short story — Blog — Rachel Giesel Grimm

Our job as writers is not to churn out novel after novel or short story after short story, but to tell each story as it wants to be told, whether it's the form we think we know or something new entirely. You should always be seeking to tell your stories in the way they deserve to be told, strengthening your writing skills, and exploring new worlds and forms you haven't considered before. This is how you become the writer you want to be. Denying your muse the opportunity to play with other genres is just going to make inspiration disappear. And if you force your story to be something it's not, it's not going to turn out well. Let’s dive into 3 reasons why you should be playing with a variety of genres (and some helpful links for how to do it!).

You may use a revising checklist or an editing checklist to bring your story to fruition, but sometimes that's just not enough. Perhaps this particular story DOESN'T call for setting overload, or this particular story DOES call for characterization development. Every story is unique in its needs. The following five techniques will get you working with your story in the way revision was intended to be: a literal re-vision-ing of what your story is intended to be. They will get you thinking about your story in different ways. They'll ask you to pay attention to the specific, unique elements that THIS particular story needs. They'll ask you to remember the heart of the story, and bring that to the surface in a meaningful way. This isn't focusing on word choice, but intention. Ready to get revising?