The Pulps Made Me Do It

It's been three days now since an idea snuck into my mind, and I won't leave. No matter how much time I just let it sit there, glancing its way every now and then to see if it's gone, it stays there. The idea is waiting. Waiting for me to come closer and inspect it. The insidious little effer is winning, and has moved me to write this.

How Did This Start?

Good Mr. Bryce Beattie from the StoryHack magazine has done a lot of people an enormous favor, and both compiled and edited a series of articles that were written back when the pulps were still selling as well as they should be today. These articles were written by, as Bryce puts it, the greats of yesteryear, referring to the authors whose names were to be recognized back then, of course.

Well, I got those books. I'm still halfway through the first one, and I came across the following words:

By simple story ideas, is meant embryo plots that follow the line of least resistance in unfolding. From these ideas are evolved the plots that form the basis of most short stories less than three thousand words in length.

--Culpeper Chunn

That Which Happened Next 

The whole article is very interesting, but do note the underlined part, if you would.

I have never read a relatively modern tale that's less than 3,000 words. I've read hundreds of fairy tales, which may be even shorter than that, but never have I come across a short story that's as short as 3,000 words or less that was written in the 1900s and onwards.

Yes, this does mean that I need to broaden my scope when it comes to literature. Setting that aside for a minute, I also want to express that I've never written a piece that's less than 7,000 words in length.

I didn't pay much attention to the number, and kept on reading. But the words stayed in my head for whatever reason, and later on, I went back to make sure I'd read correctly.

"Short stories less than three thousand words in length."

That would be direct, to the point, and blunt. As I see it in my mind, there's barely any space in 3,000 words for much. It's more plot than story. It's an incredibly short piece that's going to be read in less than 20 minutes. There would be almost no room to play around with anything, but it's also a whole 3,000 words which would allow you to experiment with the interplay between dialogue, description, narration, and transitions to tell a whole story.

The Little Effer Beckons Me Closer and Closer

At first, I just wanted to let it go. I didn't consider it worth the effort. But three days have passed, and the more I think about it, the more I keep going, "Why not?" in my head.

Why don't I write some short stories that are les than 3,000 words in length? I'd publish them independently, and could write 10. At the very least, I'd learn something from the experience.

And seriously, if anyone reading this has an answer to why I shouldn't do this, I'd love to read it in the comments. While I wait for said comments, and make up my mind about this, make sure you go to StoryHack Action & Adventure. I have a story that'll be published in one of their issues pretty soon. It's about 10,000 words long, and I used to think that was a kind of restrictive.

Until the next post, fellows.