Lengthening stories. How?

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I obviously love to write and most of all I love writing stories. The longest story I had written was in year 12 a 10 page (16,000 word story) of which I'm taking elements and adding to a novella I'm working on (hoping to get 40,000 words or more). I'm not too fond of writers who write 'brick' books like tom clancy. I can write scenes where lots of things happen well and I'm not too good at dialogue, but I don't run out of ideas, but I need tips on how to pad out my story to novel length (within reason of course). Has anyone got any tips to help?

Thanks!

[waterfallbooks]

Add new POVs and give your new POV characters their own problems, creating subplots. I'm having the same problem with my manuscript - it's 9000 words short, but since the publisher I plan to submit to prefers only 2 POVs, I can't use the idea. Looking forward to others' suggestions.

Katie

[AngelAzariah]

_____Ok, I'm a little loopy right now, so do with this tid bit what you like.
#1 Try writing what happened before your story started. This will boast your word count, and you will have a chance to come up with a better opening.
#2 Try writing what the characters are thinking, second guessing themselfs and so forth.
#3 Find places in the diologe where you can start an argument amongest the characters - missgivings can boast word count.
#4 Look over your naritive and try to find things you can turn into a diologe sceans.
_____After that said, I have a list of things you should not do.
#1 Do not get wordy, you will find that it bogs your story down in blah.
#2 If you realy want to be wordy, make one of your characters long winded, but don't overdo that eather.
#3 Keep from reapeating things in your work, the reader will feel as though you are treating them like they lack a memory - very insulting.
_____Well, I need to rush to bed; I hope this adivece helps.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Thanks for the help so far! Call me dense or something but could you please tell me what a POV is. It sounds like a military term and I'm not familar with them.

Thanks!

[Rebecca]

POV = Point of View !thumbsup!

Rebecca

[DrRita]

Warrrior
I love writing short stories and novellas but I've never gotten through a whole novel either. So I'm right there with you.

In a short story or novella, there is usually one main character with one point of view (pov), one main plot and it follows a linear line from start to finish. With a novel, there are more characters, sub plots, and POVs (as Katie mentioned above) so the whole novel involves more than just one main story.

Might I suggest finding a good book on plotting novels, and also taking a novel you love and are very familiar with and writing out the plot, characters, povs, movement of action etc. and looking at how its put together. There is a good book I'm using for writing my novel called "The Screenwriter's Bible" in which the author (Trottier) explains the construction of a story line better than any book on writing I've read so far. Even though it deals with writing screen plays, the parts about story construction work very well for any story line. The one thing you don't want to do is "pad" a story. Lengthening it in that way will ruin it.

Anyway, I understand and I'm learning right there with you :rolleyes:
God Bless

[Gumpngreen]

It should be mentioned that a novel doesn't "have to" use multiple POVs. In The Genesis I purposely keep the reader to a certain viewpoint for the majority of the book in order that the reader might come to a certain conclusion (the same as the main character's, which is false). If I used multiple POVs in certain portions of the plot maintaining the illusion would be harder, though not impossible.

The usage of POVs really depends on the effect you're going for and controlling what knowledge you want the reader to possess in order to lead their thoughts processes.

[firstacts]

The first of my three books was a novel, the second and third were novellas. Sometimes you can ruin a perfectly good novella by trying to make it a novel.

I've had the opportunity to interview Brock and Bodie Thoene more than a dozen times and I love the way she writes. She typically has at least three threads in her story that initially don't seen to go together. Think of it as a tent. You start at the bottom with poles placed in several locations but they all meet at the top - as the story goes along the closer those threads come to each other and the story meets at the appex of the "tent" for a delightful ah-ha moment.

Sometimes you can enrich a story by taking the same idea above but making it exlusive to an epilogue and prologue.

My first book (The Trail Stopped Here) followed a family from the late 1880's as they became a late pioneering family. Due to circumstances beyond their control they settled in Nebraska instead of going all the way to Oregon. The story is told from the POV of the 12-year-old son, Daniel. The prologue is a chapter from the journal of Danny Christopher and the epilogue is set modern day with a couple finding that family's abandoned cabin and the journal of Daniel Christopher.

You can tell a related but disconnected story to enter and exit the main body of your story - if done right the effect is powerful.

Thoughts - no cost,

Glenn :rolleyes:

[wgjones3]

Before you buy a book on plotting, read this and see if it helps: http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html

My 2 cents on all this: lenghening a story is a double-edged sword. A story is what it is. If you add useless fluff to stretch it out, readers will know and they will not respond well. Some of the greatest books ever written have been very short: Animal Farm, The Great Gatzby, Fahrenheit 451, The Notebook, The End of the Affair, etc... There's nothing wrong with writing a short work and, in fact, most first-time authors do.

