Hi, I have a question/ need for advice. I am an aspiring novelist. My work never lands in the novel length range, though. I tend to fall in the 30-40k range. I know my plots and ideas can be developed into novels but I can’t seem to get there. Any advice for how to go back to a first draft and lengthen it? Thanks!
Is there a reason why you’re focusing on the word count and making it a novel? 30k-40k is the perfect word count for a novella. If you consider the story complete, why not let it stay there? Sometimes stories wrap up in a 30-40k range, and that’s perfectly fine — they don’t always need 10-20k worth of extra padding.
When it comes to lengthening a draft, I would first go through and make a list of every scene you have thus far, and see if there are any that might be missing. Is there a place where you can add in a a new one to give greater context to something else? Can you show your characters taking a break from the plot and just winding down to give your characters and the reader some room to breathe and absorb everything? Did you breeze past a potential scene in exposition that you can write out fully? Is there a moment that you wanted to showcase but didn’t have room for? Write it in anyway! Try identifying those possible extra scenes that make sense within your plot and add them in. I find it really helpful to have a physical list and just add notes and annotations where I think I could add scenes within that list.
I would also suggest going through and analyzing some of your scenes to see if you can find any places that have sparse details. Maybe you could add a little bit more imagery or internal monologue to flesh it out further. One of the things I tend to do is tell, not show. For me, changing some of that ‘telling’ into a ‘show’ can add quite a bit of length to my scenes.
Try going through your characters and their relationships to each other, especially to the main character — relationships are complex and dynamic, and are a fantastic way to add more life and length to your story. Is there anything you can add to deepen the portrayal of the relationship? Is there room for a character subplot to showcase their development?
One of the things I would really caution against is adding words for the sake of length. Readers can pick up meaningless fluff from a mile away. Make sure that everything you add is relevant, and serves a purpose for the story — whether it be for the plot, to showcase your characters, or to enrich a scene.
Good luck!
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