Another realization today… I don’t know how to write short.

Two weeks ago I set out to write a magnet (free giveaway) for my paranormal romance series.  The intent was to write 20-30k in the same world as my PNR series. The last time I sat down to write the magnet, I ended up with a 50k novel.  Okay not a problem… just call it a prequel (which it is because it takes place 5 years before the series). Maybe make it a perma-free (this means set the price at Free permanently to help attract new readers / give new readers a chance to see if they like my writing).  Fine.  Done.  Move on.

That magnet turning into a novel meant I now had to return to my original goal… writing a 20-30k magnet. An author friend said I couldn’t do it – write short, that is.  Thank you, very much for your confidence in me, Veronica! Long story short (Hah – that’s the crux of the problem here!), today I finally finished.  I wrote those two beautiful words at the end (literally “THE END”), and tallied my words.  54k.  Oy.

So, for those of you who say “A Novel… I can’t write a novel… that’s so long…”  Replace the word ‘novel’ with ‘short story’ and ‘long’ with ‘short’ and I’m right there with you… sympathizing.  🙂