Wrizzit

Tim in the Boonies(he/him)👑·Apr 6, 2026

I was one who always lamented and self-flagellated about not being able to finish a novel (or in my case novel-length). Could get into short novella territory, but once entering the 50K range... no. So I tended to avoid the short stuff, because, you know, a writer is supposed to write novels. But I gotta say, I'm really liking this focus on the short stuff. The reading and the doing. What if all the self-castigation was never warranted because what if the short stuff is the future anyway? Or why not just let go of the belief in needing to write a novel and happily immerse in flash & micro?

Comments (2)

Sign in to comment.

Noh16d

Plenty of authors throughout time have been successful on just the short stuff! I think it boils down to inspiration more than length limits or desires.

1

JL

Jeje Li15d

Honestly, had the same experience and same realisation. Thought that to be a 'proper' writer, it had to be in long form. I thought my writing folder was littered with the carcases of incomplete stories only to realise in the last month that they were perfectly formed story babies with unnecessary additions grafted onto their forms. Had to give props to Zyntale, a writer on the stack, for helping me see this.

1