I’m supposed to be writing a short story.
That was the plan. Finish a short story, somewhere around 10,000 words, then hop over and begin the novel–the real JuNoWriMo project. Sigh.
Instead I find myself knee-deep in the story (and enjoying it, by the way), and I realize this story is already past the 10K mark. It’s not going to be short at all. It’s turning into a novella. I’m in the middle, and it’s already 12,000 words long.
I’m trying to give myself pep talks. It’s okay. It’s all good. Worry about the length later. I think I may end up cutting a lot of it–or trimming it down quite a bit. The problem is, I think when you write short fiction you should be writing it different than long fiction. It needs to be punchy and quick, not this meandering story. My problem seems to be that I’m writing it like a novel.
However, when I look back at my fully-formed plot outline, I realize I should’ve had a clue about this before I even started. It’s fourteen scenes long. Most short stories are only a couple of scenes, maybe half a dozen, tops. So maybe this story wanted to be a novella after all.
Be what you want to, little story. Fly. I won’t clip your wings. I’ll just write until it’s all out and worry about it later.
At least it’s easier to cut than to add. Sounds like a great Motto for JuNoWriMo, don’t you think?
Oh, and by the way, my total word count is 13,570.
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