What writing is (for me)
I decided to write short stories to let go of the Big Books. Simple, silly little stories about what the side character’s adventures have been like while the MC was living through books 1 and 2. And I got myself stuck on the second one.
It’s okay, it’ll pass, all I need is to make an “important” decision.
Because that’s what writing is all about, isn’t it? Making decisions for your characters. Deciding where they go, what they do, even what and if they eat on a certain day.
This story is about a young diabetic woman who loves flowers. She finds a new flower in her garden, a flower that moves on its own and doesn’t seem happy to be there. Silly, right? And yet soft and sweet. Now I have to decide how best to help the little flower, and where I want this story to go.
I’ve written 3 whole novels, surely I can make this decision.
Surely.
No.
You see, I set myself a limit for each short story. No more than 2500 words. I like short shorts. And I like challenges.
I started my writing journey like this, doing extra short stories and writing 500 words a day on a longer one. It allowed me to challenge myself, to discover voice and timing, to try out different genres, to figure out how I like to tell a story. I learned so much doing this.
But after years of writing longer form, those muscles are sore, and it’s become harder for me to make the little decisions that will change the entirety of this short story.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Do I pull an ex machina and have another character appear to give the flower a voice? Do I dig into my own personal knowledge of not being able to talk and relying on facial expressions and movements? Do I make the young woman a telepath?
It won’t change anyone’s life, the path I choose. It will only change the story, and make it better or worse. Different, at least, depending on what I choose to do.
I used to make these decisions every day. And now, I’m paralysed thinking about how I will get this story moving.
What will bring the biggest feelings to my reader? What will make them feel something at all?
Feeling, feelings, feelings.
That’s what we aim for, when writing. Making someone feel something. Anything.
It’s easier with a novel, where the small decisions matter less because you’ll have time to adjust. You only have a few big ones to make, such as who is the bad guy and what do they want? Easier. You can take more time dwelling on it and explaining it. But when you only have a very short amount of words (granted I did this to myself, but bear with me) every little decision becomes a big one.
Because every little paragraph has to mean something.
You don’t have time to explain, you have to act fast and write faster. You have to decide right here and now what direction you want to take. I think it’s a great exercise to get over decision paralysis.
It’s also a great exercise in learning to evoke emotions and feelings in your reader.
You only have so many words to provoke them into feeling something, so you have to be efficient in your structure and word choice. You have to nail the grammar and punctuation. You don’t have a choice. Your readership depends on it.
So I will make this decision, and if it doesn’t work I’ll delete it all and make another one, until the story works for me. That’s the best way to succeed. Try and try again until it sticks and see where that leads you.
It’s not a waste of time, it’s a learning moment.
Minerrale is a French writer and artist. No cats, no dogs, no husbands, just a rabbit helping her, she has all the time in the world to write, make art, and help others in their creative endeavours.
Minerrale writes all kinds of things, makes visual arts and photography pieces, and overall tries to help. With your support, she can keep the stories coming, and keep making art and photography pieces. Thank you, so much.