![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Writing Excuses 12.27: Choosing a Length
Jul. 5th, 2017 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mbarkerWriting Excuses 12.27: Choosing a Length
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/07/02/12-27-choosing-a-length/
Key Points: Flash Fiction: under 1000 words. Short Story: up to 7,500 words. Novelette: 7,500 to 17,000 words. Novella: up to 40,000 words. Novel: 40,000 and up. How do you know if the story in your head is a novel or a short story? Which do you want to tell? What reader experience do you want -- a short punch to the emotional gut, or a longer immersion in a warm tub? The Olympics or a YouTube snippet? Why do you choose one or the other? Who are you trying to sell to? What do you want to do with it? When you write a short story, often deciding that you want it to be short comes first. Which influences structure, decisions to constrain rather than expand. Dénouement, reflecting on the experience, works in novels, but often is too much tacked on for a short story. Have you ever been wrong about the length of a story you were writing? Flash fiction that became a novel! The short story that became a quest. Schlock Mercenary!
The formula! Write a thumbnail sketch. How many characters, how many plot threads, how many locations do you have? Roughly LS = ((C + L) * 750) * (PT * 1.5). Number of characters plus number of locations times 750 words, multiplied by number of plot threads times 1.5. In other words, each character and each location adds about 750 words. Each plot thread multiplies the whole thing by about 1.5. Note: Your writing word count may vary.
[( How long is too long? About that much? )
[Brandon] Let's stop here for some homework, which, Howard, you have for us.
[Howard] Absolutely. Now I need to pull up the… Yes. Now I remember what I was going to say. All right. Take a story. Take a big, complex sort of story, and rewrite it as a children's story. When I say children's story, I mean a story that you would tell to little kids. A story that would be like a little picture book type story. The "Are you my mother?" kind of story.
[Mary] Terrifying.
[Howard] Take something complex…
[Dan] Good night, [inaudible]
[Howard] Take something terrifying. And retell it as a children's story.
[Brandon] Excellent. Like, "Good night, Dune."
[Laughter]
[Brandon] If you've never seen that, go look it up.
[Mary] Yes. That's a great one.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/07/02/12-27-choosing-a-length/
Key Points: Flash Fiction: under 1000 words. Short Story: up to 7,500 words. Novelette: 7,500 to 17,000 words. Novella: up to 40,000 words. Novel: 40,000 and up. How do you know if the story in your head is a novel or a short story? Which do you want to tell? What reader experience do you want -- a short punch to the emotional gut, or a longer immersion in a warm tub? The Olympics or a YouTube snippet? Why do you choose one or the other? Who are you trying to sell to? What do you want to do with it? When you write a short story, often deciding that you want it to be short comes first. Which influences structure, decisions to constrain rather than expand. Dénouement, reflecting on the experience, works in novels, but often is too much tacked on for a short story. Have you ever been wrong about the length of a story you were writing? Flash fiction that became a novel! The short story that became a quest. Schlock Mercenary!
The formula! Write a thumbnail sketch. How many characters, how many plot threads, how many locations do you have? Roughly LS = ((C + L) * 750) * (PT * 1.5). Number of characters plus number of locations times 750 words, multiplied by number of plot threads times 1.5. In other words, each character and each location adds about 750 words. Each plot thread multiplies the whole thing by about 1.5. Note: Your writing word count may vary.
[( How long is too long? About that much? )
[Brandon] Let's stop here for some homework, which, Howard, you have for us.
[Howard] Absolutely. Now I need to pull up the… Yes. Now I remember what I was going to say. All right. Take a story. Take a big, complex sort of story, and rewrite it as a children's story. When I say children's story, I mean a story that you would tell to little kids. A story that would be like a little picture book type story. The "Are you my mother?" kind of story.
[Mary] Terrifying.
[Howard] Take something complex…
[Dan] Good night, [inaudible]
[Howard] Take something terrifying. And retell it as a children's story.
[Brandon] Excellent. Like, "Good night, Dune."
[Laughter]
[Brandon] If you've never seen that, go look it up.
[Mary] Yes. That's a great one.
[Brandon] This has been Writing Excuses. You're out of excuses, now go write.
