I honestly don't get it. Why does anyone want to read something that short? Why does anyone want to compress a perfectly good story into a few thousand words? And until recently, I just sort of muddled along like that. To each their own; if other people wished to spend their time on that, then they could.
Except that now I'm supposed to write one. And the prologue-type thing I'd written that I was planning to finish at 3,000 or so and then shorten as much as possible is apparently too long already, and I haven't even really gotten started.
Everyone says to just use a single scene that can stand on its own, and all sorts of helpful advice. But it doesn't work. I simply can't think of something that could stand on its own in 1,000- (is that a thing? Like 10+?) words. That's not how I write. I think up long complicated plots, promptly forget all of the details I didn't write down because I couldn't imagine forgetting them, and then have to come up with them again later to pad things out. My brain will just not come up with a short story. If I sit down to write, I get the beginning of a novel, and not the sort of thing that could stand on its own, either.
So, if anyone has any advice, that would be great. If not, this has been your daily rant. Thanks for reading.
-HH
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