Many a times, it happens that we write a short story and someone points out how it is dying to be elongated. How the world that it is encompassing is too big for its short length. It is then that we realize that our short story idea is actually a novel in disguise. The question that arises is that how can we identify these symptoms. Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself for starters:
Is your idea appropriate for a novel?
First of all analyze your idea. Is it just a recurrence of some story you read somewhere or is it truly fresh? The truth of the matter is that human mind generally revolves around two or three stories. So you have to make sure that your story has a different them and try presenting it without the general stereotypes.
Has someone told you that your story has the potential to become a novel?
If any of your readers comes up to you and says that he/she would love to read more of it, be impressed and happy for this means that your story has the potential to increase its length. You can think about turning it into a novel then.
Do you have a large number of characters?
If your story is in dire need of a number of characters and there is absolutely no way in which you can eliminate them, then you can be sure of turning it into a novel.
Is your original idea underdeveloped in the short story?
After you have written the story if you feel like you haven’t been able to convey the theme completely and will be needing more space, then it becomes another sign that shows that your short story is yearning to be elongated into a novel. However you have to act intelligently. Just because you want to write a novel and not a short story, doesn’t mean that you’ll go on elongating your tale even though you got your point across in the first few pages itself.
Is your story trying to cover a long time frame?
A short story’s time line is generally not too long. Short stories generally comprise of a few days or afternoons of one’s life. However if you are dealing with descriptions of years of your character’s life, be sure that your story can be in no other format then a novel.
Is your short story simply not ready to end?
There are only a few rules that bind writers. For short story writers the most important one is length. Once the length crosses at 10,000 words, it can no longer be called a short story. If there is no way in which you can shorten it further, it can mean only one thing – you have a novel on your hands.
Are you being unable to stop writing it?
It happens many a time that the writer gets so caught up in his own story that he keeps weaving his tale. He cannot stop writing at any cost. This story can be nothing but a novel. However, your writing should be inspired and not forced.