The Value of Writing a Short Story
by Dave Worthen
A few years ago I started writing books. I love writing. I love writing books. 
But I began to see a trend online which was disturbing which was many people seemed to be reading less. I’ve even seen statistics on memes on social media about the decline of reading.
So, I decided to survey my followers. I did a simple free Survey Monkey. It was only a few questions. Things like:
- Do they read much?
- When they read something online, how long into the article before they scrolled off?
See, the culture is now more of a “swipe” or “scroll” culture. I did not want to believe this, but it’s true. I swipe and scroll too.
But I read every day. And I read books everyday.
But my followers admitted they did not read as much anymore.
So I tried my hand at short stories.
It was really a test for me because I’m a counselor and coach and I try to teach or pass along something to help people. So I wrote a short story series. I not only got more readers, but a new fan base that likes my fiction and my character.
When you write because you enjoy writing, I realized that the short story is another way to write and keep writing without getting lost in the “undone” books we’re writing.
Give it a whirl.
It’s fun and you get more of your work out there.
Best,
Dave Worthen
Note from Colin Can Help: If you can make it through Friends for Life and not tear up, you are not a human.
If you would like to be a contributor to the Life of an Author series or any other Colin Can Help Series, send an email to colin@colincanhelp.com
