Short Story Month: Guest Post from Shelli Cornelison: On Coming Out Of Retirement
I retired from writing short stories at a young age. I think I was eight. I’d written and illustrated a short story about a girl and a boy fighting over a yo-yo. The details are fuzzy but I know it had a happy ending, i.e. the girl got the yo-yo. I was very proud of myself until I overhead my mom sharing the story with her best friend at our kitchen table. They were laughing and I heard the word cute. To my eight-year-old (and apparently already writerly neurotic) brain, they were laughing AT me. And I was a SERIOUS writer. That story was not cute!
Sucker Literary, 2014.
My public had misunderstood me so I did the only logical thing: I waited for my mom’s friend to leave and, as they were saying their goodbyes on the driveway, I burned the story in the bathroom sink. Yes, my mother cried, but an artist can only do her work to please others for so long. I took up singing instead—no lessons, just singing. That dream lasted until sixth grade choir. The choir teacher wanted me to learn things like scales and how to read music. That wasn’t art. That was work. And I was an artist, a free spirit, so when the time came to choose classes for seventh grade, I gave up singing. There may have been a pattern forming at this point but I’ll spare you the many other starts and stops.
Fast forward some crazy number of years and I found myself writing again. I only wanted to write picture books—until I also wanted to write essays and articles, and then novels and, ultimately, short stories, too. I don’t remember why I wrote that first short story as an adult, but I do believe all writing informs other writing. When I started writing novel-length manuscripts, my picture books got shorter, and I think writing short stories has helped the pacing in my novel manuscripts.
I didn’t think writing short stories would stick, but my third published short just came out in Volume III of Sucker Literary and I have another out on submission, so I guess as long as no one calls one of my short stories cute in a rejection letter, I may keep writing them (and my bathroom sink can remain uncharred). One of my short stories, “Refraction,” is featured at YARN and thank goodness they never said cute. They’re an online only publication and burning my laptop would be hard to explain to my husband, and the insurance company probably wouldn’t understand at all.
As much as I love stories of all forms, it can be hard to find the time to read. Even as a writer who must read, it’s just hard to manage sometimes. Short stories feel like a cheat code in the game of reading. I read as many young adult novels as I can but, in between, when I’m busy and stressed, I pull an anthology from my shelves and read a short story. Short stories save me from consuming all the chocolate to assuage my guilty conscience for not reading. That way I can eat the chocolate to celebrate myself for reading instead. It’s not about avoiding the chocolate; it’s about eating it joyfully. It tastes better that way.
Short stories can lead to different places for different writers. I know many writers have gone on to write a novel based on one of their short stories. So far, I’ve not felt the pull to expand one of mine. Once a short story ends, it’s over. I’ve told that story and I move on, but I wouldn’t avoid expanding a short story if the inspiration struck.
I enjoy writing novels but it’s a daunting process sometimes. While writing the first draft of my latest novel, it felt as though someone kept moving the finish line. I’d be so sure I was nearing the end, and then I’d realize something else needed to be addressed and I’d have to adjust my personal deadline again. I get a great adrenaline boost after typing The End. Finishing a short story can take a while, but the reward does come quicker than with a novel. Basically, they’re a shortcut to the celebratory wine and dessert. Now you know my real motivations.
Some of the things I gave up in my youth were actually for the best: illustrating, singing, orchestrating handprint slapping contests on the back of the boy down the street (who willingly agreed to be the canvas, for the record!), but I’m grateful every day that I somehow found my way back to writing, and to short stories.
Shelli Cornelison.
Shelli Cornelison lives near Austin, Texas with her husband, two kids, and enough pets to complicate vacation planning. She’s glad there was no Facebook or Caller ID when she was a teen, but really resents that she had to do homework without Google or Wikipedia. Also, a GPS would’ve come in handy more than once back then. She’s still directionally challenged but manages to find her way to the keyboard. Her young adult short stories have appeared in Sucker Literary and YARN. She blogs at www.shellicornelison.com and tweets as @Shelltex.
