Write to Fit the Form

There are so many different forms of writing, each one with its own set of nuances. I think there is a beauty there, that however you want your writing to be experienced, there is a form of writing just for it (and if there isn't, you can make it up). With all of these possibilities out there, it boggles my mind that writers would write in a form other than the one they intended.

My favorite example is with poetry. There are two kinds of poetry: poetry meant to be seen and poetry meant to be heard. Some poets spend more time arranging the words in their poetry than they did coming up with those words. Sometimes they create a poem whose arrangement is such that it can be read in a number of ways. And yet, with all of that painstaking effort put in, they then go on stage and read their poem aloud, making all of that arrangement worthless.

If you want your work to be heard, then make sure it is the best-sounding writing you can make. If you want it to be read, then make sure it is the best-looking writing you can make. The same principal applies for all the other nunances that go with a form of writing.

In a novel, you need to be able to characterize, convey time, create places, animate scenes, and move things along at a steady pace. In a short story, you do need these things, but on a smaller scale. In a novel, you get to know characters inside and out, but a short story's characters, we only go a little deeper than skin. The pacing between the two is also going o be different. The sheer length of the novel means that wew have to take it all in piece by piece, like taking sips from a cup. A short story, though, is like one good gulp. And by the same analogy, flash fiction is like pounding a shot.

Short stories have to glaze over finer details like every furnishing in a room. They don't have the time or space for frivolous information. As such, when you see a short story that rambles on, it becomes very painful to read because it doesn't fit the format.

Another example is with webcomics (i.e. comics who are primarily published online in regular installments). Webcomics update one strip or one page at a time. But since every update needs to be a complete work that satisfies the reader, every update needs to have a joke or a twist or something that makes the reader glad they saw the update and excited to see what happens next.

Whatever you want to write, there is a form for that. There are a great number of writing forms out there. And within each of those are a great number of writing forms. If there is something you want to write, pick the form that fits it. If there is a form that you want to write, then write something that fits the form.