I have conversations about this pretty often. I write a lot of short stories, some of them
are linked. I just finished a four story
series for my publisher. I don’t write
many novels. I guess that makes me an
oddity.
My friends often point to the novel I sold and say, “Look
that proves you can write a novel.”
I’ve known I can write a novel for a long time, I just don’t
like writing them. I don’t write very
quickly and to write a whole novel I have to set aside everything else I want
to do. I know that sounds selfish.
I take my writing very seriously; I may spend months researching
for a short story. I’ve spent a lot of
time reading about the last few years of the NHA and the transfer to the NHL,
and the shift in goalie styles (until 1918 goalies were not allowed to leave their
feet to make a save) and I can tell you how ice was resurfaced before the
Zamboni. So it’s not a lack of seriousness
that keeps me from writing novels.
Like every writer I know, I am compelled to write. I don’t feel like I have a choice in it, but
at this point I don’t see myself making a living at writing. So writing is just a very important hobby of
mine. That isn’t to say I don’t get paid
for my shorts, I do, and I will be paid for my upcoming novel as well.
But will I write another novel soon?
Probably not.
Since this is a hobby what I do should be fun. I don’t find novels fun. Maybe someday I will change my mind. Maybe not.
I can’t know the future.
Do you like to write long pieces, or short pieces?