Writing a Short Story Cycle

November’s Grand Saga

As the last echoes of Halloween fade and the days grow shorter, I’ve decided to embrace November with an ambitious creative endeavor. Instead of tackling a massive novel, I’m launching a more focused, equally exciting project: a complete short story cycle.

What is a Short Story Cycle?

If you haven’t heard the term before, a short story cycle is a collection of individual short stories that are deliberately arranged and connected to form a longer, unified work. Unlike a traditional short story collection where the stories might be completely separate, the stories in a cycle share recurring characters, a common setting, overlapping themes, or a continuous plot arc.

Think of it as the literary sweet spot between a short story collection and a novel. Each piece can stand alone, but when read together, they deepen the overall narrative and create a richer, more complex experience.

Here are some of the well-known examples:

• Dubliners by James Joyce: A foundational example. It links fifteen stories through a common setting (Dublin), recurring themes of paralysis and escape, and a similar mood, allowing the individual stories to build an overall portrait of the city.

• Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson: Often cited as the first major American example. It is linked by a shared setting (Winesburg, Ohio) and the presence of the young newspaper reporter George Willard, who appears in several stories as an observer and confidant.

• The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien: A contemporary classic that blurs the line between fiction and memoir. It is strongly unified by its cast of recurring characters (a platoon of American soldiers) and its common subject: the Vietnam War.

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book is organized around a single, powerful, and often abrasive recurring character, the retired schoolteacher Olive Kitteridge, whose life intersects with nearly every other story in her small New England town.

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: A coming-of-age story told through a series of connected vignettes. It is unified by its young protagonist, Esperanza Cordero, and its detailed exploration of a specific setting and community in Chicago.

• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan: A structurally ambitious and non-linear cycle. It’s connected by a loose network of characters (primarily music executive Bennie and his assistant Sasha) and the overarching theme of time and the music industry.

• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: A science fiction example that uses a shared setting (Mars) and chronological structure to tell the story of humanity’s attempts to colonize the red planet and the conflicts that ensue.

The Halloween Spark and The World of Nicola Knight

This project was actually inspired by some of the writing I did leading up to Halloween. I found myself focusing on a specific setting, New Orleans, and a main character: Detective Nicola Knight. This world, where the supernatural community hears whispers of an “awakening,” seemed to demand more than one story.

The individual short tales I wrote had me hooked on these characters’ lives, showing different sides of a developing situation. The connections were already forming organically, and the idea of expanding those threads into a cohesive cycle, ten distinct, linked stories, just clicked. I’m taking that initial spark and turning it into a full narrative arc this month!

Full Posting Schedule

To keep the momentum and immerse you fully in the world, I’ll be posting new, interconnected stories several times a week. Prepare for a month of fantasy and intrigue!

The Full Posting Schedule

• Nov 2 (Sun) – Part I: The Return (Homecoming)

• Nov 4 (Tue) – Part I: The Return (The Witness and the Attack

• Nov 7 (Fri) – Part I: The Return (Salt Row Sanctuary)

• Nov 10 (Mon) – Part II: Blood Awakening (Blood Magic Awakens)

• Nov 13 (Thur) – Part II: Blood Awakening (The Collective’s Truth)

• Nov 16 (Sun) – Part II: Blood Awakening (Seduction and Politics)

• Nov 19 (Wed) – Part III: The Reckoning (The Betrayal)

• Nov 22 (Sat) – Part III: The Reckoning (The Tree of Truth)

• Nov 25 (Tue) – Part IV: New Order (New Order)

• Nov 30 (Sun) – Part IV: New Order (Blood and Belonging)

Expect Bonus Content!

And because a complex story like this generates a lot of behind-the-scenes material, expect a few extra posts sprinkled throughout the month! I’m planning maybe a character deep-dive review of one of the main players, like Detective Nicola Knight, or a post breaking down some of the unique world-building elements I’m exploring in the supernatural community. I haven’t decided the exact nature of these bonus posts yet, but they’ll give you an inside look at the cycle’s creation and world.

I’m incredibly excited to share this unique writing journey with all of you. It’s a fun way to experiment with structure and storytelling, and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing it!

Stay tuned for Part I: The Return (Homecoming), your first free taste of the cycle, on November 2nd!