Writing Shorts

As you know if you’ve been following me for awhile, I’m pretty into short fiction. My short story collection, The Heir, is coming out soon (stay tuned!), I’ve done quite a number of short stories on this blog, and of course I’ve done plenty of them via Splickety/Havok.

I really like writing it. I like cramming an entire world into a little tiny space and crafting something so every word is perfect.

Recently, my boss, Ben, said he’s going to start challenging himself to writing and submitting one short story per week to various venues, and he tossed out the idea to others, as a way of gaining support and accountability.

So I said I’m in. Starting after Realm Makers, I’m going to try to keep up with the one-per-week goal.

And actually, writing is the easy part. It’s finding an appropriate market and submitting it that’s the hard part. It’s letting things out into the world instead of keeping them in a file that takes effort. It’s risking rejection and taking criticism that’s the risk. It’s researching markets that takes time and energy.

But those are the things that make writing successful. You can write all the time, but if you never do the legwork to find where your stories fit, put your work out there, accept criticism so you can improve, try again, and keep going, then you won’t have the success as a writer that you’re looking for.

So, I got the Writers Market Guide and looked up some short story markets. I’m making a list and checking it twice. I’m starting the process. I’m going through my files and seeing what I have that’s usable.

And I’m going to challenge myself to commit and get it done.

So what about you?

What goals are you trying to reach? What markets have you found? And do you want to go in on this with us? Holding each other accountable, sharing successes, pointing each other to new venues, and so on?

I’m also going to try to do some more short stories here. I love starting a series and having people come back from week to week for the next episode.

So, as a reader, what would you like to see?

I’m planning to do another series in The Amulet Saga. Another story set in the same world, at a different time. Would you read that?

What about some of the sillier ones I’ve done, like The Gnomes of Destruction or Cricket Warfare? More of those or do you prefer more serious writing?

I’d love some input on a direction. Thanks!