How do you know which form your idea ought to take?

Lady Ice · Mar 11, 2010

How do you decide whether to turn your idea into a poem or play or novel or short story? One of mine originally started as a play but then became the base for a novel.

Do you just pick your default story-telling mode or is it a conscious choice to tell it in a certain form?

jvc · Mar 11, 2010

I had a short story I thought about turning into a script, but then decided to go the novel route. So, now the first draft has been completed and am now on the re-write and edit. It's just something that evolved from the first idea (which strangely I had whilst listening to a song) to what it is now becoming. An epic fantasy. Probably with a few sequels too.

CaroGirl · Mar 11, 2010

This has recently become easier for me. Not long ago I discovered I'm not currently able to write publishable short stories. It's buggerly difficult to write a great short story and I don't think I have those particular skillz. I've never written poetry or scripts. That leaves novels. If the idea doesn't lend itself to a novel, I don't write it.

dpaterso · Mar 11, 2010

Lady Ice said:
Do you just pick your default story-telling mode or is it a conscious choice to tell it in a certain form?

Funny, I've never really thought about the process. Sometimes as an idea evolves into a story in my head it suggests its own pacing, length and style. On other occasions I've consciously decided what I'm going to write, e.g. a 3K story for a particular Sci-Fi magazine, or a 5K Fantasy novel chapter, or a screenplay for an upcoming contest, etc. Other times, it's simply a mood thing, I just fancy writing something, so I do.

-Derek

Jamesaritchie · Mar 11, 2010

It's the one I want it to be. It's even all three, if I so choose. The difference is one of form and technique, not of the idea. Turning a short story into a novel is common, and so, of course, is turning a novel into a screenplay.

You write the one you want to write.

Lydia Sharp · Mar 11, 2010

Jamesaritchie said:
It's the one I want it to be. It's even all three, if I so choose. The difference is one of form and technique, not of the idea. Turning a short story into a novel is common, and so, of course, is turning a novel into a screenplay.

You write the one you want to write.

Ditto.

Each of the things you mentioned calls for a different approach, and this is something you should decide on before writing. Doesn't mean you can't change it later, though. But you would have to change your technique to accommodate the new venue.

It also depends on who you're writing for. You can tailor your work to specific markets and whatever guidelines they have. In fact, this is something I recommend trying at least once, if for no other reason than to see if you're up to the challenge. If you only write for you, though, it really doesn't matter what you do.

jvc · Mar 11, 2010

Yes, but you can start out writing a short story, then it just develops into a full blown novel. Actually, evolves is probably the better word for it. Just because you decide you're writing a short story, doesn't mean you can't either a) finish the story, have a complete story and sub it to mags etc, then expand it into a novel afterwards b) do away with the short story and develop the novel from the initial idea.

Lydia Sharp · Mar 11, 2010

CaroGirl said:
This has recently become easier for me. Not long ago I discovered I'm not currently able to write publishable short stories. It's buggerly difficult to write a great short story and I don't think I have those particular skillz. I've never written poetry or scripts. That leaves novels. If the idea doesn't lend itself to a novel, I don't write it.

Some may think this is a silly comment, or that you gave up too easily, but you hit the nail on the head.

Not everyone understands that a novel is NOT just a "long short story." They are two different beasts, and it's not easy to get published in short fiction. Some people equate "short length" with "easy to write." Not the case. And turning a short story into a novel also requires certain skills. It's not just, "if I'm writing it and it gets too long, I'll turn it into a novel." What? Sorry, that's not how real storytelling works.

Lydia Sharp · Mar 11, 2010

Lady Ice said:
Do you just pick your default story-telling mode or is it a conscious choice to tell it in a certain form?

Guess I should answer the original question. Haha.

I write everything from flash fiction to novels. I could take any one of my shorter works and expand them, but that essentially changes the story. Same characters, same world, even some of the same events, but the story as a whole will have to change, otherwise you're just adding unnecessary filler.

