As a writer I’m gaining interest in a form of writing I’ve not yet attempted: short story and novella. I feel like it might be the most challenging format for writing a story.
I’ve written songs, poems, novels, self-help guides, and more. But I’ve never attempted short stories or a novella.
My first book, A Train Called Forgiveness, barely made it to the length of a novel. When I did my rewrite to make it a memoir instead of fiction a couple of years ago, I made it longer. Now I almost wish I might have kept it fiction and made it shorter. There’s something satisfying about a short story.
What’s brought on this new interest? Reading. Since moving to Tennessee I’ve been doing more reading. I’ve been a big Cormac McCarthy fan for years. I’ve read most everything he’s written. Then he up and died. So I did a Google search for similar authors. Here’s a short list of some of the authors that came up.
- Denis Johnson
- Jim Harrison
- Hernan Diaz
- Don DeLillo
- Ron Rash
- Patrick deWitt
I’ve been working through some of these authors’ books. I’ve especially grown to like the works that are on the shorter side of a novel. Denis Johnson and Jim Harrison tell some great stories. Hernan Diaz’s, In the Distance, is officially a novel but on the shorter side.
One of my biggest excuses for not writing more books is that it takes too much time. That’s true. But perhaps it would be less true if practicing a shorter format. I especially like the novella. As a reader, a book that takes a few hours to read is perfect, satisfying. As a writer, I feel as though writing a great novella might be the most challenging writer’s task.
I’m not making any immediate decisions to get started. But I’ve been holding onto about four or five story ideas for years. Perhaps, the novella would be the best format to tell them. – dse
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