I added a new “Stories” page today. My intention is to add short stories I’ve written so people can (hopefully) enjoy them.
Generally they’ll be relatively short, somewhere in the 1,000 word range. Even though 1,000 words doesn’t allow for extensive development, I really like the constraints short word limits puts on the mind. It forces a very concentrated effort with word choice, and more importantly, it forces me to think only about the most important parts of a story.
In large part my admiration for very short stories comes from my love of reading Borges. I read something one time where he said (I’m paraphrasing): “why say in 500 pages, what you can say in 10.”
Well, the above quote made me think of another great quote regarding brevity. This one is from Mark Twain: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
Basically, trying to write short, succinct, clear, yet still developed stories (or letters, query letters, book proposals, etc) is incredibly difficult. There is no room for digression, needless repetition, and wasted words.
I must be gone now. Until next time.
Cheers, Nathan
