Writing Excuses

12.8 Short Stories as Exploration, with Tananarive Due

Feb 19, 2017
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ADVICE

Short Stories as Practice

  • Use short stories to practice specific craft elements like point of view and characterization.
  • Short fiction lets you fail without major loss and helps discover your identity as a writer.
ADVICE

Short Stories as Focused Exercises

  • Write short stories as isolated exercises to practice focused techniques like dialogue.
  • These stories act like etudes, sharpening skills for your primary longer forms.
ANECDOTE

First Sale From A Prompt

  • Tananarive Due sold her first piece of fiction as a short story written from a prompt.
  • It was inspired by literary writer Ian McEwan, though her story was uniquely weird.
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