The Hidden Struggles Every Novelist Faces When the Passion Fades to Routine
Ever caught yourself thinking, “How on earth do I cram this sprawling universe in my head into a single novel without losing my mind?” Believe me, I’ve been there—locked in that swirl of grand ideas, epic characters, and worlds so vast they threaten to consume every waking moment. But what if the salvation from this creative avalanche isn’t a new trilogy or mega-novel, but the humble short story? Yep, that nimble, bite-sized piece of storytelling might just be the secret weapon you didn’t know you needed—the chance to explore a scene, wrestle with a theme, or simply catch your breath without the endless slog of a novel-length saga. Join me as I unravel the curious beauty of short stories, those underestimated gems that can refresh your writing spirit when the novel feels like a mountain too steep to climb.
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Try experimenting with short stories
The life of an amateur novelist
I love writing. I love the explosion of ideas, I love the way details make themselves known the deeper I delve into a story, I love the carefully deciding between using this word or that. Even in the decade that I did very little actual writing, it was all I thought about. I listened to podcasts about writing, I watched youtube videos analysing writing, I read textbooks about writing — and despite my bachelor’s degree and multiple certificates I’ve never read a textbook in another field in my life.
When it comes to writing, I’ve always thought of myself as a novel writer. My stories are big, and the worlds expansive. How could I possibly fit my huge ideas into anything less than 100,000 words? Never mind one novel, I think in a minimum of trilogies.
But then I finished the first draft of my novel. Its not the first first draft I’ve ever finished — I wrote a novel when I was in high school — but it is the first one I’ve had any interest in reworking into a second, more polished draft.
Second drafts are much harder than first — for me at least. With the first draft I was so busy getting my idea on the page, the words just flowed. But now in the second draft, I have to fit all the pieces together to make it coherent for people that don’t live in my head.
I still love the story, I still want to perfect it, but right now its a drag. Luckily, I stumbled my way into the world of short stories!
The beauty of a short story
Short stories don’t require a year(s) long commitment. Short stories can be 500 words or 5,000. Got an idea for a scene that doesn’t fit in your novel? Make it a standalone short story. Want to write a about a theme that doesn’t fit? Short story. Need to take a break from the monumental task that a novel so often feels like? Short story.
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