IMO, it's entirely possible that your story can only be told in X number of words and lengthening it or adding subplots to it will only take away from it. That's something to seriously consider before changing something you've worked so long and hard on.

[firstacts]

Finding a good editor is a great idea - but only choose one. What I mean by that is this - sometimes you can have too many people review your manuscript and you start implementing their ideas. You are somewhat happy with the results but think it's time for everyone to look it over again, so they do and more changes are suggested. You impliment these changes and it's not long before you don't even recognize your story (I've had it happen). Find an editor you like and work with that one individual. The end result may not always be absolutely perfect, but it will be solidly yours.

Each of us have our own distinct style of writing that can really be messed up if we listen to too many voices about how we should write. Yes their is proper form, etc. but we are responsible to write what God gives us and then let someone help us discover how human we are by pointing out the mistakes we invariably will make.

Glenn :)

[kriswrite]

Beware actual padding (adding superfluous or unnecessary info). You'll bore the reader to tears. Instead, you might think of breaking down your book or novella into smaller sections. Think of each section as a shorter story, scene, or chapter. They must all be tied together, of course, but thinking of the whole can be overwhelming. Thinking of the smaller parts can be useful.

Hope this helps,
Kristina
www.kristinaseleshanko.com

[firstacts]

I recently had a short story accepted for publishing in a magazine. Thankfully the editor didn't throw the story out completely. You see, the story was too short for their needs, but they liked the premise of the story. They didn't tell me what to write to "expand" the story. They just asked me to think of a few questions as I looked at specific locations in the manuscript. A few appropriate questions may have you seeking a stronger voice for an area that may have a story hidden in its depths.

By the way that story goes to press Friday.

Glenn :)

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Thanks everyone! Yes, the last thing I want to do is pad out the story with boring, irrelevant content to turn off the reader. I guess that's why I'm not big on Tom Clancy's books as most of them good have been written in 300 words or less and be more entertaining, same goes for the majority of thick fantasy novels.
Thankyou once again!

[Sidewinder4]

'Moby Dick' and 'The Tales of the Thousand and One Arabian Nights' are more pad than story. They both have intergral characters that tell stories within stories. 'Moby 'Dick has information about the whaling industry not only woven throughout but just sitting there in the way. 'Moby Dick' wasn't very popular in its time.
Is there a character in your work that could maybe tell a short children's story, then later retell it on an adult level, then maybe get chaught in the story's moral herself? Honesty is the beat policy. Two wrongs don't make a right, but three rights make a left if each one is 90 degrees. Moses and the boys and girls trotted around the same mountain several times. If a character goes around and around and each lap gets something accomplished [in the story] but still falls short of what you character wants, it could be very sad or very funny.
Give a certain character an additonal problem to deal with: dog or fear dogs, landlady, addiction, love of speed, an auto accident could not only be a learning experience but would add a few words. His car could break down. A curse for several characters to deal with: amulet, book, grave, a mutual friend.
When I write a story I go there in my mind and look around. Sunsets, dawns, rain, cow moos. All might engender thoughts by your character, deeper understanding for your readers and words for your story. It's got to fit, it's got to make sense, and it can't look forced or stuck in.
Technical info can help out a reader and add more words. Use a little bit. Will your character take a plane ride? Send him on a charter flight [one pax one plane].
"Smile when you call me a 'pax' Mister. Is that an insult or a compliment? Say, does that mean I'm a peacenick or what?'
"Neither. That's just a unit of weight, the weight of one passenger. Two passengers two pax..."
"Ok,OK. I'm not a dummy or something."
And then they can't get the small plane high enough to get over the weather. Barf bag anyone?
"What's an ILS? Wait, I don't want to know." It wasn't easy to hear Tony speak. He had his head A full meter into a plastic sack that was only ten centimeters deep.
'ILS' means: instrument landing system, and refers to the equipment in the airplane, the radio equipment on the ground, and the execution of the proceedure, which is a let down through the clouds all the way to the landing. OR, maybe they have to "Go Around," which means they didn't see the field and have to fly around some more: here there. How long does the fog stay, oh keeper of the mighty key board?
Hold interest; remember anything can happen to any character at the touch of a key or the stroke of a pen.
In Christ's Love,
Sidewinder4

[cawheat]

Also, something that has to be done from the creation of the piece: Don't thought-edit as you write. Put it all down in your work. This is sort of the "shotgun" approach, but can obviously add a lot of length.

Even if it's not great, write it down. Later, when doing actual edits, you can cut things out that don't make sense or add relavence.

It's sort of like getting a hair cut: you can't edit it if it's too short with the first trim!

[AngelAzariah]

_____You could always do it the easy way. Just like, write just like a blond would like write the story. You could like have an exsplosion of like words that are so like eachother. So like I think that's enough like talk from me.

_____(Note: I am a blond.)