Writing Short Fiction: Interview with Adie Hart
Writer Adie Hart answers questions about writing short fiction, while I look snazzy and invisible in the background of the blog post.
Hello, and welcome to… someone else’s thoughts™️
That’s right. I know you were expecting my thoughts from my brain, but we all need a bit of variety sometimes, and Adie Hart is utterly delightful!
Adie Hart is a lover of stories and the words behind them. With a background in the history and literature of the Ancient World, and an abiding love of classic fairy tales, she writes light-hearted, queer-norm fantasy adventures with plenty of romance, many of them set in her District Witch world. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found editing Indie Bites Magazine, reading, knitting, or trapped under her large cat!
We’ve both had the pleasure of being published in Macfarlane Lantern Publishing’s Once Upon a Season Anthologies.
I sent Adie five questions about writing short fiction, and she was generous enough to let me share them with you.
If you’ve ever wondered how some people sit down and write short fiction, what their thoughts are or what their process is on writing in general, you’ve come to the right place! I shall now hand the metaphorical microphone over to Adie, and let the questions and answers begin…
1) When you write short fiction, do you start out with a clear idea, or do you write your way into the story and find it on the way?
Neither, really! I tend to start with one or two clear elements – a character voice, a conversation fragment, a scene out of context – and then I sit with that idea in my head for a long time, anything up to months, while I flesh everything else out in my imagination. For example, I find it really hard to write a character if I don’t have a perfect name for them! I’ll scribble down scraps of dialogue or character details in my notes app so I don’t forget them during this period.
Then, once I’ve got everything set in my mind, I write a bullet point list of scenes and then I just… write down what happens, in order, from start to finish. I used to think I was a pantser, because I love that imagining stage the most, but it turns out I’ve never finished a single pantsed story – I’m a planner, just a weird one.
2) What are three elements you find most important in a short story?
I think the basics for me are a great title, a strong character voice, and an interesting hook. Even slice-of-life stories, which I adore, have to have something intriguing going on to make me keep reading!
3) What is one piece of writing advice you disagree with?
The idea that you shouldn’t edit while you write! If I didn’t do this, I’d never get anything down – it has to go on the page in a way that makes me want to read it, so I’m constantly tweaking as I write, and I start each session by reading through what I have so far, making edits as I notice them.
It may take longer for me to do a first draft than someone who puts everything down quickly and then tidies up in a second round, but I rarely end up doing much editing at the sentence level after that first draft, because I’ve already done it!
4) Has writing short fiction helped you write longer works? If so, how?
Yes and no! On the one hand, it’s helped me a lot to contextualise the length of a book in terms of pacing – the novel I’m working on at the moment will be about 75,000 words, which is only about 7 times the length of What Big Geese You Have, my latest short story, so I only need 7 times as much story! Before getting comfortable writing short stories, I was definitely guilty of trying to pack way too much plot into everything and getting bogged down in handling it.
On the other hand, writing short stories is terrible for my novel writing, because I keep getting new ideas for short stories and writing them instead of my book...
5) The classic: What is a piece of writing advice you wish you'd known earlier?
Finding a really great group of critique partners, beta readers, and cheerleading friends is so important. For many years I kept all my writing to myself, but it’s actually sharing it that drives me to write, so I definitely agree that a writer needs a community.
Not just because they can offer invaluable advice on how to improve your work, but also just because literally sending a piece to someone and having them read it is a powerful reminder that you’re creating something people can enjoy!
And there you have it. Those were five questions on writing short fiction, from writer Adie Hart. You can find some of her published works here. 💝
Did you have some thoughts on writing short fiction? Some opinions on writing rules, perhaps? Share them by leaving a comment!