Let's Revisit Short Stories

A little over a year ago, not long after I started my first novel, I toyed around with a few short stories. One of them I tried submitting, but it was ultimately rejected. It didn't bother much then or now since I like longer stories; short stories are too restrictive.

One of them, about the legend of Melusine, I ended up incorporating into my now second Secondworld novel. Melusine and her family will play a large role in the second book.

The other story, Burden of Discovery, I think still has an interesting premise (set in the future, where barren women are the outcasts of society and worth is determined by how many children you have), but is more suitable to a novel than a 5,000 word story. I've put in on the back burner for now, but maybe someday I'll be able to rework it.

Since I finished Melusine's story back in 2009, I have focused solely on my novels. I enjoy a larger cast of characters and the freedom to play around with the plot. I never thought I would try writing a short story again unless it tied to my Secondworld novels, hopefully after they'd been published. Then this week I started thinking, what if I gave short stories another chance? It'd be nice to write something that wasn't part of an 80,000+ word story and I could even write it in first person (something I want to do, but my current novels require narrow third person viewpoints).

I sat down and five minutes later, I had an idea. What if one of the characters from my second book, a huldra who can shift to the form of a fox, wrote a letter to his children about his first days as a shape-changer, offering fatherly advice along the way? I sat down and started writing. I finished half of it, took a day off for Christmas, and finished the second half this morning. It's cute, to say the least, and after letting it sit for a few days, I plan to edit it and submit it to a few online magazines.

After a year of near-constant writing and editing, writing a short story was easier for me. The key was to keep the topic narrower and focused, and not try to write a story spanning a number of years, as I had tried to do before. If my fun little exercise pays off, I may have to repeat it again in the future.

Melusine's Story

The legend of Melusine (a Breton Faery) was first written down by Jean d’Arras in the 14th century. (You can read one of my favorite versions of the tale here.) The main character of the legend, Melusine, first demanded to have her story told on Wednesday. I was researching which fairy legend to mention in the Otherworld novel I'm writing, and despite the four months between my initial research and now, her story was the first to come to mind.

Okay, so I had a legend to include as a reference in my book. I summarized it and moved on. I managed to type about five more pages before Melusine demanded to tell her story on Thursday. This was the second time. I was about to give up the idea when I decided that a little more research into the legend couldn't hurt. Afterall, I would be using it in my story, so it wasn't a lost cause.

Twenty minutes and a number of websites later, the story began telling itself in my head. Much like with my main character, Zahra, from my short story, "Burden of Discovery," Melusine's story came quickly and needed to be written. I wouldn't get another word of my novel completed until the story was done.

I tried researching 7th century France, coming up with few sources. (Although I will admit that during this time I took a look at the Melusine page on the French Wikipedia. Thank goodness for Google Translator!) Using what knowledge I had of the legend, France, and general European history, I decided to start writing today.

Once I started, I couldn't stop. Some people need detailed outlines to complete a story, but I all I need is a good first sentence. The first sentence is much more than a hook--it dictates where the story starts (or ends) and what tone it will take. With a good first sentence I wrote Burden of Discovery in three days. I expect Melusine to take about the same.

After I hear back about my first submitted short story, I'll have another ready to go. The best part is that it ties into the novel I'm working on. Maybe some day people will be able to enjoy the world of Melusine's family over a thousand years in the future.

My first post of no consequence

This post is merely to welcome my new little blog devoted to my writing. I'm currently trying to publish one of my short stories in the online magazine Strange Horizons, but as with all submissions, there is nothing to do but wait until that email you've been anticipating--yet dreading--arrives.

In the meantime I'm working on my first Otherworld book. I'm nearly 1/3 of the way done, which, considering I've been working on it for a little less than two months, ain't half bad. ^_^ (Of course, if I'm honest, I did do about two months of research before I even started writing) I may write a short story about one of the characters mentioned in this book as sort of a stand-alone prequel. Of course, we'll see how that goes...

And now I must follow my golden rule of successful writing: Make yourself write. It is too easy to procrastinate and do nothing, believe me.