thegreatcrate:

This post is an update on what’s been going on for Crate.

In writing I have fifty thousand stories in the works (okay, about twenty five) ranging from three-pages long to twenty pages and growing. The longer ones I lose faith in because the story meanders and I begin to doubt the foundation of the original idea. Most of these, I’m afraid, will never see completion which saddens me because while they are not the greatest pieces of literature ever conceived, I feel they are stories worth telling. Even if I’m the only one who will ever read them (and maybe close friends / family), I think those characters deserve that much. (Walt and Stephanie, I’m looking at you.)

The short stories are coming along much better. I can rewrite and rewrite to my heart’s content, although sometimes this meat grinder process makes them lose their original spark. I hope soon to be finalizing all these stories that are either started or completed, just not to my liking. I need to somehow overcome this insecurity and just decide a story is well enough to put into the catalog. One short story, titled Universal Architects, has gone through three rewrites in the last week. Each time I finish and decide I missed the point I was going for. The main issue seems to be I feel the story isn’t human enough; it’s not concrete or tangible. The characters, from draft to draft, have grown in complexity and it feels cheap not to show them in their respective lights just to finish the story and be done with it. The problem arises when I am tasked with how much to include or exclude.

I think the greatest strength of a short story is just how concise it is. There’s no such thing as character development in a short story, because there’s no space for it. You just present one important scene, and then it’s over. I think you’re better served to write characters that fit the message you want to send. Rather than using some complete human character - one that readers won’t get to see beyond the small window you’ve given them.

        But it also leaves a lot of room for personal style, and I’m sure someone out there writes tiny parts of some complex character’s life. I just think that a story like that would feel… incomplete, in a way. Whereas if you write to present one small striking moment or theme, everything you write goes towards creating a certain feeling for the reader.

        I don’t think this is official writing advice; more like my preference of style probably. I should try writing some short stories, actually… Adhere to a strict word limit, decide in advance what I want to say, and then go for it. I won’t make any guarantees, because it wouldn’t be the first time if I didn’t follow through, but you’ll see it if I write it!