I get what one-shots are. I really do.

Self-containing, short, structured chapters that serve as a whole story. Some are good. Some are bad. I have never written one before.

I think I should. Just to complete a story and get a sense of what I should write to get a message across. To be concise and meaningful.

I enjoy writing long stories, but even with two years of writing on FFN on my other account, my skills are fairly poor and I haven't completed a single story.

Only after reading NMB's fic You Meet In Paris did I begin to think about this.

I know writing is the best way to get XP in, well, writing, but doing long stories just doesn't work for me at the moment. So are one-shots a good way to learn to make a saga of several chapters?

 

It hones your general writing ability for sure, your technical competence and prose will enhance by leaps and bounds.

but your plotting and ability to plan a story will not significantly increase much at all.

Based on the fact I've read your writing, I'd recommend just writing as much as possible right now, of anything and everything. Post it on WBA whenever you can or just get someone to beta it.

 

Thank you for the advice.

From now on I will just try to complete whichever work I'm on.

 

Never heard of a 500 club.

Also, can't forget, Ched for president 2020

 

As training wheels, a novella-length story might be more up your alley. Long enough to experiment with character development and one or two plots; short enough that you don't get bogged down in an endless tapestry of subplots and connected minor characters. Bonus: you can actually see the finish line early on, which might be additional motivation to get that first draft out quickly.

As @Paradise said though, nothing beats quantity, especially when it comes to improving prose.

 

500 for 500

Here you go @The Salsa Sorcerer, yeah I agree with ched you should join. I get some good feedback on there myself. I've read your writing and you're really good for your age Salsa.

 

Alternatively, enter the quarterly writing contest.