I read a blog post recently by Myke Cole, author of Shadow Ops: Control Point, where he explained why he thought writing short stories ultimately failed aspiring novelists. He had some good points; points that, as an aspiring writer, I’m not sure I really had ever considered.

I knew a lot of the same ‘truths’ he mentions, truths I’d discovered years ago and took for granted:

1.) Win the Writers of the Future contest. RESULT: You have a professional credit and associate membership in SFWA on your cover letter. The “Tier I” magazines will now seriously consider your work.

2.) Make 3 short story sales to SFWA qualifying markets. RESULT: You are now an active SFWA member, and are invited to the “closed” parties.

3.) Go to said “closed” parties and meet your agent. RESULT: You have an agent. Without one, you can never ever sell a novel.

4.) Have your agent take your novel out to market and sell it. RESULT: Dream achieved.   All of which, while they may have been true at some point, may no longer be quite the requisites they used to be.

In my case, I work full-time, and then I typically write at scheduled times during the day, or after the kids are in bed. I have two novels plotted, and I’ve even sketched out some rough chapters. But I have spent the past few months dedicating most of my time to short stories. I’ve written over 50,000 words this year, and almost all of those words have been used in short stories.

I’ve submitted several, and I feel like I’m getting close, after some very inspiring rejections. But in the end, even if I start to make sales, I’m no closer to a finished novel.

So, I think Myke is right. Write quality work, and it’ll sell. If you choose to write short stories, then absolutely do that. But if you want to be a novelist, with any chance of a career, then you need to be writing novels. Worrying about publishing or SFWA membership is secondary to writing a damn good book or two first.

And that’s what I’m doing. I have one short story to finish, and after that’s been submitted, I won’t be doing any more active work on them. Sure, one or two here or there, maybe for special anthologies, but that’s it. I’ll keep up on Echoes of Collapse, although I may change it to a bi-monthly release in the future, just to make sure I have the time to be writing the full-length works I have planned.

So, Wilson, you ask, where you been?

You did ask that, right?

Now, that’s a good question with a really uninteresting answer. Sick as a dog, that’s where. As my loyal readers know, I took off for vacation on Easter weekend, the intent to hang out and relax with family. And that’s just what happened. It was a great weekend, the wife and kids had a great time, and it was nice to see family we hadn’t seen for a year or two.

Well, long story short (and actually, it’s not even all that long), local family was sick, we got it, and I spent most of the past 4-5 days basically bedridden, or otherwise ‘indisposed’. I couldn’t barely take sitting up for prolonged periods, let alone sitting at a desk and writing. I kept the laptop at bay, just rested and let the nasty stuff run its course.

So it was a nice vacation with some not so nice after-effects.

But I’m getting back in the swing of things late this week, and you’ll still have your regularly scheduled Echoes of Collapse entry tomorrow afternoon to peruse. On top of that, I have a couple of short stories in the works, as well as some progress on the Weird West novel (finally).

I’m also a bit late with a blog hop, where I answer some questions and then ask readers to visit some friends’ blogs to check theirs out. I should have that underway in the next week.

What are you all up to?

I wanted to ask a few questions to those who have read Echoes of Collapse, my web serial posted here on a weekly basis. If you have any other thoughts or input outside of this, please feel free to let me know! I’m having fun writing it so far, but I wanted to make sure anyone that’s stopped by to take a look has enjoyed it as well. And if not, well I’d like to know that too.

First, do you find the series enjoyable so far? If you don’t, why not? If you do, can you tell me why?

I designed the entries to be short enough – about 800 words – to fit well on mobile devices. Are the entries sized correctly? Do you think they’re too short? Too long? If you think they’re too short, how much longer would you like them to be?

Are weekly updates too fast? Would you prefer a longer period in-between entries? Perhaps coinciding with longer entries?

Is the story on each entry enough, or would you prefer graphics as well?

As to the contents of the serial so far, do you like the first-person perspective used? Would you prefer third-person? Would you enjoy breaks where other characters can tell their stories, as well as Cullen’s?

Is the pacing good so far? Anything about it you would change? Too fast? Too slow?

I’d be very appreciative of any feedback readers can provide. I want to make this a great story, I want it to appeal to people checking it out, some for the first time, so I’m hoping you can help me make that happen.

Another entry will be released on Friday, but it’s not too late to hop on board. Feel free to check out the Echoes of Collapse page HERE for more information!