Even if you’re focused on writing a novel, writing short stories can be a wonderful creativity tool to help you strengthen elements of your fiction, experiment with characters and simply stay loose. Make sure to submit your finished short story to our 87th Annual Writing Competition.
When writers talk about short stories, it’s often as a stepping-stone on the way to a career in novel writing. But this vibrant, explosive form is more than something writers “graduate” from. Rather, it’s a type of storytelling all writers would do well to practice for its own sake. Even if you don’t aspire to publish short work, trying your hand at brief, complete stories can help you refresh your creativity, refine specific techniques and rediscover your love of writing for the fun of it.
As the founder of the popular online short story challenge StoryADay (in which participants write a short piece every day for the month of May), I’ve seen firsthand how writers of all stripes can supercharge their creativity and revitalize their writing lives by incorporating short fiction into their routines. Let’s investigate how (and why) you can benefit, too.
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