The Abalone Shell | Chapter 1 - I like big books, and I cannot lie

I must confess. I like big books. Reading them and writing them. I love being able to stay in the book with the characters I love for more than a couple hours.

However, one of the best tricks for improving writing—specifically developing a tighter economy of words and a keener grasp of how to choose a plot that will fit a specific word length—is to write shorter stories. I love flash fiction for that reason, and when I want to focus on a specific skill, I often turn to short fiction.

I'm d...