Novels versus short stories

In the preface to Burning Chrome, William Gibson writes that the relationship of short stories to science fiction is the same as that of the single to rock music: “the medium that defined the most perfect expressions” of a given art form.

Come to think of it, my favorite science fiction stories usually came in the form of short fiction, often no longer than a novella.

Does this mean that science fiction novels don’t really work? Or that they just aren’t worth the extra effort it takes to write them?

Meh. Overthinking this. Bring on November!

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Prepping for Nanowrimo 2009

Definitely doing it this year. I’ve conned a few friends into participating as well so we can all support each other.

Last night, I listened to the final movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony on my way home from dinner, and everything started clicking. The concept, the characters, their motivations…

More to come here.