Fun fact, true fact: writing short stories can help stimulate creativity.

Plus, they’re a real confidence booster. You can finish a short story anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days, allowing you to see a finished product much faster than when you write a novel (which can take a month to several years to complete).

I must admit, before I wrote short stories, I didn’t think much of them. The few I read I wasn’t impressed with, and more than not they felt pretentious. However, after having written a few dozen myself, I’ve come to appreciate the medium. They’re fun and good for you (like broccoli!)

But seriously–if you’re a writer I would recommend you try your hand at them. There are a lot of great contests for short stories as well.

Like the Writers of the Future contest for sci-fi and fantasy stories (which is free, by the way). Or the Writer’s Digest contest which offers $3,000 cash reward (and can be any genre), but it does cost money to enter.

That, or you can get published with a magazine or website that regularly produces anthologies.

At the end of this month I’ll have two stories inside of the Aeon Writers Collection. It’s an anthology of sci-fi and fantasy works revolving around hunters and the hunted. Pretty awesome stuff. Check out the cover!

 

Like I said, if you haven’t tried your hand at short stories, I recommend you give it a shot. You might be surprised (I know I was!).