Ask the Author: Dave Cenker
Answered Questions (2)
Dave Cenker
Novel and short story writing each have their own unique challenges, but that’s the clichéd answer no one wants to hear, right? I could perch myself on that fence, but everyone is bound to topple in one direction or another. For me, it’s more difficult to write novels, but not for the reason you might expect.
Novels need a plot, character arc, and proper pacing. But wait, you say, so does a short story! I couldn’t agree with you more. A short story does all this, and with fewer words.
So, why are novels harder, for me? My answer is twofold.
First, they are longer. That means more words. Lots more words. I don’t mind that part of it because I enjoy writing. It’s when it comes to the iterative editing process that I drag my feet in the proverbial mud.
I’m what people might call a recovering perfectionist. After going through the edit of a draft, I find a better way to build the prose, position the dialogue, or otherwise improve the scene. It’s hard for me to finish a draft and push it into the world. It’s tough to… let it go.
If I’ve summoned images of Elsa, Anna, Sven, and Olaf, my apologies to you. Unless you’re a Disney fanatic like me. If that’s the case, relish with me in the Frozen wonderland that is Arendelle. Alas, I digress.
Even my answer to this question has been redrafted. Ugh. See what I mean? With a novel, this process takes months, maybe years. At least with a short story, that cycle is shortened, It’s why I’ve finished so many more of them and one reason they’re “easier” for me to write.
The second factor for why novels are more difficult is subtler. Above and beyond everything else, I love to tell stories and share them with people. Although a strong bond is formed over the course of an epic novel, I feel the same can be accomplished in the shorter form of fiction.
Fewer words per story equals more stories I’m able to write, broaching a wider variety of topics, characters, themes, and messages. More stories equal more bonds between characters and readers.
Being able to do that more often with a short story makes it “easier” for me to complete them, because it gives me so many more opportunities to fulfill my wish when writing, to connect people.
Novels need a plot, character arc, and proper pacing. But wait, you say, so does a short story! I couldn’t agree with you more. A short story does all this, and with fewer words.
So, why are novels harder, for me? My answer is twofold.
First, they are longer. That means more words. Lots more words. I don’t mind that part of it because I enjoy writing. It’s when it comes to the iterative editing process that I drag my feet in the proverbial mud.
I’m what people might call a recovering perfectionist. After going through the edit of a draft, I find a better way to build the prose, position the dialogue, or otherwise improve the scene. It’s hard for me to finish a draft and push it into the world. It’s tough to… let it go.
If I’ve summoned images of Elsa, Anna, Sven, and Olaf, my apologies to you. Unless you’re a Disney fanatic like me. If that’s the case, relish with me in the Frozen wonderland that is Arendelle. Alas, I digress.
Even my answer to this question has been redrafted. Ugh. See what I mean? With a novel, this process takes months, maybe years. At least with a short story, that cycle is shortened, It’s why I’ve finished so many more of them and one reason they’re “easier” for me to write.
The second factor for why novels are more difficult is subtler. Above and beyond everything else, I love to tell stories and share them with people. Although a strong bond is formed over the course of an epic novel, I feel the same can be accomplished in the shorter form of fiction.
Fewer words per story equals more stories I’m able to write, broaching a wider variety of topics, characters, themes, and messages. More stories equal more bonds between characters and readers.
Being able to do that more often with a short story makes it “easier” for me to complete them, because it gives me so many more opportunities to fulfill my wish when writing, to connect people.
Dave Cenker
I grew up surrounded by numbers, data, logic, and analysis. Everything made sense until it didn't. I remember a writing assignment during my elementary school days where I was asked to write a one-page story about anything at all. Creating something from nothing was not a task I was accustomed to.
A switch inside me flipped on the day I completed that story. But, like a switch in the fuse box, there was too much current flowing through the circuit, tripping the breaker and resetting my position to one of controlled safety.
It took a few decades to rediscover that intense love for the written word and the desire to share it with others. Where would I be if I had ignored that breaker switch and instead ran wild along the path of storytelling in my younger days? Would I be someplace different now? Would I want to be?
There is something about the buildup and release of strong emotion over an extended period of time that makes me wonder if this is exactly how my story was supposed to play out. This very typical "what-if" scenario might be an interesting plot to pursue from an atypical vantage point.
A switch inside me flipped on the day I completed that story. But, like a switch in the fuse box, there was too much current flowing through the circuit, tripping the breaker and resetting my position to one of controlled safety.
It took a few decades to rediscover that intense love for the written word and the desire to share it with others. Where would I be if I had ignored that breaker switch and instead ran wild along the path of storytelling in my younger days? Would I be someplace different now? Would I want to be?
There is something about the buildup and release of strong emotion over an extended period of time that makes me wonder if this is exactly how my story was supposed to play out. This very typical "what-if" scenario might be an interesting plot to pursue from an atypical vantage point.
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