Gah. I think that my latest short story idea may actually be a novel. No matter how I twist and turn and try to compress I can’t make it fit into a short story format without spending pages telling about backstory. I can’t fill a story with all that telling. Not when taking the time to show would make it all so much more compelling.
But I’m not ready to do a novel. I’m not supposed to be doing novels yet. I have too many other things in my life to give space to a novel. … but I think this story is a novel and it won’t leave me alone. I’ve never written a novel before. I don’t count the ones that I started and never finished when I was in my teens. They were more pretending-on-paper than true novel writing.
I’ve got outlines done for plot and for character arcs. Scenes are starting to form in my head. But the very size of it is daunting. To finish a novel will require so much effort and it will be spread out over a long period of time because I have priorities that come before writing. I’ll probably start with the scenes that are ready to go. Maybe when they’re done some of the inbetween scenes will come to me. That’s the way my friend Janci writes and she’s written five novels so far. I’ve no idea how long this thing will be or how saleable it will be. It may only be a novella. But I have to give it the space it needs to be whatever it will be.
But…but…I was going to write short stories. They were small and nice. I could finish them and move on inside a month. I’ll still write some of them. A novel is so big that it will require breaks.
Sigh. I’m supposed to be refocusing on family and schedule right now. I’m supposed to be planning a family reunion.
When a book wants, needs to be written…it finds a way to get written. This story wants you to write it. I’ve heard from other writers that once a story gets started that it lets the author work on other things, as long as he or she comes back to it regularly and writes it.
Give in to the muse. It’s kind of like the Spirit-if you deny it too much, it leaves and it’s hard to get back. I’ve lost my passion because of that, unfortunately, because I have stories to tell, I just can’t myself to sit down and write them.
Irritating when the ideas just don’t behave, isn’t it?
I can’t seem to write anything that doesn’t turn into a novel. And I don’t have the time or patience to write a novel. So I get nothing written.
Why aren’t you supposed to do novels yet? Short stories don’t have to come first. The only way you’ll learn to write a novel is by writing a novel.
I think it is because of the family and scheduling and the like.
Meaning…more time for family instead of writing.
Stryal has it right. I fully intended to get around to writing a novel. I just planned to get there in a couple more years when the kids were all in school and after we had a couple more Schlock books out there to support us.
Write the scenes that stand out in your mind. The moments you just can’t get out of your head. Outline the story plots and characters. Then this story can be put on hold when life gets busy. These notes will bring back memories of the project (even months or years later) and you can pick up where you left off. Good luck on this project…it sound like fun!
I wish that I could write short stories, it would make my life so much easier. I started off trying to write novels and then realized that all of my ideas made better movies. It feels like I can only write long stuff, (full length screenplays are usually between 90-120 pages) and I’ve written 3 now. I write in bursts, like 20-30 pages in just a couple of days, then I don’t write for a while, then another burst, etc until I’m finished. I’m not sure how that approach would work for you, but it works for me. Just my $.02. Good luck!!!
*laughs* And a year ago you were going to self-publish all your work because traditional publishing was “not for you.”
Seriously, though, I’m not convinced that a novel actually takes any more work than a series of short stories…it just takes longer to get to the finishing part. In some ways it may be less work, because you don’t have to rebuild the setting and characters over and over again every 3,000 words.
Besides that, you were writing a novel last month, remember? Middle grade novels are novels too.
Fie on you for keeping track of things I’ve said previously.
Yes I was working on a middle grade book, but I had cleverly convinced myself that it didn’t count as a real novel.
I’m still firmly convinced that traditional publishing is not the only option and I’ll be evaluating each project to see what fits best. Now if I can just start finishing projects instead of collecting them.