Monday, June 15, 2009

Long or short?

What kind of stories do you like to write? Long, 70,000 words plus, or short, 45,000 - 50,000 words? What about your reading habits? Do you prefer a good, long read or something short y0u can finish quickly and start on something else?

For me, it all depends on the quality of the writing. However, even the brilliant writing of Alice Munro leaves me shaking my head. She writes short stories. For me they don't have a proper ending and leave me wondering what is going to happen to the story people. Alice Munro is world famous and has just been awarded the Man Booker Prize in England. She's a Canadian!

I write both long and short. I have a long historical (not published as yet) that comes in at 110,000. Probably too long for to-day's market. I have three short contemporary romance novels all in the neighbourhood of 50,000 words. My five books published by Cerridwen Press are a mix of long and short.

What are you comfortable writing?

I've posted the cover of my historical romance, A Very Difficult Man, now available in trade paperback. Also I've had a trailer made for my book. If you'd like to see it, go to: www.YouTube.com, type my name in "search" and you'll find the trailer. It was created by Misty Taggert, Trailer To The Stars, and is really wonderful. It's also on my Facebook page.

For more information about my books, you'll find me at, www.anitabirt.com

Anita

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Anita,

I tend to write long and am more comfortable with the novel length. Short stories are a bit more difficult. My word count usually ranges from 50,000 to 100,000. I do write short, just not as often as I do long.

Reading I tend to prefer longer books. Usually, a longer book will let me get to know the characters more and immerse myself in the book. And I agree, short stories often leave me wondering what is going to happen to the people after I close the book.

By the way love your cover.

Unknown said...

It depends on what I'm writing. Erotica tends to be in the 20-25K range right now. The romantic comedy over 50k.
As far as reading, I think it's the same. I normally want a quick read.

Love the cover!

Unknown said...

I used to write a lot longer than I have lately. I've been writing short. Erotica is often shorter and that's my niche lately. However, I'll also be writing more longer stories, soon as I find my energy.

Anny Cook said...

When the house hunk asks me how long the book will be, the answer is "long enough to tell the story". I think that's how all stories should be written.

If it's not long enough to tell the story, then it's too short.

Angelia Sparrow said...

Depends on what I'm writing it for.

Most anthology calls are 5-15,000.
My novels run between 50 and 75,000
I have broken 100,000 once or twice.

It depends on the story and the purpose.

I like short stories. I like novels. There is no one format I'm more comfortable with.