This is kind of a sequel to my "Great Art Takes Time" post. In that one I mentioned that my business model is generally writing a story pretty quick, giving it an editing pass, and then putting it out there. It's about quantity more than the quality, though I like to think there's some quality too.
Sometimes though I get annoyed with myself when I find a story stretching past the 70-page mark with no end in sight. I mean a lot of people in this market write a "book" that's only 20-30 pages--and some even less. Yet I haven't really been able to do that too much. I think this one is the shortest one I've done and that's 30 pages.
A lot of times when a story's running long I think, "Can't we just get this over already? We need to move on to the next thing!" But then that other voice says, "No, you have to think of the story. It'll go as long as it needs to." That voice kind of sucks but I usually listen to it. I guess at heart I'm still too much of an artiste. Ha.
That doesn't mean I'm adverse to finding a shortcut. A few times I've seen a quicker way to wrap up a story and run with it. It isn't really how I imagined the story would go, but as long as it still seems like a good idea, then I'll do it.
Though that voice saying to just end things usually says, "Come on, it's not like people really care!" Those are the times when it would be nice to get more fan mail or positive reviews. It's a lot easier to take time to craft stories when you know people actually like them. Even perverts need positivity!
2 comments:
I always get the comment that it's too short, even if I have 300 pages. But I know what you mean about wondering who really cares. I have that thought too often.
I've actually never had comments as to the length of my manuscripts. Most people seem to think that they are just right. I tend to agree. But my books are pretty thick.
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