Short Stories or Novels?

The Second “Lifewriting” rule for writers is to write 1–4 short stories a month. This is probably the rule that sparks the most controversy.

1. There is nothing sadder than the person who comes to me and says “I have a novel. What do I do with it?” The question: have you published short stories? immediately comes to mind. If they had, then I’d know what to say next. But if not, I have ZERO idea if they are any good, and I’m really not going to read their book. We’re stuck.
2. “My idea(s) is/are novel length.” There’s no such thing as an idea with an intrinsic length. The TREATMENT of an idea has an intrinsic length. If you see the complete circle or sphere of a vast idea, choose a few degrees of arc, a single day in the life of an important (or side) character, and write a 3–5 page tale expressing a moment in time when something changed.
3. It can take years to write a book. It can take hours to write a story. As a story is the smallest complete fiction unit, the short story contains all the core aspects of the longest novel. And you are practicing something critical: FINISHING.
4. I’ve known people who worked on a single project for DECADES and never finished. What they really had was stupendous and VERY clever writer’s block. Writer’s Block is here defined as anything that stops you from starting, finishing, polishing, or publishing your work. This person invested so much of their ego in that work that the idea of submitting it for publication had to be utterly crushing. On the other hand, if you…