I forget who said, “Forgive me for writing you a long letter. I did not have time to write a short one.” But it’s true. Brevity is not only the soul of wit, it’s damned hard. Tight, compact, satisfying miniatures are the form exercises of the writers craft. Master them and you’ll build up the skills that will enable you to write anything. Ray Bradbury’s advice, something to the effect of “Write a story a week; nobody can write 52 bad stories in a year,” is some of the best advice an author ever gave or can ever get.
I don’t claim to be a master. I haven’t written nearly enough short stories. I don’t have the time. But here are some short works that I have written.
- The Richest Man in Babylon, Revisited
- Five Minutes More and Other Stories
- KID STUFF: The Reincarnation of Lou Gehrig and Other Stories
Also, check out the Free Stories I’ve posted on this website.