Do you typically spend less (or no) time on pre-writing (backstory, etc.) for the short stuff, or do you find it just as important as for longer works?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s going to depend on the story and the characters, how well I know the characters before I start the story. I’m just now getting into the habit of making myself explore my characters backstory as much before I start writing. On a story that’s more complicated, I’m going to spend a little more time understanding my character before I start the story but a longer story gives me time to ‘get to know’ my characters a little more as I go.<\/p>\n
Shorter stories, you don’t have that luxury so you need to know the characters really well from the get-go. So if it’s going to be a more complex short story, or a short story with more complicated characters, I’m going to spend a little more time on backstory than I normally would.<\/p>\n
Is the sequel going to be something like Chocolate Sauce and (insert choice here).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Heh….nope, the title to the sequeal was Silk Scarves and Seduction<\/em>.<\/p>\nI have always wondered how to write a good short story or novella with great character and plot, but have shied away from it because my stories tend to become rather large in scope as I progress. After reading this, however, I am tempted to try it again.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Not all stories are meant to long ones, not all are meant to be short ones. Some stories, I know starting out they’ll be shorter. If you get the idea that story is going to get complex and layered, don’t try to make it a short story, but if you have an idea that seems like it will work as a short story…go for it. Just remember the shorter stories don’t have much wiggle room for complex plots.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, I’m not exactly the most organized soul when it comes to plotting. I’ve only started making myself outline a book in the past year or two. Before that, I never even tried. Now that I’m trying, I have to make myself do it. But after a lot of wasted stops and starts when something shows up in the plot that I wasn’t expecting…well, the more complicated stories tend to work better for me if I give myself a roadmap first.<\/p>\n
I’m no genius at plotting it out in advance. I still have to make myself focus and concentrate to get it done. But I’m learning. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
Will be posting the winner’s name shortly!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay, first up…addressing any specific comments or questions from day one. Do you typically spend less (or no) time on pre-writing (backstory, etc.) for the “Comments and questions from Workshop, Day One”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10161045129738658_54762468447":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_bluesky_dont_syndicate":"","_bluesky_syndication_accounts":"","_bluesky_syndication_text":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[59,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workshops","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nComments and questions from Workshop, Day One - Shiloh Walker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2008\/08\/comments-and-questions-from-workshop-day-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comments and questions from Workshop, Day One - Shiloh Walker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Okay, first up…addressing any specific comments or questions from day one. 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