How do you take a scene or character and turn it into a short story?
A dozen years ago I decided to improve my prose. I started writing shorter pieces because that would allow me to stop and edit and polish and then quickly start again on something new. But in the process, I discovered that it’s not easy for me—a novel reader, primarily—to find the meaning or point of a short story. I have pieces that seem to have legs but they don’t always lead somewhere satisfying.