I am a creature who loves a long, twisting, dramatic story that takes place over many years, characters, and generations. Basically, I love a good saga, especially if done well. I also love a good mystery which seems to go hand-in-hand with sagas… Family secrets, wars, etc. There’s lots of good story fodder there.

So it’ll probably come as a great surprise to you that I’ve delved into short stories! I am a writer who has trouble keeping my thoughts to less than 100k words so why would I even try my hand at short stories? Well, there’s another thing you may not know about me: I like a good challenge. My stories are always challenging as a writer because I have to craft long story arcs over several books. And the fact that I also weave in tons of Japanese cultural references and history make them even more complex.

Writing short stories sounded like a good way to keep me trying new things in smaller chunks. I’d have to keep my stories rich and compelling, but in shorter bursts, basically 10% of what I usually write since they’re coming out around 10k long.

They’re also a good way for people to get a taste of my writing without a huge time or price commitment. Both of which are important to me.

To prepare for my short stories I usually do a few things.

1) I write a brief two sentence description of what I’d like to accomplish with the theme of the story.
2) I write another brief two sentence blurb.
3) I write a guided outline of what I want to happen.

I also write blog posts instead of actually writing the story! Lol. It’s true. This week I should be writing more short stories, and I will be! The next two short stories in the Kami No Sekai short story series are set and I can’t wait to get them on the page.

Do you write or read short stories? What do you like about them?