Recently, I've been using more of my poetic muscles, but I used to write fiction with a passion. Even graduated from the University of Cincinnati with two writing certificates: one in professional & technical writing; the other in fiction. And I won some undergrad prize money for two stories written back in the day. But with work, I just seem to have trouble stringing together 20 pages anymore for a first draft, let alone revision.So my questions are: Who writes short stories out there? And, how are you making the time (finding the focus) to write and revise?

Focus?  Ritalin!

I just find little bits of time to write and sneak a bit of a scene into a notebook.  After a while I've got a bunch of stuff somewhat related to the same story and I transcribe it all, trying to have it make sense.  Then it's off to the long dark edit of the soul.    You have to have a plot to hang your bits on for this approach, however, so it's sort of the opposite of Mitchell's idea of "write it and the plot will come."

Maybe this isn't the best approach because I attract rejection letters like a magnet, but it does give me a reason to sit down for a few hours and concentrate on writing. 

Hope this helps.

Peace

Patrick Lewis.

I enjoy writing short stories as much as reading others.  Up until this year, I kept coming up with ideas, but put the actual writing off because I didn't think I had the time. Now, I write for an hour or so in the morning after my daughters go to school. Then get all the errands done for the day. On Saturdays, I write before they get up and skip Sundays. I think my biggest problem is impatience with my own writing. I want to have something ready to send out, but I won't send it out until I've made sure every sentence flows and "was" is removed as much as possible. It's not always easy to keep my impatience under check.

When I don't take it too seriously and start out thinking about markets right away (imagine a rueful expression here!), writing short stories can be a wonderful way to decompress.  I like best to write science fiction, and sometimes fantasy.

The nice things about short stories is that you can get clever, and enjoy the most exciting or weird or decisive moments in a character's life.  Also, unlike a novel, you don't need to invent a huge background, or devote hundreds of hours.  (Novels, of course, are fun in a whole different way -- but not usually a short, fun project to help one decompress.)  

To find time to write, I would suggest you take the pressure off yourself to produce something good, and just try to enjoy the process.  (This may not work for everyone, but it seems to help me.)

William Sydney Porter, aka O Henry was one of the most protigious short story writers in American history often churning out one a week. In his career he penned over 1100 published pieces. Asked over lunch by an interviewer in New York City, where he got his material, he picked up the menu and said " there's a story right in this menu". He saw a story in everything and was the king of the surprise twisted ending. I highly reccommend studying his style for insights into the short story.