I've seen novels that have grown out of one story in a collection. But it hasn't occurred to me to take any of those stories and build on them. They seem very finished for me, so I don't feel like going back and dredging them up.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I've never really thought of writing books. I've never thought about stories as a part of a collection.
It's easier to come up with new stories than it is to finish the ones you already have. I think every author would feel that way.
I've polished up stories for their reprinted appearances. I guess there's always something to be changed or improved, but one could get carried away and work on one story indefinitely. I'm too restless for that, too eager to begin the next one.
Stories are hard. I have friends who knock out stories on a weekly or monthly basis, like they're running on medicinal-strength Updike. But for me a story is as daunting a prospect as a novel.
I have many books that I want to write; I'd like to think that I'll be around for another 20 years or so and write another dozen novels, probably some sort of imaginative literature... Never again another seven-volume saga.
There are a few really fantastic stories left, and that kind of gives you some inspiration to find even new ones.
As to the number of novels I've abandoned... I shudder to think. I have thrown away five completed novels, and that's a gruesome enough figure. But not necessarily a waste of effort.
When you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more novels under my belt.
Most publishers seem very reluctant to publish short story collections at all; they bring them out in paperback, often disguised as novels.
I'd love to do a whole series of stories and have them collected into books.