So in general, I recommend that if you have a piece of writing that's too long, you first look at content and decide if there are specific scenes, events, or topics you could take out. Only once you've made these larger changes should you start tinkering in quest of more concise sentence structure.
However. Just about any time I've made substantial cuts, I begin by doing line-by-line trimming. It gets me into the mindset of deciding what's less important to keep. It also requires me to read closely, so I refresh my memory of what exactly is in the story/essay, which helps me decide what needs to be in it. And sometimes, word-trimming alone can take me pretty far.
In practice, it's usually an initial word-trimming close read, then a content-cutting pass, then a final read-through to make sure everything flows okay in the shorter version.
Hi! I tend to think of simple concepts that I suddenly get super excited about making a whole novel, but then when I sit down to try to write them, I realize I don't actually have that much to go on. I'm very capable of making one shots and shorter stories, but suddenly getting an idea for a long story and then realizing that all I have are very disconnected scenes that have a lot of time between them is kind of discouraging. Any help on how to pursue longer prose without getting smacked in the face by all the work left to do? Or maybe a good method to expand from those important scenes? (This is about fanfic if it helps narrow it down) thanks in advance!
Hi anon!
I know that everyone goes about writing differently but I know that if I start writing a concept too fast it will stay simple and small. That's fine if your aim is to write a short story/one shot because you don't want your story to get too complicated there.
So the first step that I'd advise you to take is to not write the idea yet. Let it marinate in your head, daydream up some more details about it, throw some tropes/plot twists at it and see if they stick. The longer you keep it trapped in your own mind, the better the chance you have of it developing some complications of its own.
While you're steeping the idea consider some of these things:
What is your character's main flaw?
Resolving a character's flaw means putting them in situations where they have to come to grips with the fact that the flaw exists and then they have to work to redeem it. If someone is too kind then you've got a subplot of them being pushed around until they reach a point of unhappiness at being used and decide to stand up for themselves. They can overreact while standing up for themselves and cause a problem that needs resolving and then have to apologize and find a balance of kind vs. self-interest. This is wholly separate from their main goal except that this flaw complicates the character achieving their main goal.
What is their main goal?
This is the thing that drives your plot. After you introduce the status quo, something will happen that will bring together your character and their goal. If it's romance it's usually that first moment when the two characters meet and/or the moment when they hate one another and/or something along those lines. This propels them forward into the plot and the ultimate goal of smooching in the rain.
What is going to keep them from achieving their goal?
I like to think of plot as the things your character has no control over. A late bus. A thunderstorm. Judy from accounting flirting with your crush right in front of you. Etc. Take some time to think of things that would happen in the setting of your story that would hinder your protagonist from their personal growth and/or achieving their goal.
ADD SIDE CHARACTERS AND GIVE THEM PERSONALITIES.
As soon as you add a character to your story, and you give them a proper, fleshed out personality, you are adding another entire story into your fic. Suddenly Friend A who existed only to encourage/discourage/quip on cue has opinions and value that adds emotion and depth to your story. If you don't want to write from their POV, spend some time imagining your scenes/story from their POV and let them develop the same as you develop your protag.
Mostly, don't expect to go immediately from writing one-shots and short stories to writing novel length in one go. If your average is 5k then aim for 10. if your average is 10 then aim for 20. Start by doubling your average (at most) word count because learning to develop and manage a long story/multiple characters/many story lines requires patience and practice.
Good luck, Anon! (Let me know if I can help with anything else).
Listen. I may not be the best with words but if you let me write you small novella length replies I’ll love you. I like. Giving thoughts. Context. Feelings. Let me pour Crowley’s soul out for you even if he won’t say it.
Hi Grandma! Do you have any advice about writing multichaptered things? I want to do better at pacing, and having a solid story throughout.
Hi argoslight!
Oh my goodness, do I have advice about writing multi-chaptered things. Through trial and error, I have discovered that probably my favorite type of writing is large-cast, long-form writing (think serial more than multi-chaptered, because my stories have a habit of not knowing when to end).
There are a few methods to help grow your story and a few things that you should consider before you pick the method you like.
Onto the advice!
First I would be remiss if I didn't clarify that I am, at heart, a character-first writer. I have the personal opinion that the plot should only ever be the things that happen in your story that are beyond the control of the character. So your inciting incident is something that happens TO your character, but your plot should not dictate how your character has to respond to it. Your characterization does that.
(I'm also a pantser.)
A small list of things to consider:
Is this a single POV story? Or are you alternating between different character POVs? Single POVs mean you have to do somewhat less intensive characterization for others but it also means that your MC has to carry the entire story on their shoulders. Multiple POVs take more work because you have to develop more characters fully and you have to manage two or more characters through your plot. But Multiple POVs will definitely make your story longer.
