Do any other GA authors use short stories to expand a 1st person narrative?

[W_L]

I'm just wondering because I know this is not common among authors. I have a core narrative with a beginning and an ending, but to get there, I can't explore everything inside a novel as it wouldn't make any sense from a 1st person standpoint. Thus, I borrowed the technique of writing short stories to expand the story outside my main character's perception. 

Especially, when doing world-building, it's a lot easier to have short stories cover things that appear in your main story.

[Libby Drew]

James Patterson writes his Alex Cross novels by alternating first and third person. Alex's POV is always in first person. Some chapters, however, are written in third person POV. His antagonists, for example, often have their own chapters, and these are always written in third person limited. It took some getting used to (at least for me), but I'm accustomed to it now and even anticipate it. 

I like the idea of writing short stories or vignettes to accompany a longer narrative. Do you intersperse them in the main body of work or post them separately?

[W_L]

I keep them separate on GA, but if I ever republish them, I'll probably incorporate them like Manga/Light Novel chapter interludes, if you are familiar with that form of writing style.

For important short stories, I add notes at the beginning of chapter with links to the short story to act as reference material.

Edited February 29 by W_L

[Ron]

14 minutes ago, W_L said:

I'l probably incorporate them like Manga/Light Novel chapter interludes

I've seen what some call interludes in stories before and I didn't have a problem with them at all. Especially because the author stated that they were an interlude. So, why not just say what they are and let your readers go along for the ride?

Interlude: John

Interlude: Manny

For example.

Edited February 29 by Ron

[W_L]

31 minutes ago, Ron said:

I've seen what some call interludes in stories before and I didn't have a problem with them at all. Especially because the author stated that they were an interlude. So, why not just say what they are and let your readers go along for the ride?

Interlude: John

Interlude: Manny

For example.

Manga/Light Novel interludes are related/unrelated short stories within a main narrative.

For example, if a story is about someone cooking food and bringing goods from Earth to a fantasy world, then an interlude could be about some dwarves chasing after a mysterious phantom liquor stall that turns out to be a side hobby of the main characters ( "cough" Campfire cooking in another world "cough" ). Does it affect the main story? Yes and no, the MC meets a lot of dwarves and the species loves him due to his booze, but it doesn't change how plots work overall, just gives you more depth. It's better than filler in Anime since it does affect character interactions in later chapters.

I don't want folks to be forced into reading things, especially if a story is going to be quite long in itself. That's why I split my story into the main novel and short stories.