Short Fiction

Growing up I had a misconception about short fiction. I thought short fiction was just something that was easy to slap together and produce in great quantities. I know where I got these impressions from—from non-writing English teachers who never understood the art as an artist understands it. From lesson plans that tries to break apart the elements of a story in to unit plans without really exploring how the elements are put together. It is not their fault that writers make the art seem easy—when we know it is far from easy. We try to break it down ourselves as if it can be dissected like an insect in biology class.

The truth is that with any writing, the sum is greater than any of its parts. In short fiction, the work that is done in the plotting and the research is on par with that of a novel. The plot may be shorter, but a good short story is far from simple in its plot. It may not have as many characters or subplots, but the constraints on the story’s length forces the writer to make every word count. The short story takes our art and places it in a crucible to produce the strongest story in the shortest amount of words as possible.

Personally, I have problems with the short story. It is so tight and so condensed in plot that straight-jackets my desire to create the more complex plots that novels can allow. They are a form of the story that makes for a training ground to force the writer to improve and tighten his work. It is for that reason that I write short fiction. I may not have many short stories published—maybe I never will. The lessons I walk away with and transfer over to my long fiction only makes my noel writing stronger.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more information on the articles, blogs, novels, poems, and short stories I am writing.