Slogging through Short Stories

Short stories are generally estimated around 1,000 words to 30,000 words. They're not particularly long, but they are difficult to write. The difficulty lies with their deceptive length. People assume that if a story is shorter it must be easier to write, because there is less to write. However, it is more difficult because every detail, every sentence counts so much more.

No detail can be spared scrutiny. You must analyze and see it from an outsider's perspective. What will they see? How will it sound to them? What kind of inferences may they make?

I'm taking an intermediate course for fiction writing and we are supposed to write three short stories over the course of the semester. I prefer novel length because I like the details and descriptions that you can add in. Also, I find it harder to come up with an idea for a short story because they are often left "unfinished" with an ambiguous ending.

I've started writing the first short story, but it is slow-going and although I like the concept, I don't feel as if it is my type of writing. The story is a conversation about desire and what that means. It also takes place in February, which we are only a few weeks away from. February and a conversation on desire fit together, as well as the fact that it takes place in a chocolate shop. Perhaps, I'll share it here once it's finished. That is, if the well meaning comments of my classmates fail to send it to the chopping block.

Have you ever seen an alpaca? Well now you've seen two. They're hardy creatures. We found about six of them outside this store in New Hampshire, or was it Vermont? Since those states are so tiny, it's hard to remember which border we crossed and where we were when we saw them. Either way alpacas are fluffy and more friendly than llamas. Llamas spit, or so I've heard, I haven't actually met a llama. So perhaps someone else can clarify for me.

Hogs in the snow. I'm not sure how they stand it, because when I'm outside in the cold, it feels as if ice water is running down my legs. When I'm writing, I like to have images to refer to, sometimes I include animals as integral players and it helps to observe an animal to see what it does.