switching between novels and short stories?

Merricat · Apr 6, 2006

When I first started writing seriously in 8th grade, I pretty much only wrote novels (and finished two, I'm happy to say.)

Then the summer before my junior year, I went to Alpha, a teen writing workshop that focused primarily on short stories. I finished the novel I was working on and decided to spend the rest of that school year writing and submitting short stories, which I did.

Then this year, I tried to get back into novels, but something just isn't working. I can't drop short stories entirely and just work on novels, because I have a submission goal I want to reach. (Plus, I like short stories.) But I can't seem to do either one to my satisfaction if I'm trying to do both. In the past couple of months, I've almost entirely given up on the two novels I tried to start and have been concentrating solely on short stories just so I feel like I'm accomplishing something.

But I really want to start writing novels again. I really like the two I've started on, I just can't seem to make the switch from short form to long form. I can't figure out if the pacing's right, if too much or too little is happening, if my characters have sufficient arcs, if I'm doing the exposition the right way. So most of the time I'm too discouraged to work on the novels, and my energy and time goes into short stories cause I don't want to think about the problems my novels might have.

Any suggestions? Does anyone else have trouble writing both short stories and novels at the same time? Or if you write both, and don't have problems, do you think there's anything that helps you?

Simon Woodhouse · Apr 6, 2006

I'm not a prolific short story writer, but I do like doing it. I tend to revisit my short stories time and time again (I'm re-writing one at the moment), mostly because I like the characters, but also I find little bits of tweaking here and there can make the whole thing a lot better.

I concentrate far more on writing novels. The pace of it suits me, and there's a lot more room to manoeuvre as far as the characters and the plot are concerned.

I used to force myself to write a short story every two or three months, but it just didn't work. The results weren't very good, and I ended up feeling frustrated and doubting my ability. I'd much rather go back and improve something I've already written, rather than forcing myself to create something new and rubbish.

So my approach is to let these things happen as they want to. Maybe you could re-think your submission goal, or look at the novel writing as an aside to your main focus – writing short stories. You don't have to do both.

AprilBoo · Apr 6, 2006

I don't think you should be discouraged about this at all. Compelling plots and characters and good pacing don't fall onto the page intact. They take work, and it's important to know that so when you revise you know how to fix what's wrong. But don't let the knowledge that your first run-through isn't going to be perfect stop you from writing it at all. That doesn't have anything to do with which form you are writing in - whether you're writing a few thousand words or 80,000 words, you still have to get it written.

Also, and I may be reading too much into your post here, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that short stories and novels don't require the same elements. Yes, short stories are shorter, so maybe you don't have room for a subplot or 15 secondary characters, but you still have to have a plot, interesting characters, etc. Vignettes aren't stories. Something still has to happen, something has to be at stake for your characters.

Maybe you should try writing your novel idea in short story form, using your main plot and characters, and then build from there. Write another short with your subplot and secondary characters and try to fuse the two.

Vuligora · Apr 6, 2006

Personally, I am a novel writer. I can't write short stories, I have tried and failed miserably. Maybe it's a fish outa water thing. You can do both. Congrats! :Hail:

Maybe you just need to get back into it...like taking a spanish class and then next year it takes you a few weeks to remember it all.

LightShadow · Apr 6, 2006

I have always preferred writing novels and poetry, but hit the short story market real hard in the late nineties. I enjoy writing short stories, but mine wind up so long because of my methods of developing my characters.

Merricat · Apr 6, 2006

AprilBoo said:
I don't think you should be discouraged about this at all. Compelling plots and characters and good pacing don't fall onto the page intact. They take work, and it's important to know that so when you revise you know how to fix what's wrong. But don't let the knowledge that your first run-through isn't going to be perfect stop you from writing it at all.

Also, and I may be reading too much into your post here, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that short stories and novels don't require the same elements. Yes, short stories are shorter, so maybe you don't have room for a subplot or 15 secondary characters, but you still have to have a plot, interesting characters, etc. Vignettes aren't stories. Something still has to happen, something has to be at stake for your characters.

Maybe you should try writing your novel idea in short story form, using your main plot and characters, and then build from there. Write another short with your subplot and secondary characters and try to fuse the two.

A little bit of misunderstanding here, but not much.

I don't have a problem with having it not be perfect on the first try, but I feel like I've already written my two completely unworkable novels, where you look at them after the first draft and go, "nuh uh. Not even worth revising. Just not fixable." I'd like to write a novel that, even if it isn't perfect in the first draft, has the promise of eventually being something good enough to submit and sell.

But I'm so used to creating characters/conflicts/worlds that I'm only planning on using for a 4k story that I'm not sure I remember how to create things that will sustain an 80k or 90k story.

Danger Jane · Apr 6, 2006

I write both. For this reason, my WIP seems almost to be a whole lot of small, interconnected scenes. They all depend on each other to make sense and they all push the plot forward, but I write them a scene at a time and edit right after, as if each scene was separate.

So if you're having trouble moving from short story to novel format, you might consider working in smaller chunks. Go a scene at a time.

switching between novels and short stories?

Merricat

Writing Workshop Junkie

Simon Woodhouse

AprilBoo

Good to be back

Vuligora

Bring it on...

LightShadow

defender of the blahs!

Merricat

Writing Workshop Junkie

Danger Jane