Thursday, February 25, 2010

A different skill

My uncomfortable tour under the glacier has spawned a 15,000 word story. I think - apart from the short story for Ravenous Romance and the freebie for Ellora's Cave - this is the shortest thing I've written. It was an interesting experience. I'm so used to have lots of space for in depth character details and quirky background facts, let alone a creditable plot, that to have to fit all that in to so few words was a challenge. Same with the sex. No chance of chapters building sexual tension, they have to get at it fairly fast. Not to say there isn't tension - there is but far less than usual.
So I'm waiting now for crit partners' comments before I submit it to my editor at Ellora's Cave. I do wonder if she'll like it, if I've mastered the skill of telling a story in far fewer words.
The biggest irony is that I set off to make it a 7,000 word freebie but my characters ran away with me. Actually, I wish one of them would. Phwoooar!

1 comment:

D L Jackson said...

LOL
Yeah I wouldn't mind Charlie running away with me.
He he.
Lovely short story, Barbara. It's true it's harder to say everything you want in a short story and indeed it's an art. It doesn't hurt every now and again to sharpen your skills on a shorter story. You did a beautiful job on it.
Dawn