Is your plot/story streamline? Is it a single series of events toward a goal at the end? That is a great place to start but you are more likely to find yourself struggling with pacing and stuffing in more filler because there are less things happening. It's a good idea to let your story be a little mess, throw in a few subplots and character arcs.
How many characters are in your story? You need just enough to keep your story steady and not so many someone goes to the bathroom in chapter 3 and is never heard from again. If you have two few your story feels stifled and stagnant and if you have too many your story feels hectic and out of control. Most of the time, you will feel this while you're writing but do not despair just add/subtract as necessary. And remember it is perfectly okay to stick in a cardboard cutout character and develop them as you go along because first draft is just you getting to know your story.
How many obstacles do your characters have to overcome? This will translate into character arcs/story arcs. If your characters have to overcome a personal issue that's a whole story arc. But while that's happening they also have to figure out how to break into this bank vault. These won't be resolved simultaneously.
So aim to have a character with various flaws/goals that will allow content to explore in your novel/long story. Something like this:
Billy is arrogant and borderline unlikeable. He has a difficult relationship with his StepMother who is a perfectly lovely woman but expects him to pull his share and doesn't care about his superiority complex. Billy has a younger brother named Max who is just a naturally easy going kid and therefore gathers a lot of love and affection from people. Billy blames Max for everyone being exasperated being around him. Billy just wants to get out of his house/this city/this life and finally find people that see him as he really is: a wonderful, intelligent, amazing guy. (You can make Billy's arrogance and unlikeable nature be from a deep self-hatred or he can just have an arrogance problem. Either way.)
(Please note: it is absolutely ok to make your main character a hateful, bad person who the audience wants to put in a trash compactor. Just balance him out with people they want to root for, like Max.)
Then make your MAIN plot something like this:
Establish the regular routine by having the morning start out with Billy being a shit to his brother over breakfast and retiring to his room where he throws a tantrum because his step-mom has come in and picked the place up. Oh my god she's so dumb she doesn't even know that he had those things on his desk for a reason oh my god he's so smart.
Billy is sent to take Max to buy milk from the store and/or something routine. Billy is such an asshole about it. Max apologizes, says it wasn't his idea, Billy is like: anyway go die.
On the way to the store, they get into an accident. Billy gets hit on the head, stumbles out of the car in a fog, wanders off into a nearby forest, walks for a few days and emerges in a different area entirely with no idea who he is. Max can die or not it's up to you.
Billy can have amnesia or not. If he thinks Max has died, he can just pretend he has amnesia, go about the whole charade of it, being unlikeable and getting people's help and meeting new people/being put into new situations. He will inevitably meet up against a force that he cannot bully and this person will be the one that kind of triggers his reform by being entirely unimpressed with him. Now he's out in the world alone, nobody to clean his room and put up with his attitude, he starts to discover how cold and ugly the world is.
of course he also thinks his brother is dead. But meanwhile, he's stuck trying to keep a job because he's a shit, living with someone who honestly doesn't have the time of day for him.
A rock bottom is hit. The uplifting curve of self-betterment occurs.
But you have to go back around to the very first plot which is: did Max die or not? Can Billy love his family and be loved by them? Can he improve? Can he love himself? Can he forgive himself and be forgiven by the people he betrayed.
The ending is ultimately up to you, he goes back to see his family and either he interacts with them and they accept him or he sees them from a distance looking happy and he leaves because he can't disrupt them.
Some subplots you can throw in:
A nurse from the hospital/whatever that helps Billy but doesn't think he really has amnesia. This can be an ongoing thing, him coming back for check-ups and her obvious disbelief driving his internal anxiety about being discovered vs. his desire to be free. It can end with her calling him selfish or with her just being like: you obviously have reasons for what you've done.
Billy vs. Gainful employment can be a constant ongoing thing that can also be used to show his inability to address his own failures. It would be a great mechanism to show his progress toward bettering himself, at first he can't even keep a job at McDonalds, but by the end he's working as a janitor (which is a job he would feel was beneath him) and he finds that he is not above it.
Billy vs. his roommate. You can make this your other sympathetic character, someone who is kind naturally and who starts out with Billy being sympathetic to him and helping him out but gets to a point where he's like: you're a jerk Billy and I'm not buying you anymore groceries. This would then work back around to Billy realizing where he'd gone wrong and that he was a jerk and working to get roommate to forgive him
The bad friend. To counteract the sweetness of roommate, give Billy a bad influence friend who is also an arrogant shit and the pair of them are always smarter and better than anyone while they struggle to keep a job. Eventually, Billy outgrows friend and/or there is a line that friend crosses that disgusts Billy.
Writing longer stories means writing more story. The best way to do that is to give your readers story arcs and subplots that rely on character growth that help tie each major point in your overall plot together. We NEED Billy to be an asshole at the start for plot reasons and we NEED him to come back at the end and apologize, but if we make the in-between less of a straight line toward redemption and more of a 10 hour hike over rugged, mountainous terrain we have more story.
