Short stuff

I think we're probably overdue a post about science fiction. This post, or something like it, has been in a holding pattern for almost a month waiting for me to finish it off and post it. It's probably not as polished as it should be for all that revision time, but you get what you pay for at this blog.

Way back in the mists of time, a blogger with the unlikey moniker of 'slushmaster' made this post. Which, in turn, solicited replies like this one, and this. And, eventually, this one.

I haven't made a subscription yet, but the whole discussion has made me take another glance in the direction of short sf. As a rule I don't read short stories. I have a collection of Stephen King's shorter works, and I've read a number of sf anthologies over the years, but generally I'm a novel reader.

And, because I like the whole world-building exercise, and find bringing characters to life and telling a story in about 1600 words waaaaay too challenging, so far I have remained a novel writer too.

But sf and short fiction are old pals. A short story can be just enough to bring an idea to life, without flogging it to death the way an over-long novel sometimes can. Science fiction is the fiction of ideas, and the more I think about it, the more I am persuaded that short stories are often the best way of conveying a single idea.

And ideas are one thing I have in plentiful supply. So maybe I should get a bit more practice in. And maybe, just maybe, when I find myself with a few quid spare in my current account, I will get that subscription too.