Writing a short story is easier to manage because you have to get your point across in a shorter time frame; however, it can be more time consuming to write as it requires you to write more concisely.
When I had writing assignments at the University of Pennsylvania there were a few instructors who asked the class to write one page or two page papers. I found this was a more difficult task than writing five, fifteen or twenty page papers as it required precision by executing the point in a 1,000 words or less — sometimes in less than 500 words.
It was one of the best writing lessons I’ve had.
This practice helped hone my writing and storytelling abilities.
I challenge you to write a compelling story in less than 1,000 or 500 words.
Better known as flash fiction in the literary realm, I think writing a short story is one of the most important ways to learn how writing concisely can successfully achieve the storytelling goal.
This month I will further explore the short story realm; the writers, the process, the short stories themselves and recommended reads.