Trust Your Instincts

I've been noticing a new trend in my writing lately and it has surprised me.

I've always thought of myself as a mystery writer. I'm working on a whodunnit novel. I love reading mysteries and trying to figure out who did it before I get to the end. But over the past year, I've spent most of my time writing short stories. They are a mystery in and of themselves. How can I write a satisfying story with a compelling plot, characters, and setting in a few thousand words? Can I weave in a surprise for the reader? Though they take less time to write, short stories require tremendous craft to get the story across in a succinct yet complete way. They require more precise and skillful editing because every word in a short story matters. But the thing that’s surprised me most? I’m not writing mysteries. I’m writing literary fiction.

Eckerd College’s Writers in Paradise is a week-long conference held each January at their St Petersburg, Florida campus. Co-founded by Dennis Lehane and Sterling Watson, the conference offers workshops, panels, lectures and readings. Andre Dubus III leads the workshops in the short story track. Have you read his novel House of Sand and Fog? It’s one of my favorite books of all time. To learn under him and other successful authors would be an incredible experience. This conference is application-based – you must submit samples of your work and be accepted to attend. I’ve wanted to attend this conference for the past few years but did not feel I had written short stories of the quality that would get me in. This year is different. I’m more confident in my latest stories. But I was at a crossroads and a bit confused. If my goal is to finish editing my novel, why am I veering off into short stories? Is this a procrastination technique? Should I even apply to this conference in the short story track? Or should I apply in the novel track and use it as impetus to get back to it?

I called Kelly DuMar, my writing coach for a consultation. Working with her for the past five years, she knows my talents and trajectory better than anyone. She asked thoughtful questions and told me about her writing journey. She published a non-fiction book. Then she wrote plays and brought those plays to the stage. Then she tried poetry and has published several books over the years I have known her. Her point: your writing career doesn’t have to be a straight line. You can pause your book and pursue your current passion in short story writing. You can always go back to your book or continue editing the book along with creating short stories. Her final piece of advice: Trust Your Instincts.

As soon as she said that to me, I knew what I was going to do. I finished and submitted my application to the short story track of Writers in Paradise yesterday. I’ll know whether I’m going by mid-November. My fingers are crossed!