When I first started writing, I would have a general idea of what length I wanted the story to be. This sometimes changed once I got going, but not dramatically. Now I write more for specific markets, so I'm restricted to certain word counts. Rather than inhibit the story, though, I think this helps me stay focused.

C.M.C. · Mar 11, 2010

It usually seems easy to me to determine what an idea is going to be. An idea for a poem is very different than an idea for a novel.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 11, 2010

jvc said:
Yes, but you can start out writing a short story, then it just develops into a full blown novel. Actually, evolves is probably the better word for it. Just because you decide you're writing a short story, doesn't mean you can't either a) finish the story, have a complete story and sub it to mags etc, then expand it into a novel afterwards b) do away with the short story and develop the novel from the initial idea.

This should never happen unless you consciously want it to happen in the first place.

Nothing just develops. If you make a conscious choice to write a short story, it can't turn into a novel unless you really screw up. The two forms are entirely different in structure, and by page two, it's either a short story to stay, or you didn't want to write a short story in the first place.

And idea that isn't a surprise/gimmick ending can be told as a short story, and as a novel, but neither can happen accidentally, or develop/change without one to the other after page one.

shaldna · Mar 12, 2010

I wrote two scripts in my life. One became a short film which was super exciting, and the other became a play that my company performed (that was also the same season I directed Macbeth, so it was a crazy year for me)

Shortly after that, and for personal reasons (bloody men) I left the company, stopped acting and lost all desire to write scripts.

I always liked books, and I started writing YA and loved it. It;s only been in recent months that I have started to think about writing some adult work.

I'd love to write a book of poetry, but I have too much respect for poets, and if I can't write like RobertFrost then I'm not gonna humiliate myself.

Kateness · Mar 12, 2010

In my case, and this may be because I'm an amateur, it takes whichever form I'm most competent to attack it with:

I come up with an idea and I decide to take it on as a novel.

-I'm not brief enough for short stories
-I'm ignorant of formatting of screenplays/scripts/etc

The Lonely One · Mar 12, 2010

Poetry allows me full play of words, shorts are my usual vehicle for character-driven narratives, and novels are those stories that feel epic, worlds I want to get lost in and usually do.

chocowrites · Mar 12, 2010

For me poetry is the words and emotion I have to get down RIGHT NOW, and it's completely uninhibited.

Short stories are a little like that too, but I'm not very good with shorts.

I've never written a play but am just about to attempt one, and I'm actually using one of my old novel ideas for the premise.

I'm sure I'm not being of much help, but I just kind of know. Longer-reaching ideas are definitely for novels/screenplays. Bursts of words and emotion are poetry. And ideas where the plot doesn't stretch very far in my mind are shorts

kaitie · Mar 16, 2010

Well, I wouldn't write poetry anyway.

I'm ridiculously terrible at it (probably something to do with my symbolism issues haha).

I used to attempt short stories, but never much enjoyed them, and anything that started short was going to be a novel by the time I finished it anyway, so I just switched over to only writing novels. The only time I've ever done short stories is when I was required to for a class, and even then half the time they were sections of novels instead. I've never had to really put much thought into it.

Stijn Hommes · Mar 17, 2010

Poetry is about wordplay and emotions, flash fiction tell a story with little words and often with a twist ending, short stories are similar but have a little more leeway when it comes to the ending or to subplots, Novels tell a big story, several subplots.

All of them are different, and I usually have an idea what it is before I start writing. Maybe the fact I like short concise stories make me drift to shorts more often, but if I come up with a story with several sidelines and subplots, I know I have a novel.

How do you know which form your idea ought to take?

Lady Ice

Makes useful distinctions

jvc

Fearsome Dragon Mod

CaroGirl

Living the dream

dpaterso

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Jamesaritchie

Lydia Sharp

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jvc

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Lydia Sharp

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Lydia Sharp

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C.M.C.

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Jamesaritchie

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Kateness

The Lonely One

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chocowrites

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kaitie

With great power comes

Stijn Hommes

Know what you write...