Yesterday I mentioned that the wip was going to be put on hold for a bit while I worked on something else. That something else was going to be short story for Kindle. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to get a quickie connected story out a few weeks/months before Hunter of the Heart releases in November to stir up some interest.
Not a bad idea, but just about every idea I had, once I gave plot/character development more thought became a problem. Either I’d need more length to tell the story adequately, or I ended up with something that had no organic HEA/HFN (unless shoe-horned one on). And for the non-HEA/HFNs, I would either have to plan the story out as a serial, or make the commitment to write the full story in the near future, with the non-HEA/HFN being prequel of sorts.
Since I got my iPhone and downloaded the Kindle ap, I’ve been reading a bunch of shorts/novellas from Amazon and I can honestly say a half-assed story, even if free, does the author no favors. I haven’t sworn off freebies or the cheaper priced books like some have, but I’m less likely to think “what the hell, it’s free. I’ll give it a try” now than I used to because *a try* = time invested in reading. All this is to say, I don’t want to just cobble something together quickly, just to get it up, if I feel I can’t get it done right.
Also, if I could come up with something straightforward, that’s one thing, but the planning/thinking about this possible short is just taking away too much time from my current wip. So, planned short stories are now kaput. The good news is, both short ideas will probably be developed for future installments in the series that gets kicked off by Hunter of the Heart. (Series in the sense of stories told in the same world, with a tenuous connection between characters, rather than one main protag/cast of characters with an over-arching/advancing main plot.
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7 comments:
I can't write short easily at all, and my novellas tend to need a lot more revision than my longer works. So the idea of writing a good short story is completely daunting to me. Hence no freebies by me, although in theory it's a great idea.
Aw.
Will confess, I was looking forward to the short.
But certainly understand.
I'll just look forward to the longer versions. :)
First off Jorrie,
Congrats for hitting the Samhain Top 10 right out of the gate aaaaand for being #1 on the list for most of the week! I'm very happy for you.
As for shorts, normally I can't write them. But I did two freebies for Samhain that didn't turn out badly.
The problem with the short I wanted to do now is, I wanted it to be a satisfying read in and of itself (not just a throw away) and I wanted it to match in tone/elements, for the most part, Hunter of the Heart.
With the first idea, I couldn't get the suspense/danger element to fit organically within the time frame/short length of the story.
With the other idea, if I was writing a serial, or releasing the full story with the protags of the short, it would be fine. But at this point it's really a prequel/prologue to, or the first installment of, a larger story.
The only other option would be to write an epilogue for Hunter of the Heart, but A) makes no sense to release that before the main story. B) not sure what the heck I'd write about anyway. Show them years later happy with a ton of kids scampering around? meh. lol.
Raine,
I am tempted to turn Alejandro's story into a serial, but let's face it, I'm not the fastest/most prolific writer. [/hysterical laughter]
Why stress myself? I'd rather get more fully developed stories/books out there.
And, yes, you're first in the line of fire to read it when it gets done. :)
Thanks, Jaye :)
When does Heart of the Hunter come out?
Ooop, Hunter of the Heart!
Hey, 'Heart of a Huntress' is a book at Samhain. I did a double take when I saw that. Thought for sure I was going to have to change my title.
Hunter of the Heart comes out in November. No exact date at this point. Seems so far away, but I know it'll be here before I know it. :-P
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