Pulp!

[HareBrain]

This post by @Ragandar got me thinking. For some time I've been wanting to do some shorter pieces, and I don't think short story spin-offs from my novel series would work.

You used to get "pulp" authors writing lots of short stories and novellas set in the same world and with the same characters, but not really in any particular order. The two obvious ones are Robert E Howard's Conan stories, and Michael Moorock's Elric ones.

Are there any modern examples? If not, why not? Or was it never that common anyway, those two being the only real examples? (I'm not counting Lovecraft, since as far as I know, his stories don't tend to involve the same characters.)

 

[Montero]

There are certainly lots of authors putting out shorts and novellas in eBook only, some with new characters, some with further small adventures for existing characters. Barbara Hambly and Sharon Lee & Steve Miller are two that spring to mind for me.

 

[Gonk the Insane]

I'm struggling to think of Fantasy authors doing that at the moment, but my guess would be some are. Certainly it happens in some other genres. I know Lee Child has released several novellas (I'm not sure whether there's a particular order for them relative to the main series or not - I'm not big on short fiction). Peter F Hamilton is another author that springs to mind, although a PFH short story is probably still novel-length! Again, not sure if/how it fits in with his series, but it could be worth checking to see.

Or was it never that common anyway, those two being the only real examples?

I certainly got the impression it was a popular practice, though I could be wrong. Maybe someone else can think of other examples?

Even if no one else is doing it at the moment, you could still go ahead, right? Either releasing them individually or packaging them together as a collection of short fiction.

 

[HareBrain]

Even if no one else is doing it at the moment, you could still go ahead, right?

Of course -- and I just realised I left a bit of explanation out of my initial post. I'm doing a bit of world/character-building at the moment, and trying to think what elements other multi-story worlds had that made them work so well, so I'm trying to think of other examples.

For example, both Conan and Elric were in a position where they could go on small-scale adventures as well as being major players in wars and political upheavals, opening up a wide variety of plots.

@Montero, thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Juliana]

For some time I've been wanting to do some shorter pieces, and I don't think short story spin-offs from my novel series would work.

Also, remember you can do something @Jo Zebedee's been doing well, which is write short 'backstory' pieces that happen in a character's past. I'm planning on doing a couple of these for my own novel.

(I'd read some of Ranga's wild adventures from younger days...)

 

[Gonk the Insane]

I'm working my way through the Conan stories at the moment, and one thing that stands out is that there is very little character development, which may be partly why the stories can be read in almost any order: the constant in the stories is Conan himself (at least so far, I've got plenty more to read). So you can pick up any Conan adventure and a) you know what you're getting, and b) it doesn't matter if you haven't read the one before.

In case it's relevant... I've been doing some world-building of my own for an epic I'll be starting next year, and I ended up deciding to write a prequel, which became a series of prequel short stories/novellas(novellae?). The stories feature the same central character, and although each is self-contained, she should (hopefully, if I've done it right!) develop as a sum of those experiences. So, slightly different, maybe, in that there is a fixed order, but I could release them separately if I chose - events in other stories are referenced, but shouldn't affect the reading experience if someone hasn't read the others. But I'll likely be releasing them together in a single volume. As I've never done short fiction before this year (novels all the way, baby!) I could be breaking some rules, but when I started I had in mind that kind of shorter/serial fiction from back in the day.

 

[ratsy]

Brandon Sanderson does a lot of shorts in his cosmere universe and is actually compiling them together in a hardcover this fall. Brian McClellan has a series of shorts or novellas I suppose in his world.

Joe Abercrombie did a book of shorts Sharp Edges or something like that recently.

So this may not be exactly what you are looking for but some of the big guys are doing it.

 

[Juliana]

So this may not be exactly what you are looking for but some of the big guys are doing it.

Mark Lawrence also did one with backstory shorts on his Thorns characters.

 

[HareBrain]

Thanks all

Also, remember you can do something @Jo Zebedee's been doing well, which is write short 'backstory' pieces that happen in a character's past. I'm planning on doing a couple of these for my own novel.

Actually, the idea came to me because I was thinking about writing some stories based on Geist's earlier life. The trouble is, the fantasy/magic in the novel world is mostly active only in relation to the main plot, which doesn't really start until the time of book 1.

I'm working my way through the Conan stories at the moment, and one thing that stands out is that there is very little character development, which may be partly why the stories can be read in almost any order: the constant in the stories is Conan himself (at least so far, I've got plenty more to read). So you can pick up any Conan adventure and a) you know what you're getting, and b) it doesn't matter if you haven't read the one before.

