several more years on a full trilogy or series--I was able to learn the basics just from the novels I wrote in my early writing career. But, here's the thing. 6 to 12 or even 18 months on a single novel seems about average for many writers. That's 70k - 120k words in the adult market scifi and fantasy genres. 60k - 90k for YA. And you might spend that entire novel focusing developing your skills in 2 or 3, or maybe a half dozen specific parts of the craft of writing and storytelling. I often spend 18 months on a novel, but a 5k short story? 1 week. A month to self-edit and by the end I'm sending it out for critique. And in those 5k words I'm focusing on developing those same skills I spent 18 months on in writing a novel.
So is short fiction objectively best for learning to write and tell stories? I do not think so. I don't think there is any "best", not objectively. There's only what works well for me, or even "better than ___". And, no, I wouldn't trade the years, the blood and sweat and tears I shed on my early novels, or any of my novels, to only write short fiction. However, I wish I had included short fiction among the projects I worked on in those year.
TLDR much of the writing advice out there encourages writers to write short fiction to learn the basics of writing and storytelling. Good advice, but I always hear that as coming from writers with a background of writing short fiction who are trying to convince novelists their way is better, or even an objective "best" for learning how to write and tell stories. As a novelist who later began to write short fiction, I wish I had started--or, at least, included--short fiction among my projects in my early writing career. The reason is this: the 2-3 lessons I learned by writing a novel over 18 months could have been learned in less than half the time by writing short fiction.
I encounter this issue, this writing advice, over and over again in podcasts, YouTube vids and other writing advice and instructions. And I'm writing this because of the Writing Fantasy for Barbarians (Spotify link, but also on Audible and likely elsewhere) podcast episode I listened to this morning. Many writers write short fiction--short stories of 5k or 10k words, or flash fiction of 1k words, or even shorter. Yet, my understanding is that the vast majority of readers only read novels. Short fiction's heyday was the mid-twentieth century. It's been all novels and (largely) only novels for decades now. In my understanding...
So why should aspiring authors (traditional or self-pub) write short fiction? I began writing novels. Epic Fantasy trilogies! I was scared of short fiction, scared that I wouldn't be able to keep it short because the moment I put any work into my early ideas, they immediately expanded to the N-th degree. They became novels and series. Now, twenty years on, I have been trying my hand at short fiction for a number of years. I started slow about a decade ago and I've been totally open to short stories, flash and even microfiction for the past 5 or 6 years.
I wish I'd started sooner. Even back when I first began writing. I think I'd be a much better writer today if I had.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda. Well, I'm doing it now.
The thing about the writing advice/instructional stuff is that it/they include all the right words. That short fiction lets you learn all the stuff. They are saying the right things. But I always hear the podcaster/influencer/editor/whomever coming at it from the wrong direction. I interpret them as having the background of a short fiction writer trying to convince novelists that short fiction is best for learning the craft, both its basics and its more advanced intricacies. And I hear them declaring this as objective fact.
That's wrong. As a novelist who easily spends 18 months on a single novel--and several more years on a full trilogy or series--I was able to learn the basics just from the novels I wrote in my early writing career. But, here's the thing. 6 to 12 or even 18 months on a single novel seems about average for many writers. That's 70k - 120k words in the adult market scifi and fantasy genres. 60k - 90k for YA. And you might spend that entire novel focusing developing your skills in 2 or 3, or maybe a half dozen specific parts of the craft of writing and storytelling. I often spend 18 months on a novel, but a 5k short story? 1 week. A month to self-edit and by the end I'm sending it out for critique. And in those 5k words I'm focusing on developing those same skills I spent 18 months on in writing a novel.
So is short fiction objectively best for learning to write and tell stories? I do not think so. I don't think there is any "best", not objectively. There's only what works well for me, or even "better than ___". And, no, I wouldn't trade the years, the blood and sweat and tears I shed on my early novels, or any of my novels, to only write short fiction. However, I wish I had included short fiction among the projects I worked on in those year.
