So, more about this whole Boys and YA thing I started talking about yesterday.
I was really surprised by the comments received. I thought that people would, like, not care, or get pissed off and insist I'm insane and out-of-touch for even bringing the issue up.
Which I may be.
Again, thank you all for contributing to this discussion.
My video about Boys and YA will be broadcast next week, beginning on February 7, and it will only briefly touch on some of the things I mentioned yesterday. Most of it is going to be different, and for fans of empirical data-based findings, I will offer some of that as well.
Along with an actual animation sequence hand-drawn by me (one simply must showcase one's diverse talents when one is unemployed).
Yes. Exciting.
Or something.
So, I've had this bit of a writer's quandary in the past couple weeks, and I've heard very differing responses about it from my friends. I don't see any reason not to tell the story here.
After all, what's the worst thing that could happen to me that doesn't already happen on a daily basis?
So, I was contracted to write this short story for a YA anthology that's going to come out in 2012. I was excited to say yes to the offer, especially because there are some really huge authors on the list of contributors.
Well, I mean, they're actually mostly regular-sized people.
Well, Michael Grant does have really big feet.
Anyway, so I wrote this story that fit the bill on the contract (but, of course, it was weird and kind of twisted), called Once there were Birds, and then, I was, like, damn. This is too good to be a short story buried in a forest of huge people (okay, some of them are kind of chubby), so I decided not to end it at the required short-story cutoff length and turn it into a novel.
And give the book a different short story of mine.
Does that make me a bad unemployed person?
Well, I'm actually good at being unemployed, but, I mean, is there anything ethically wrong with not selling that work as a shortie?
I started the thing maybe a year ago, but stopped when I got involved in writing a different novel. So I pulled up the file when I decided to agree to sub the story for the book. And, after looking through it, tweaking a few things, I thought there was no way I was going to feel good about wrapping it up and packing it off in 10,000 words.
10,000 words is about 1/8 or so of a novel (short novel for me... for some people it could be about 1/5). Anyway, it was hard to just give this thing up at that point, and I figure I can always write a bang-up short story for the book in plenty of time to beat my deadline.
So this is my quandary. I could take the easy way out and let the thing go, but that's kind of hard for me to do.
And, at the same time, let me say how much I so totally despise myself for getting into another novel just a week or so after finishing off the last one.
I don't know... maybe I'll just cut and quit.
8 comments:
Okay, so it feels totally out of line for me to even comment on this, because, you know, you're an amazing, successful author and I'm ... not, but I would say you have to go wherever the inspiration takes you. If you feel driven to write this story into a novel, there is probably a reason for that. If you're the kind of person who is inspired all the time, and never runs out of ideas ... well then maybe you can leave it as a short story, but I would say follow your spirit.
i'm with matt. you know your abilities and inspirations best- so go with your gut. :) if it were me, my conscious is always so loud and bothersome that i can't do anything if it's whispering to me that i need to fix a problem. so, i would get to work right away on the replacement short story, and once that was done my silly conscious would shut up and i could get back to work on the one i really want to write in the first place. but- uhoh! what if you decide that replacement short story would be better as a novel too! eeks!
At the risk of sounding like some lame-writing-guru-wannabee, let me just say that you need to listen to the story. If you think that it does not serve the story well to have it be a short story, then you should write it as a novel.
(Or perhaps that should read, "Make it longer, you should.")
Sorry. I was inspired by Matthew's little icon thingy to use Yoda-speak.
Shelley
Andrew, it's your creation. You own it. Do with it whatever YOU want to do and for f***'s sake, don't feel bad about it.
I had all kinds of feelings surrounding your last post, both as a writer and a mother of a teenage son. I actually had a lengthy comment prepared, but blogger ate it.
Please know that if I can be of any help promoting male writers and bloggers through my own blog, I'm happy to do so. I try to already, but I'm sure there is so much more I could be doing. I'm always open to suggestions.
P.S. Can't wait to see your vlog.
I think maybe you need a break. Jumping into another book right after another seems rough. Like how I am just jumping into another film, and another film, when I am still in recovery from the stress. You can always talk to me, and if you want I wont have to even respond, just so you can here your words.
I am here for you..
Your Friend,
David
I can't believe you got roped into this too.
I don't know how to write short stories. I barely know how to write single titles. I'm a series guy. I write 2000 pages with 30 characters or I stay home.
I'm sweating bullets over it. Trying to blackmail my wife into writing it for me. She pointed out that my idea sucked. I said, "Yes, I know."
It's like asking a muralist to paint a miniature. Or a linebacker to wear a thing. OR some other fucking analogy and or metaphor I also don't know how to write.
Oy.
You could always write the second short story as a companion to the short-story-turning-novel? (Same world, different characters; mentioned-but-never-appearing characters, whatever combination strikes your fancy.) Then you would fulfill the prompt, and people would buy your book and the short story. It's like this devious plan that no one will ever figure out... [Me? Devious? Noo, never.]
Good ideas, all. Thank you all, especially Michael, who always makes me laugh. Appreciated.
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