I suppose the obvious question to ask after reading a title like this one is "why on earth would anyone want to do that?"! Further to my interview going up yesterday, and knowing I have talked about interviewing your own characters (it is a great way of really exploring what they are made of), I realised there is a case for asking yourself some awkward questions. For example:-
- Why am I writing this? Particularly useful for novel writing when you are feeling bogged down by it. This can act as a reminder for why you were enthusiastic about the basic idea in the first place. Hopefully the reminder will reignite the enthusiasm!
- Am I writing this in the right way? I have found sometimes flash fiction (short and sharp) works better for a story than a standard length short story (1500-2000 words). It packs a punch. Sometimes I have found the longer version conveys more (it's got the room to do so!) and, depending on the "point" of the story, that can be the most appropriate vehicle for the tale. A punchy impact isn't always the right way to go. If you want a thoughtful piece, for example, the standard length short story would probably be better.
- Can I do this better? Whatever way you're telling the story, you will almost certainly improve it with a decent edit or two. The trick is to look for that point when you honestly feel you can't do any more to the story and then send it out, whether it is for a competition, to a writing buddy or critique service or what have you.
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