Novel worthy ideas

The same idea could be a novel or a short story. It depends on how much you flesh it out with character depth, subplots, or making the main plot a bit more convoluted. Same as what JCornelius said, really.

If your novel looks like it's going to end around 50,000 words but you were aiming for 70,000 words, then adding in any of the above will make it longer. Obviously you have to do this carefully, to maintain continuity and also a coherent plot structure. Some writers prefer to outline first to get all this stuff right from the beginning. Others (like me) will plan the story while writing it, and go back and make major edits if need be. And then there are writers who will mix and match these methods. Whatever works for you.

It's misleading to focus on whether ideas are good enough. It's what you do with the ideas and how you write it that makes it a novel or short story (or anything else in between).

I've had so many ideas that seemed like good ideas for novels but when I began outlining them, the stories didn't really merit a full novel. There are so many factors that go into a successful novel for me:

1) Is the plot unique but also commercially viable?
2) Does it have a solid structure (i.e. do scenes lead into one another naturally that propel the plot forward) and is entertaining throughout?
3) Are the characters likable? Enough for me to want to spend a year+ writing them?

I'm sure other writers have these prerequisites but surprisingly, many ideas don't meet all three. I still revisit old ideas from time to time and test them out, hoping they will pass the test.

lizmonster said:

It takes me about a year to write a book, so I need to be interested enough in the characters to spend that much time with them.

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I agree, but would expand it to: "I need to be [passionate] enough in [something about the story] to spend that much time with [the story]."

For you its characters. For someone else it might be the setting or the plot or the theme, or anything else - including the money you might make from selling the story! (Good luck with that!!!)

celticroots said:

How do you know which ideas are novel worthy ideas or which are dead ends? Does it depend how much time you plan or think about your story? Outline it? I like to think a lot about my story/outline before I begin. The longest thing I've written thus far is 50,000 words.

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I outline to see if there is enough there to make a compelling story that is novel length.

Maybe this is weird with me being a guy, but I'm MUCH less interested in action than I am character development. I look at the arc of my MC (and other major characters) as I consider my outline. What phases does he go through, revelations, traumas etc.

About 3 years ago I had an idea for a story about a dying man riding his motorcycle from California to Maine. During the ride he would go through all the changes, decisions, and issues he's had during his life. In outline I decided there wasn't enough there, the MC was essentially the same as he was when he started out. However, in the mean time I've thought more about it, and had some fresh ideas, so I may write that story later.

indianroads said:

I'm MUCH less interested in action than I am character development.

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Totally agree, as a reader and a writer. If I don't like the main character, or as least find them interesting, I don't care what they do. I'm not going to spend my time making a story around them.

But we're not every writer. Some writers focus on the actions first and then discover the character(s) who do them. There's no one right way to make a story. As long as they end up with compelling characters I'll read their books.

indianroads said:

I outline to see if there is enough there to make a compelling story that is novel length.

Maybe this is weird with me being a guy, but I'm MUCH less interested in action than I am character development. I look at the arc of my MC (and other major characters) as I consider my outline. What phases does he go through, revelations, traumas etc.

About 3 years ago I had an idea for a story about a dying man riding his motorcycle from California to Maine. During the ride he would go through all the changes, decisions, and issues he's had during his life. In outline I decided there wasn't enough there, the MC was essentially the same as he was when he started out. However, in the mean time I've thought more about it, and had some fresh ideas, so I may write that story later.

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Robert McCammon's surreal Americana novel Gone South has a very similar premise, and I recommend it heartily.

Likewise Robert Silverberg's impeccable road trip novel Book of Skulls, about four students on a quest for eternal life.

No third Robert that I can think of

My outlining is pretty basic. By the time I get to outlining, I have the general story idea in my head, so I'll write chapter titles (just one word) to keep a good pace and know where I'm heading. Those can change as I write (combining two chapters, adding something else in, etc.), but I do have an end goal right before my eyes. And every chapter I finish is one chapter I can scratch off the list of those needing completion.

If you're a completionist, I'd recommend this method. Helps give that goal in a step by step way instead of looking at the novel as a gigantic chunk. Baby steps lead to completion.

celticroots said:

How do you know which ideas are novel worthy ideas or which are dead ends? Does it depend how much time you plan or think about your story? Outline it? I like to think a lot about my story/outline before I begin. The longest thing I've written thus far is 50,000 words.

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The difference between novels and short stories is the number of characters usually, although there are a few exceptions. Most novels feature characters in the double count while short stories have characters in the single count. Sounds overly simple, but when you think about it, it's very true. If your idea would involve several characters and viewpoints, obviously it's a novel. If it's a rather small problem where few characters are needed, it's a short story or maybe a novella. That's my rule anyway.

celticroots said:

How do you know which ideas are novel worthy ideas or which are dead ends? Does it depend how much time you plan or think about your story? Outline it? I like to think a lot about my story/outline before I begin. The longest thing I've written thus far is 50,000 words.

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You pull each thread that comes to you, and hope you snag the long ones. Each journey is different, depending not only on the writer but the path that writer takes on any particular thread. Outline, no outline. Writing from start to finish or writing out of order. Each thread is different. With each one you have to decide whether to keep on pulling or drop it and yank another one free from the tangle.

KTC said:

You pull each thread that comes to you, and hope you snag the long ones... With each one you have to decide whether to keep on pulling or drop it and yank another one free from the tangle. .

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Oh, that's a good way of putting it.

I just don't think that hard. I write what I'd like to read. That makes it worthy enough.

JCornelius said:

Because let's face it, any of Stephen King's novels could have been a short story or a novella, and any of his short stories and novellas could have been made into 500 000 word tomes, if he had so decided. He can take any idea and bloat it, or compress it, or elongate it, or make a balloon animal out of it. Because it's more a question of writerly skill than any inherent quality of the idea itself.

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Doesn't Stephen King say something in On Writing about having so many ideas that he vets them by not writing them down and waiting to see which ones stick with him?

I try to hold an idea to its original form in essence, I don't change the weight or flow of it, I draw from it and connect to it, if it's a worthwhile pursuit it will continue gnawing away and pulling me in. I get plenty of ideas, I file them away, I probably have a lot of them explored pretty well even though I haven't started work on them yet. I kind of incorporate pieces into whatever I'm working on with the dim knowledge that they have strayed in because they're pi**ed off that I work like a snail.

Wesley_S_Lewis said:

Doesn't Stephen King say something in On Writing about having so many ideas that he vets them by not writing them down and waiting to see which ones stick with him?

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Trust your subconscious. It will keep raising up the good stuff, while letting everything else fade away.

All novel ideas are worthy, some aren't just suppose to be written by you. They are supposed to be writen by someone else and someday that idea-the same one you had-will pop into their mind and they will write a story. Sometimes people just aren't meant to write certain things and to say some ideas aren't worthy of be written. Are they worthy of being published? Are they worthy of becoming famous? Maybe or maybe not, but every idea is a worthy idea.

A worthy character is forming in my mind. The worthy story will soon appear. I'm sure of it.