Back to the bosom (of the short story)
The last few months, I've been focused almost exclusively on novel length fiction. And that was mainly because Hospital Road had such a difficult first draft as well as working on a the final (for now) copy of Belham. While I do like to bash out the odd short story between books, it hasn't happened for a while. Plus what I have come up with wasn't a great success. I've liked my recent short fiction, but none of it really got to me. Week before last, I made a determined effort to find the time to come up with something new, something I'd like.
So.
I jotted down some loose ideas and decided to wing one of them. I didn't literally make it up as I went, but it was pretty close. The result needs a bit of a polish. Even so, it's a fair tale. With that in mind, I went after another idea which I originally had shortly after finishing Belham. Again, the result wasn't 100% but there's nothing wrong with it that a small amount of work won't fix. Then from there, I went back to an older story - one that's stayed at the back of my head since I wrote it five years ago.
It was ropey. I won't lie. It was a piece of work from a writer who, even after five or six books and dozens of short stories, wasn't up to scratch. But it did have the odd glimpse of something cool, so I went back to it, reworked it and the result is a massive improvement. And if it ever sees publication, you can thank Jenny seeing as she liked the original story enough for me to keep thinking about it.
I don't know what will happen with short fiction and me over time. I love short stories, of course, but there doesn't seem to be as much time to focus on them these days as there was a little while ago. With a bit of luck and effort, I won't give them up. After all, there's always the need for a little tale told in the dark.
So.
I jotted down some loose ideas and decided to wing one of them. I didn't literally make it up as I went, but it was pretty close. The result needs a bit of a polish. Even so, it's a fair tale. With that in mind, I went after another idea which I originally had shortly after finishing Belham. Again, the result wasn't 100% but there's nothing wrong with it that a small amount of work won't fix. Then from there, I went back to an older story - one that's stayed at the back of my head since I wrote it five years ago.
It was ropey. I won't lie. It was a piece of work from a writer who, even after five or six books and dozens of short stories, wasn't up to scratch. But it did have the odd glimpse of something cool, so I went back to it, reworked it and the result is a massive improvement. And if it ever sees publication, you can thank Jenny seeing as she liked the original story enough for me to keep thinking about it.
I don't know what will happen with short fiction and me over time. I love short stories, of course, but there doesn't seem to be as much time to focus on them these days as there was a little while ago. With a bit of luck and effort, I won't give them up. After all, there's always the need for a little tale told in the dark.
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