Author Interview Part 2: Shannon Alexander

Today is Launch Day for Shannon Alexander's new book, The Business of Short Stories: Writing, Submitting, Publishing, Marketing. 

Thank you, Shannon Alexander, for talking with us about how you came to write short stories, and for your advice on how to write a short story!

What inspires you to write a short story? How do you tend to begin writing a short story? With characters? A setting? A problem? a genre?

I'm a pantser, so it starts with a spark or an idea. It can be something simple, like seeing a themed call for submissions. For example, one story was born because a call was put out for a zombie story from the zombie's POV. Or for a story that's releasing soon, I was reminded of the term coffin birth, and I was off to the races, writing a story that ended up being about so much more than that. I typically just start writing and see what comes out. I've thought of a line out of nowhere and started a story based on that single line as the opening. When that's not the case, though, it's me going in, knowing that this single idea will need to show up at some point. I then start writing a character, which leads to figuring out the setting around them, and how they're responding to it, and so on. 

Has a short story you've written ever morphed into a novel?

I have two short stories I've set aside to one day turn into either novellas or novels. Other than that, I go in with the idea for a short story, and it stays that way. Typically, people who are going in to write a short story and end up with a novel never had a short story to begin with. It was always too big to be a short story, and they were trying to squeeze their story into a hole it didn't fit into.

What did you learn from the first short story you wrote?

Honestly, my first short stories were in elementary school. I learned I enjoyed writing AND enjoyed my teacher's reactions to the stories I wrote. Even then, I tended toward the dark, which made for some interesting feedback on my papers. I always got a kick out of freaking my teachers out. But I also learned that no matter how great I might think that story was, someone else might read it in an entirely different way. Plus, they could find issues with it that I hadn't realized existed, so no matter how shiny I though it was, there was probably something that could be improved.

What advice would you give to a newbie short story writer? Why?

Try to write as much of the story in a single sitting as possible, without editing as you go. Short stories are a different creature from novels. They will need to be more powerful in fewer words. They need to have a single overall tone and mood. A single voice. Writing it in one sitting and waiting to revisit it can help contribute to that and keep your creativity flowing. It helps you remain in the story while you're writing, which will help the reader remain in the story all the way to the end in one sitting.

You can read Part 1 of Shannon's interview HERE. Or visit her wonderful, funny, resourceful blog, The Warrior Muse, HERE. In fact, that's how I met Shannon, blog-hopping!

A little more about Shannon: She has made a career of short stories, with over a decade of experience and more than fifty short stories published in magazines and anthologies. In addition, she's released three horror short story collections with a mix of new and previously published stories. Her true crime podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is going into its third season.

Website: www.thewarriormuse.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewarriormuse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thewarriormuse
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewarriormuse/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/shannon-lawrence
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/shannondkl
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shannon-Lawrence/e/B00TDKPOAO
Podcast Website: www.mysteriesmonstersmayhem.com

Thank you for reading Shannon’s interview. What advice would YOU have to a newbie writing short stories? 

And why not visit your favorite online store (see links above) and check out Shannon's The Business of Short Stories!