My Characters

Well, it's horror. You could always kill someone

I would write it as long as the story needs to be, let it come to a conclusive ending. Then, if you feel it needs to be shorter, go back through and take out all the details that seems unnecessary.

PS, I also like the killing off the character idea

Books can be of any length. Would I like to read a Hardy Boys that's 1000 pages, no. But, a Leon Uris book is awesome and they are long. Just go where the muses take you.

Killing characters can be good as well.

Kill the MC, that will shorten it quickly.

silentwriter said:

I am writing a romantic horror novel with three characters in it. Of course there is the Protaganist. The novel is flowing along nicely however I do not want it to become too long. Therefore, how do I cut it short, get to the point, and make it an enjoyable read?

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Trim away excess, frivolous prose. Instead of, "The silver moon hung like a dilapidated and ancient coin just above the mist that wept over the moor", try, "The moon hung like a silver coin" or something to that effect.

Also, look for scenes that seem to repeat earlier themes or that don't really add anything to the story. Yes, it's nice to have little moments of character building, but try to make each scene propel the story forward, even if just a tiny bit.