18,000 words - need more

A difficult one. I'd say read through it in one go if you can and make notes along the way. Look at what might be lacking. Does it have a big enough plot to turn it into a novel? By the sounds of it, you've got a long story - or maybe a novella if you prefer - and the ambition to write a novel which is obviously a good start.

You'll probably have to start completely over and see if you have enough story to turn it into a novel.

Adding Characters; Detailed Outlines -- Two ideas that work for me.

Cindyh2k said:

I have a manuscript that is between 18,000 and 19,000 words - I want to turn it into novel length. What would you suggest I do?

Use this as an outline? Start the entire story over and see where it goes?

I don't know where to go from this point - any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Cindy

Click to expand...

I'm in a similar situation, Cindy. I have a 73,000 word manuscript that I wanted to lengthen. I found by focusing more story on one of the characters, which I did not focus a lot of attention on in the first place, I was able to get more of a word count.

Another thing you could do, is write out a couple outlines. This is another thing I did with the WIP I'm working on right now, and it has worked wonders for my piece.

The two outlines basically work like this:

Outline 1 is a basic outline where I write down the necessary scenes for each chapter. This gives me something to work with when I'm doing Outline 2.

Outline 2 is a massive, play-by-play outline based on Outline 1. With it, I write out every detail in concise format that gives me an idea how long my work can really be. With my present work, my second outline was actually 255 pages long, and written out in draft format. The First Draft is already showing signs of surpassing that amount.

You might be able to use either one or both of these ideas, but the point is to get the word count you want, you shouldn't try adding descriptives or anything too wordy; rather in my own limited experience I've found adding characters and working on more detailed outlines seems to help me make my work what I want it to be.


Just know that whatever you get to work for you, will be right. I wish you the best of success getting your piece to the length you want it to be, and I hope you have a wonderful Sunday today.

I also have this problem! My novel is about 58,000 and I need it to be about 80,000! So, upon reading certain things I ask myself, could this be explained better if there is another scene? Or why did this happen, who was also affected by it? Could there be another conflict?

Good luck!!

18,000 is short -- do you really think it has enough for a novel?

It's easier to go from 58,000 to 80,000. But do you really need to?

You know what they say... it's not the length that matters...

That's a lot of words to add but it's possible. You'll probably need to add a couple of sub-plots which may require more characters but sub-plots (as long as they make sense and don't appear to be there just to make the story longer!) go a long way to lengthening a story into a novel.

Never underestimate the power of a good subplot. Or several.

Novels have more than just a single story weaving through the pages. There is the main plot of course, but at least one (probably more) subplot.

I'll deconstruct a novel a read last month to give you a better idea.

Main plot: A vampire (hero) and werewolf (heroine) are enlisted by police to solve the violent murders have six vampires, where werewolf DNA was left behind.

If the author had just written that book, it probably would have been short and simple. Nowhere near the 400 pages I read.

Sub-Plot 1: Vamps and wolves are trying to negoiate a truce, because both sides feel threatened by humans. Our hero is sleeping with one of the vamp negotiators. Our heroine is granddaughter of the leader of the wolves. Complications ensue.

Sub-Plot 2: Hero and heroine are attracted to each other, a huge no-no to their cultures. She risks banishment by being with him.

Sub-plot 3: Another wolf in her pack is threatening to challenge her grandmother as leader. He doesn't think that Grams can safely lead the pack any longer.

All of these subplots tie in to the main investigative plot, but they add meat to the story. Layers, characters, events, and twists that make it a solid, long novel.

And the novel is "A Taste of Crimson" by Marjorie M. Liu.


ETA: we posted at the same time, Kristie. Great minds...

Given the length is pretty short, I'd suggest starting from scratch. If you try to revise, you may find that you're trying to add to the page count rather than solve the story problems that caused the short page count in the first place. My first book ran way too short (a little longer than yours) because I was struggling with the concept of subplotting (I had come from short story writing). When I tried to make it longer, I ended up padding it with fluff rather than adding a few much needed subplots. It's very easy to do, especially if you start getting frustrated and aren't finding a solution to make the story longer. Starting from scratch would at least clear out any preconceptions or trying to save parts of the story that might be the cause of the problem.

Add more plot.

Consider that you may not have a novel-length idea.

I was just reading The Secret Life of Bees and the author mentions in the beginning that the novel started off as a short story. It was published in Nimrod, and that evolved into the first chapter, which evolved into the novel. I think a lot of writers start off with a story as the kernel of their novel. You might want to look at that book and see how she expanded it out. It can be done!

I'd scan through your general storyline and see where I could insert more events and scenes to the mix, or maybe elaborate on areas that were neglected during the first draft.

If all else fails and you simply have to dive in and rewrite the book significantly, maybe you could go as far as to introduce new characters. Through them you could craft new stories and stretch the plot out significantly.

Another idea I'd suggest is maybe showing how the plot develops from a new perspective - though a different character. This would be a great device to use for unlocking parts of the story that were previously hidden by the restricted viewpoint of a main character. It was effectively used in Eldest by Christopher Paolini (sequel to Eragon), when he switched between the main and his brother and another important leader, who all eventually meet by the end of the book.

I wouldn't reccomend starting from scratch. There's no sense in abandoning all that work and effectively doing it all again with a few changes - editing and improving is time better spent than drafting new material.

I struggled with a similar problem a while back. What I did, was look at the characters. They had more of a story to tell, in fact I got an idea for another plot altogether (continuing from the first) and now I'm writing a "second" novel. Eventually, I'll probably tie the stories together to make one novel, but the idea is to look at the characters and what stories they have.

Can you start your novel sooner? How did your characters arrive where they are at the beginning of your manuscript? Is there more story there?

Sub-plots and parallel stories can also help.

If all else fails you can add 60,000 adjectives and adverbs. No, just kidding, don't do that.

It is a difficult thing to expand an existing story. It should be an organic thing, and often adding to it can feel like filler. Just listen to your characters and the story they want to tell. They should be the ones who let you know if they have more to say. If not, polish it up and move on to another story.

Echo Lotheus. There are instances of short stories being the seeds for novels, but successfully done, I'd say it's a rare thing. One that comes to mind is Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, (which was made into the movie idiotically retitled Charly, for which Cliff Robertson won an Oscar). It originally was a short story that won the big SF awards, and Keyes later expanded it to novel length. I've read both. The original short is better; the novel seems fluffy to me.

caw