A short story is something that you can hold in your mind. You can really analyze how the entire thing works, like a machine.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.
I am also working on a couple of short stories for anthologies. This is new to me and I'm enjoying it.
Short stories are wonderful and extremely challenging, and the joy of them, because it only takes me three or four months to write, I can take more risks with them. It's just less of your life invested.
I've never been a true fan of the short story and have only published a single example of my own.
I find it satisfying and intellectually stimulating to work with the intensity, brevity, balance and word play of the short story.
I often say flippantly that the short story is... shorter; you can be done with it more easily. It's much less of a commitment of time and energy than a big project like a novel or long nonfiction book.
The short story is very good at looking at shadow psychologies and how the system breaks down underneath.
Short stories are fiction's R & D department, and failed or less-than-conclusive experiments are not just to be expected but to be hoped for.
Short stories are often strong meat. Reading them, even listening to them, can be challenging, by which I do not mean hard work, simply that a certain amount of nerve and maturity is required.
The short story is a very natural mode of storytelling; most stories can be told quickly. I always think of them as like a tightrope walk - every sentence is a step along the rope, and you can so easily misplace your step and break your neck.