Obviously, this is not an action adventure story that's being developed here. Certainly not anything in a mystery, but hopefully the examples are understandable?
If you have follow up or more specific questions I'd love to help! Thank you for the question.
Hi! Is there a good way to make my writing longer, and secondary question, should I? I hear people talking about how long their writing is, and I'm often struggling to break 3,000 words. I generally feel like my writing is "complete" since my style is generally pretty direct, but I feel like it should be longer so that I can keep up and write like other people. Any advice?
Hello anon!
Ah, yes. The ancient question of long vs. short. Let's take your questions in order that they are given.
Is there a good way to make your writing longer?
Yes, there are many ways. One of those will work for you, it's just a matter of trying them out.
Should you make your writing longer?
This is the more important question that needs addressing. Some stories are best served by being short and some stories are best served by being long. If you try to force a short story to be long, it will drag, develop nonsense plot diversions and eventually collapse on itself in a pile of absurdity and melodrama. If you try to force a long story into a small space it will come across rushed, confusing and unsatisfying to the reader. More words does not equal more worth. If you read over your writing and you feel the story is complete and you are pleased with it, you don't need to make it longer just because other stories are longer and the writing community has a preoccupation with word counts. However, if you want to develop the skill of writing longer stories, then there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a try.
Any advice?
Yes friend, I've got some advice.
You may have seen my other advice about how to expand a story to make it longer and it probably always includes the phrase "longer story means more story". It will also probably tell you that you need to add more characters and relationships.
However, if you are just starting out and trying to make your writing a bit longer, I would suggest breaking it into smaller, manageable chunks. For example if your plotline is:
"Josie wakes up late, misses the bus, calls a cab, spills coffee on her dress and gets fired by the boss she's been having an affair with (in front of his wife)"
That doesn't necessarily need to be a long story. You could easily tell this story in 1 to 2k and it would be complete. So, write it out exactly as it is: you're Josie or you're the 3rd person narrator following Josie around beginning to end. You are concentrated on getting to work and you are ultimately fired. Sad days for you.
Then, rewrite it, but this time you're the boss.
Then, rewrite it again, but this time you're the wife.
Then, rewrite it again, but this time you're Josie's best friend who replaces the cab driver and becomes her ride to work.
Then, looking at all the new details that you've uncovered by writing the story from these many varied POVs, rewrite the whole story taking all the new details into account.
Now your plot is:
Josie wakes up late because she was out late the night before consoling her friend over a bad romantic choice, commiserating about how she really needs to break it off with her boss. She misses the bus that she has to take because her car was totaled three weeks ago on her way home from a sexual meet-up with her boss. He was a little too invested in helping her, so the office got suspicious about it and one of the secretaries that works there is BFF with the boss' wife. She shares her suspicions which are, unbeknownst to Josie, being aired out in front of the whole office. Boss insists that it's all lies and wife says if its all lies then fire Josie because she's not a very good worker (this is true) and she's always late (this is also true) so the only reason Boss is keeping her on is because of sex. Josie arrives after a very long ride with the bff who is also hungover. She spilled coffee on her dress because friend almost hit a pedestrian and Josie is sure she's going to get fired (and maybe she even wants to be, she feels trapped). So she finally gets to work and she arrives to a crime scene (more or less) where she is publicly fired by Boss while his furious wife stands next to him.
Josie excepts the news as well as anyone can by informing Wife that Boss is a terrible lay and advising her to get a divorce. IF she wants one, Josie will testify to the affair. RESPECT (ironically) plays as Josie exits to go get drunk with BFF.
By rewriting the story from the different POVs, you are forcing your brain and your story to look at these side characters and background events as relevant and important. They become more than cardboard cutouts delivering lines. You will think up things about them to fill up details and make their story interesting.
Then, when you put it all back together into one story, you are practicing how to make choices about how much is relevant to what your story is about and how much is not.
Once you've practiced doing it the long way, rewriting from different POVs, you can try to write it out without that step, see if you're able to mentally juggle and create the different aspects of the story. If you succeed, you do it again but try to make the story more complicated by making the plot a little longer.
Also, try to keep your goals reasonable. If you're basing this on word count don't try to add more than half the original word count at a time. IF you start out with 3k, then aim for 4.5 or 5k. If you start out at 10k, set your goals on 12 to 15k.
More important than word count is learning how to expand your cast, plot and settings. And then how to manage those expanded aspects.
But also, if you try this and you hate it, and you get stressed out and hate long-form fiction, short stories are equal to any novel. Good writing is about picking the style and format that best tells the story that you want to tell.
The first time I had to, I sweated, grumbled, and snarled. Afterwards I got to work.
Before I knew it, I had a lot of backstory which fleshed out a lot of the characters. My protagonist seized control of several key scenes, standing up to the obstacles in her way with a determination that took my breath away. I ended up with a far happier ending than originally.
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