From what I remember, the stories do feature Conan in different roles (adventurer, general, etc), so I guess that's a kind of development which could apply in whichever order they were read. Elric is a much more interesting character, almost to the extent of not needing any further development.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Well, of course there's Spider Robinson. He started with short stories about Callahan's bar and the surrounding characters, and only worked up to whole books of the same. That's kind of going about it the opposite direction from what you're thinking, though.

 

[Juliana]

I was thinking about writing some stories based on Geist's earlier life. The trouble is, the fantasy/magic in the novel world is mostly active only in relation to the main plot, which doesn't really start until the time of book 1.

So I'll have to wait for stories on Ranga as a more disreputable version of Indiana Jones, working the artifact trade? *pouts*

 

[HareBrain]

That's kind of going about it the opposite direction from what you're thinking, though.

The same direction, really, since this is a new world and characters. Nice to see you haven't given up on me as a potential SR reader, though!

So I'll have to wait for stories on Ranga as a more disreputable version of Indiana Jones, working the artifact trade? *pouts*

Well, he was only artifact-hunting when he was with O&C anyway. That's the trouble, most of my novel-series characters had pretty unadventurous lives until they were sucked into the main story.

 

[zmunkz]

Didn't Patrick Rothfuss do this too with a short about Auri a couple years ago? Ah, found it.

 

[Ragandar]

I don't know the older authors that HareBrain mentioned, but currently it feels like there's a distinct difference between the modern authors and the older ones. (I may be completely wrong here.) None of these modern authors began with a basis of short stories. All these short stories would be tie-ins into an existing universe which is still developed in full-blown novels. That is still different from a world built entirely on short stories.

I think there's a pretty simple reason why something like the Conan-series (as I understand it from the posts about it, I don't know the series) wouldn't work if a modern author were to write it today. People desire character development in fantasy nowadays. Different stories with the exact same character, without any development, is just not something people want to read anymore. And as soon as there's character development, the stories are no longer interchangeable, and they have to be read in a set order.

The last time I read something with characters that had little to no development was when I read a comic series as a kid called Suske and Wiske in my native language. No idea what it's called in English. So maybe one would have to look to comics for something like this, I have no idea.

-EDIT- Apparently it's called Spike and Suzy.

Also, would Terry Pratchett's Discworld count? They are full-blown novels, but they are interchangeable as I understand it, since people have made an alternative reading order. (Once again, never read any of it, so I wouldn't know).

 

[Juliana]

Didn't Patrick Rothfuss do this too with a short about Auri a couple years ago?

He also had one about Bast in the Rogues anthology.

 

[HareBrain]

Well, that was an illuminating experiment. I spent an enjoyable few hours today working on this new world and its main character, making sure both had all the ingredients for a wide range of stories. I charged off into the first one, which just seemed to tumble out. Only trouble was, I came to realise it felt completely sterile. It wasn't a story I yearned to tell; it was just something I felt I ought to be doing (i.e. something aside from my novel series).

 

[SpacePixie]

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have a lot of short stories (as in dozens) about the Liaden universe and the characters. They write space opera with a fantasy feel.

 

[Dan Jones]

I'm dipping in and out of Joe Abercrombie's Sharp Ends, which is a collection of short stories set in the First Law trilogy world. Quite a few of the characters are recurring, and there's the sense they are only very loosely in any sort of chronological order. So I suppose the answer is yes.

 

[The Big Peat]

Well, that was an illuminating experiment. I spent an enjoyable few hours today working on this new world and its main character, making sure both had all the ingredients for a wide range of stories. I charged off into the first one, which just seemed to tumble out. Only trouble was, I came to realise it felt completely sterile. It wasn't a story I yearned to tell; it was just something I felt I ought to be doing (i.e. something aside from my novel series).

Sounds like the experiment went well with the eensy-weensy problem that you didn't love the idea you had for it. Planning to press on with this and hope the love comes, think more about short stories you really want to tell, or just dump the idea?

 

[HareBrain]

Planning to press on with this and hope the love comes, think more about short stories you really want to tell, or just dump the idea?

I don't think the love will come. It feels like something I might enjoy reading once or twice, but to write something, I'd have to want to read it ten or twenty times (since that's what I'd end up doing). I don't think I have a short-story mind.