Writing a short story is like .... a post for writers, sort of

[kinzel]

Well,

To me, writing a short story is like skimming an encyclopedia of discord and finding truth coming together in lush brief images for breakfast with very little connective tissues but some toast and coffee and lots of passion and orange juice on the side.

There, I've said it!

Actually, writing a short story is not like anything else just as writing a poem is not like anything else, though writing a poem is closer to writing ad copy than it is to writing a news story. I've been there and written some of all of them for pay, so I should know.

Now, if you have time on your hand and no liquid in your mouth I suggest you do a google-search on the phrase:

"Writing a short story is like" just to see how ineffable, how romantic, how banal, how uplifting an act "writing a short story" can be/is/ought to be/should never be ... and see what searching for a conceit for an introduction to a collection of short fiction can do to you?

I do note that google wanted to offer me something over 41,700 examples of "writing a short story is like" and could only find about 11,700 examples of "Her breasts were like". I think I glanced through the first four pages of "writing a short story is like" and one of "Her breasts were like" so I guess there's proof that writers are far more interested in short stories than they are in breasts, in a ratio of about 4-1.

Comments

[scaleslea.livejournal.com]

I'd say that is an indication that writers are more likely to write about writing than they are to write about breasts. One would presume that most writers have other ways of expressing their interest in breasts than writing about them.

Such as... photography...

Doc

just wondering

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

given the encyclopedia of discord and truth coalescing in lush brief images, what is for dinner?

my guess is that writers are more likely to actually get some words down when thinking about "writing a short story is like . . ." while the phrase "her breasts were like . . ." is far too likely to get caught up in research. :-)

Re: just wondering

[voicefromshadow.livejournal.com]

And don't forget verifying source material...