I think it’s time. Everything in me tells me “Start. Now.”
“Start what?” you ask? A longer story. I’ve been writing short stories for about three years now. I’ve had several published by others and self-published one. The bulk of those stories have been 4,000 words and under. A novella is 10,000-40,000 words.
The thought of writing a story that long is both fascinating and terrifying. That’s anywhere from 2 to 10 times the length of my usual stories. The thought of developing characters and having story arcs and sub-plots is intriguing, but a part of me says, “What if I put the effort into writing this story and it’s simply no good?”
I won’t lie, there are tons of ideas for short stories rambling around in my head, and they want out. If I start a novella, that means that those other stories will have to wait for release. It’s possible that I could focus a year’s worth of writing energy on a novella that won’t even be edited, revised, and ready for publication for several years. That’s a harrowing thought.
Even more complicating, I have ideas for not just one, but three novellas inside my brain. Which do I start on?
The bottom line? I’m torn. I’ve become decent at figuring out which publications will accept which type of story. I’m ready to write longer fiction, but don’t know if I really want to stop doing (even temporarily) what I’m doing right now.
All I can say is, “Thank goodness I don’t rely on writing to pay the bills!” 🙂
fiction by a stump 