I’m a member of a writing group that has decided to publish an anthology of our short stories. Sounds good, right? Yes, and no.
On the positive side, anthologies offer readers an opportunity to sample new authors, usually at a bargain price. It also enables authors to reach new audiences, and sometimes. to try their hands at new genres.
On the other hand…
While I’ve written a few successful short stories, I don’t easily write “short”. I have a few stories, but they are closer to flash fiction in length. I don’t like to read long rambling tales so it stands to reason that I also don’t write them I do tend to write stories that involve the cast of characters who appear in my longer works.
Unfortunately, that creates the problem of how to explain who these people are without lots of backstory. There isn’t time or space to do that in a short work of fiction. I suppose I could identify it as a Living After Midnight story but what if the reader hasn’t read those books? How do I make this interesting enough that it might make someone new want to read more? Maybe I would be better off using new characters as long as it takes place in or around Unakite.
Decisions decisions.
If I’m being honest, I have to admit it doesn’t usually work for me to try to go outside my fictional world. My characters are so pushy they often manage to insert themselves into anything I write— if only for a cameo.
What do you think? Do you read short stories?
