What I find especially entertaining are short stories and novellettes. I feel that this form is greatly underappreciated. The characters and plot need to have the same scope and detail to keep you interested and involved, but have to be done in a much shorter version (usually between 3,000 and 5,000 words for a short story. Each word is chosen for a specific purpose. This is a difficult form to master.
A great way to find new and different writers is to pick up a literary magazine. You can find these in any local bookstore's magazine section. You can pick up a copy or even subscribe to a magazine in your favorite genre (such as: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, General Fiction, and Poetry). My personal favorite is Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, which published many of Steven King's stories while he was a struggling author. There are also many good online publications of short stories. So, to broaden your experiences....just browse the internet or your favorite bookstore.
