I. Short fiction = writing FROM something; long fiction (6 - 8,000 words) = writing TOWARD something.
It's not always as clear as this, of course, but I appreciate the distinction, and sometimes feel it when composing/revising. When writing short fiction, I tend to think about the image or idea that ignited the piece, and, to determine what it's after, try to feel out how the piece is moving AWAY from its first sentence. When writing longer fiction, I tend to think less about what started the piece, and instead try to feel out what far-off thing is moving INTO the work.
II. "Flash fiction is not fast food."
I can't remember who said this, or how they elaborated, but I dig this point. Strong flash fiction is not produced like fast food, nor is it enjoyed and consumed like fast food. Though both, if much-consumed, "stay with you."
III. Mike Young of HTMLGIANT discussing how you shouldn't take a "save your best stuff" approach when submitting to lit mags. He made the great point that avoiding this mentality helps you to be "less precious" about your work.
I've struggled with this myself, feeling like I want to "save" certain work for "better" magazines. The result? Not submitting very much. And you miss out on the larger world of lit mags. You hoard instead of give. Any time a writer can learn to let go-- to be less precious, to have less hang-ups, less ego-- it's probably a good thing. Especially long-term.
IV. Antonya Nelson explaining how it's not as useful for her to think about what characters desire or want, but instead to think of what they "want" in the old sense of the word-- what they lack. She made the point that most people don't know what they desire, anyway; and that overt desire, when injected into characters, can feel too conscious, too predictable.
I love this point, for lots of reasons. One of the reasons is how it defies the old advice to make an overdetermined and lengthy list of your main character's background, and to do this before actually writing: birthday, hometown, siblings, hair color, shoe size, favorite cheese, and deeply-felt but pent-up and unstated and perhaps constrictively reductive overall goals-in-life.
If you discover these "desires" while writing-- and chasing what a character lacks is one way to do this--then maybe there's a greater chance that it will feel like discovery for the reader, too.
Reading-as-discovery-- that's where it's at.
It's not always as clear as this, of course, but I appreciate the distinction, and sometimes feel it when composing/revising. When writing short fiction, I tend to think about the image or idea that ignited the piece, and, to determine what it's after, try to feel out how the piece is moving AWAY from its first sentence. When writing longer fiction, I tend to think less about what started the piece, and instead try to feel out what far-off thing is moving INTO the work.
II. "Flash fiction is not fast food."
I can't remember who said this, or how they elaborated, but I dig this point. Strong flash fiction is not produced like fast food, nor is it enjoyed and consumed like fast food. Though both, if much-consumed, "stay with you."
III. Mike Young of HTMLGIANT discussing how you shouldn't take a "save your best stuff" approach when submitting to lit mags. He made the great point that avoiding this mentality helps you to be "less precious" about your work.
I've struggled with this myself, feeling like I want to "save" certain work for "better" magazines. The result? Not submitting very much. And you miss out on the larger world of lit mags. You hoard instead of give. Any time a writer can learn to let go-- to be less precious, to have less hang-ups, less ego-- it's probably a good thing. Especially long-term.
IV. Antonya Nelson explaining how it's not as useful for her to think about what characters desire or want, but instead to think of what they "want" in the old sense of the word-- what they lack. She made the point that most people don't know what they desire, anyway; and that overt desire, when injected into characters, can feel too conscious, too predictable.
I love this point, for lots of reasons. One of the reasons is how it defies the old advice to make an overdetermined and lengthy list of your main character's background, and to do this before actually writing: birthday, hometown, siblings, hair color, shoe size, favorite cheese, and deeply-felt but pent-up and unstated and perhaps constrictively reductive overall goals-in-life.
If you discover these "desires" while writing-- and chasing what a character lacks is one way to do this--then maybe there's a greater chance that it will feel like discovery for the reader, too.
Reading-as-discovery-- that's where it's at.
Interesting stuff. I like the distinction between short (from) and long (toward).
ReplyDeleteGood advice about "saving"... funny how that happens.