Short Stories
“One day, there was a woman who was the most prolific short story writer in the world.” I wrote this on the outside of a notebook back in 2022. I went on to fill that book with short stories that I’ve yet to type, edit, and post. Brazilian writer, Ryoki Inoue, currently holds the record for most books written over 1,000. I’m just trying to write that many short stories. How many do I have now? I have no idea. A couple years ago, I binge wrote short stories, flash fiction, everything I was thinking of. I have notebooks and notebooks full of shorts that I need to type and edit.
Not gonna lie, I came up with some really great stuff. The only reason I stopped was because I need to type and edit that work, I have a whole novel series I’m working on, and accompanying novellas. It started to feel like I was so caught up in writing my next new idea that I didn’t want to take time to make sure my previous works got the care that they needed.
And then, on top of that, some of those stories that were only going to be a few thousand words, or I thought only needed a little tweaking and a few grammar checks, have turned into much longer works. I’ve had to add details so that the reader can understand the world I’ve created and can see what I’m seeing. Of course, that makes the editing process take ages and eons longer. Now, my modest 2,000-word short about life on another planet has morphed into a whole political drama. Like…how did we get here?
I keep thinking of the story I heard of how Tupac had filled a notebook on a trip from one place to another. (I may be misremembering the details, but that’s completely irrelevant.) I have on good authority that Hamilton wrote 51 essays in the span of 6 months. I think about these things all the time and am at once inspired, but also feel like an underachiever. I don’t know what it takes to be that level of functional (or dysfunctional. I’ll take either.), but that’s where I want to be.
Anyway, here is where I’ll be posting my shorter works until I figure out what to do with them. Sci fi, and fantasy mags may be options, but I have to learn to navigate that landscape. In the meantime, enjoy my works here and let me know what you think.
(PS. I'm on Vella)