Swimming in Short Stories

I feel like I'm swimming in short stories at the moment. The Edge Hill Prize longlist will be announced later this month and in the meantime I'm trying to read and briefly review each entry, a significantly bigger task this year due to the increase in entries. As ever, reading the longlist has introduced me to some fabulous new, and new-to-me, writers.

The novel is coming along much more slowly than I would like. It's easiest to write it in the early hours of the morning when everyone is asleep which doesn't do much for my general patience or concentration. I'm approaching it like a series of short stories and perhaps that's why it's taking me so long. Every section is meticulously redrafted and edited and I'm beginning to wonder whether I'm making too much fuss about language and imagery. Hmm.

Although I haven't written any short stories yet this year, I'm still fascinated by their brevity and power. I especially enjoyed this excellent piece about the short story, All Bone and Muscle found at Thresholds.