Please welcome fellow member Judy Penz Sheluk back to the blog....
Writing
Long vs. Short by Judy Penz Sheluk
Like many
authors, my mystery writing publishing journey began with the publication of a
short story. That was 2014, and since that time I’ve written and published
seven full-length novels, edited and produced three multi-author short story
anthologies of mystery and suspense, and written a handful of short crime
fiction, six of which have been published, with one under consideration, and
one in desperate need of revision.
Now, some
people will tell you that writing short is easier than writing long, but in my
opinion, long is much, much easier that short.
Part of
that could be because I’m a pantser. I always start with a basic premise, but
beyond that I haven’t a clue. I just pants my way merrily along finding out
whodunit, why-they-dunit, and any other dunits, chapter by chapter, surprising
myself until I get close to the end and it’s time to wrap things up. I figure
if I’m surprised, the reader will be too.
That sort
of approach might work for novels, but in my experience short stories offer no
such luxury. Simply put, you need to get in and get out without a lot of dipsy
doodling, and while some short story authors may well be pantsers, I expect
most fall firmly into the plotter’s camp, or at least into the “I’m pretty sure
I know where this is going” camp.
Let’s look
at my latest novel, Before There Were Skeletons, and do a quick review:
Basic Premise: Private investigator Calamity
(Callie) Barnstable has been hired to solve the cold case of Veronica Goodman,
an eighteen-year-old single mom who went missing in the small town of Miakoda
Falls in 1995, leaving behind a one-year-old daughter and a newly signed
apartment lease.
Could
this work as a short story? Definitely.
Expanded
Premise: Turns out
Veronica’s cold case might be related to the cold cases of two other young
women who went missing in Miakoda Falls, always on a Tuesday, and within a few
weeks of Veronica.
Could it
still work in the short story? Yes, though you’d have to be succinct in the details. In the book, I’ve
allowed for the entire missing persons profile for each of the three women in
question. In a short story those details would need to be pared down
considerably.
Sub-plot: While Callie is trying to solve the
case of Veronica Goodman, she’s also delving through her mother’s high school
yearbooks. FYI, Callie’s mother disappeared in 1980, when she was six, and
hasn’t been part of her life since. Her grandmother, downsizing, has found the yearbooks
and wants Callie to have them. You see, Callie’s mom quit school at age seventeen
because she was pregnant with Callie.
Could
this work in the short story? As a rule, short stories don’t have sub-plots, and they certainly don’t
have complicated sub-plots, as this one is. But a mention of Callie’s demons—a
missing mother that fuels her desire to solve a cold case, that could work.
Especially since both Veronica Goodman and Callie’s mother disappeared on
Valentine’s Day, albeit many years apart.
A new
employee: This is
book 4 and gone are Callie’s previous three co-workers, replaced by one Denim
Hopkins, a twenty-four-year-old tech savvy waitress.
Could
this work in a short story? Yes, if the past connections are mere mentions and Denim’s role is
necessary, but my gut feel is that the short story would be stronger with both
the past and the present co-workers/employees omitted. When it comes to short
fiction, less is more.
Two more
cold cases: While
going through her mother’s high school yearbooks, Callie uncovers two more cold
cases, which may or may not be related to her current case.
Could
this work in the short story? Not a chance. It’s just too complicated to cram into a few thousand
words.
And there
you have it. A quick comparison on writing short and writing long. But whatever
way you slice the pickle, it all starts with a premise. Where the premise goes,
well, that’s up to the writer. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
About Before
There Were Skeletons
The last
time anyone saw Veronica Goodman was the night of February 14, 1995, the only
clue to her disappearance a silver heart-shaped pendant, found in the parking
lot behind the bar where she worked. Twenty-seven years later, Veronica’s
daughter, Kate, just a year old when her mother vanished, hires Past &
Present Investigations to find out what happened that fateful night.
Calamity
(Callie) Barnstable is drawn to the case, the similarities to her own mother’s
disappearance on Valentine’s Day 1986 hauntingly familiar. A disappearance she
thought she’d come to terms with. Until Veronica’s case, and five high school
yearbooks, take her back in time…a time before there were skeletons.
Universal
Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/mqXVze
Judy Penz
Sehluk
Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller
Writers, the Short Mystery Fiction Society, and Crime Writers of Canada, where
she served as Chair on the Board of Directors. She lives in Northern Ontario on
the shores of Lake Superior. Find her at judypenzsheluk.com.
3 comments:
Thanks for hosting me SMFS!
Your comparison is an excellent way to explain the differences between short and long crime fiction. I may borrow it (with full credit, of course).
Thanks Susan, feel free to borrow by referencing back to this post, as that will also bring more visitors to the SMFS Blog - so many great posts on here. Appreciate you taking the time to read and comment.
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