Do I Have To?

I started writing a post last week and never finished. Maybe from being sick with this stomach flu (food poisoning?) for so long, I've been drained of ideas. But there's been a lot of discussion in my particular writing circles about the importance--or non-importance--of blogging for fiction writers.

I'm not going to post about that now, though. It'd get rather boring and boils down to this: blogging is something you do because you like it, or because you think you have to. I happen to like it most of the time. Blogging is also something that is either the product itself--in other words, people aren't going to buy your books because of your blog, but they will read your blog because it's got great content--or your blog is for your own personal outlet. Mine is the latter. As you can see today. I'm just posting this to express my opinion, and most of my followers probably don't even read my blog anymore to be honest.

Anyway...

The other thing that was discussed a lot while I was sick was whether or not you should write for publication. Not that it should never be a goal, but whether or not you actually putting words on paper or not should depend on reaching that goal.

Some believe that you write because you love it, period. If you get published, great, but that shouldn't be what motivates you to actually write. Others find the two go hand-in-hand, that if writing is not getting you published, or being published is not resulting in sales (or sufficient sales), then it's not worth the work.

I believe that most writers write for the love of it. But it can become very discouraging to write and write and write and either not get published for years and years or to get published and not sell well. Does this mean you ought to give up, though?

It's perfectly acceptable in any other field to expect to get paid for doing what you love. If you love teaching, become a teacher. But if you can't find a job teaching no one is going to say, "If you really love it and are called to teach, you'll do it for FREE!"

Maybe you'll get a job working at an office and then teach Sunday School once a week, or do some tutoring as a favor for a friend, or decide to offer a free class at the library now and then, but you're not going to teach full-time for free. When someone is hoping for writing as a career, they make it a priority, but if they're not succeeding in meeting that goal, then what's wrong with ratcheting back to hobby level? Or even saying it's just not worth the stress and simply refocusing on other aspects of your life?

There is also something that occurred to me just a couple of days ago. You see, while I was sick, I spent a lot of time lying in bed, watching HGTV. It's been years since I've really watched that channel, partly because I know I get addicted to it and then start wanting to redecorate and fix stuff up, and those things take time and money.

Well, watching all those shows kicked in that addiction again, and I've decided to take a break from writing for a little while to focus on deep-cleaning my house and finishing up some unfinished (or un-started) projects that have been bugging me.

In doing this, I realized that writing is just one of my many creative outlets. That if I stop writing, I just shift to being creative in other ways. In the past, before I ever started writing, I drew a lot, I painted figurines, and I scrapbooked. And of course the house-decorating stuff. For a while I even got on a sewing kick, although pretty much everything was rectangular--curtains, pillow cases, and even slings for carrying my kids when they were babies.

The point is, with those other things I got to be creative AND end up with something personally useful and/or something we needed that would have cost significantly more had I not done the work myself. Writing is the ONLY creative outlet I've ever focused on where the goal was to create something for someone else.

Yes, I said that. The writing part, the creative outlet part, is for me. Of course. But the product--the short story, the novel, whatever--is for the reader. If there are no readers, the story is just sort of dangling there in space, unused.

I guess I'm simply too practical. I can "write" a story in my head. I can imagine the characters and the plot and the story world and never put the words to paper, and I'm still being creative. I'm still creating a story, it's just not being physically recorded such that a reader can access it--and if readers aren't going to access it if I put the work into writing the story down, then, truly, why bother? I mean, I'm getting the part that's for me, right? And I can be plotting and characterizing while building cornices for my kitchen windows and redecorating the Beasties' rooms and cleaning out my closets, which are things that will benefit my family.

No, I'm not saying I'm giving up writing. I'm just saying that not writing doesn't take away my creativity. And the creativity part is what I do for me, for the pure love of it. The putting it on paper to sell it to someone else--that's for publication and for profit, and if it's not gleaning those things, should I have to do it?

The Long and Short of It

I've been thinking about short stories lately. Not just ideas for stories, but my reasons for writing them. I started this journey with a published novel as my goal. I didn't even give short stories a second thought in the beginning. Honestly, I rarely read them. I think a part of me even thought they weren't "real" writing. How stupid, I know.

I wrote my first short story for the simple reason that I'd read it was a good idea to gain some publishing credits in order to grab the attention of an agent. The logic--if you can prove you're publishable on a small scale, then you are likely publishable on a bigger scale.

Something odd happened, though. I really enjoyed the writing! It's a different process than novel writing, for sure, but it's quite fun. I thought I'd list a few reasons I love short story writing:

1) Time. Obviously, it takes less time to write a short story than a novel. That includes critique and editing. Which means, I can get it submitted right away, and, in turn, get it published rather quickly, too.

2) Learning. Short story writing has taught me how to write concisely. When you have to get an entire story out in a few thousand words, you can't put in anything unnecessary. It has also taught me how to start the story in the right place, for the same reason.

3) Easier submission process. The submission process for a novel is long and tedious. You have to write query letters, synopses, and wait forever for responses. The submission process for short stories involves a short-and-to-the-point cover letter. You then attach the story and go. Often, you get a response in a matter of weeks, or even in certain cases, days.

4) Connections. I've made some real friends writing magazines--both the editors of those zines and other writers who also have stories there.

5) Exposure. My name is out there now. Readers who love my short stories will likely recognize my name when my novel(s) come out some day.

6) Less pressure. I can be wildly creative and not have to worry about investing too much in a story that doesn't fly. It's not like writing a novel and half-way through realizing it's not working. If a short story doesn't come together right away, it's easy to scrap it and move to the next one. I can try all those weird ideas I'd be too scared to base a novel on.

7) Variety. So many story ideas! So many settings! So many characters! I don't get stuck in one world with one set of characters.

8) A bigger novel world. I've written quite a few short stories based on my novel. I get to write about things that aren't directly related to the story in my novel, but enrich the world of it.

9) Money. Um...well, that would be one of the reasons if I actually got any! Seriously, there is potential to earn money on short stories, but paying markets are few and far between. I've got several token payments, and one $50 cash prize. I am, however, hoping that one day money for my short stories will be a regular thing. (Keep in mind, I'm talking fiction here. Nonfiction almost always pays.)

10) Reinforcement. I may have given up on my novel-writing by now if I didn't have the "proof" that I'm a good writer in the form of short story publications. When I'm having those down days, where I wonder if I'm deluding myself about being a writer, I pull out my portfolio a look at what I have accomplished. That may sound like ego-stroking, but I don't think so. I'm not arrogant about those publications--I'm grateful for them. They hold me up and keep me from giving up.

11) Cliche titles. Yep, notice the title of this post. I love using sayings and such as titles. "A Day Better Spent," "Like Stink on a Dog," and "Cat Call" are all titles I've used for short stories. You can't do that with novels--or at least you shouldn't ;).

So, there. Maybe you haven't tried short story writing and this will motivate you to do so. Or maybe you already write short stories and can attest to my reasoning. Maybe you have other reasons I didn't list here--if you do, feel free to share!