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Considering Length |
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So, you have a story in mind. It has plot with a great storyline and a nice set of characters to run it. But your story ends up over 100 chapters long...? Okay, maybe that's an exaggerated scenario but you get my point. Considering the length of your story is very important and should be a big decision you make even before writing your story. Before I go into any real tough stuff let's consider the different types of stories there are: Drabbles--Usually only a few hundred words long, drabbles are probably one of the worst-exploited forms of a story that I have ever come across. Though it is not impossible to make a deep, sensational drabble most use it just to throw out their own feelings on some fandom and label it a "fanfiction". Poems do not count as drabbles. I don't have much to say about poetry since I am clearly not a poet, but they require much more skill to write than just a drabble. A good drabble would be one that is used to express a point. Just one point. They should be mostly detail and action, with little or no dialog unless it is used in the rare occasion of being entirely dialog. They will also normally center around one person--their thoughts or actions--rather than trying to incorporate many different characters to complicate it. I discourage those who plan on writing adventure stories or deep romance in the form of drabbles, except if you want to confuse and bore your readers, or simply wish to write smut fictions, which tend to happen when one makes a romance drabble. Steer clear from these if you're not a deep person with a reason you truly believe in. The short story--Short stories, also called one-shots, ficlets or novellas, should be much longer than a few hundred words but should not be chapters long. I believe somewhere around ten pages at least, and around twenty-five pages at most is a decent estimate for space. Short stories are for us to tell a story with a decent amount of detail and dialog to keep readers satisfied. Short stories may seem simple but there must be a great artistic mind that can come up with such a story and fit it into such a limited area. The author must make sure they want to stop where they do and that they haven't left out important information because, unless there is a sequel, there are no other means of adding to that story once it is published--no later chapters after to help tell why something happened as it did. Short stories are for all genres of writing. I only discourage those with epic stories from using only a short story rather than a chapter novel. Writing short stories in school or for friends and family is good practice for a beginning writer. The chapter story--Novels would probably be considered a buffet for writers. With such a long range--novels are composed of an unlimited number of chapter--there is much a writer can pick and choose from when writing their fanfic. Unfortunately, setting the chapters up sloppily or rushing to/dragging out points can kill an audience. Novels have more than one point throughout, generally, and should also have many sub-points. Dialog and detail should be heavy with a good balance between action and non-action. Characterization can be more varied and many small, static characters can be crucial to moving the plot along. Though some may believe size is daunting I honestly think anyone can write a novel. It does take time and planning but it can be done. A lot of effort and perseverance is needed. Any and all genres are perfect for novels. Only people addressing a single point should probably consider taking on a short story instead. So there you have it--the three major types of stories. Why is it important to know? If your chapter fic has paragraph-long chapters and fifty paragraphs or less altogether, you probably should have written a short story. If your short story includes two different love triangles, a huge, multiple-suspect mystery or an epic adventure you should probably consider making it into a novel. Choosing what form your story will hold is a very important step to take before starting or writing it, or you may find yourself at a loss of space. Or maybe with too much left over. |