Working My Way Toward  the Novel

by Patricia Abbott , @PattinaseabbottConcrete Angel

I wrote approximately 100 stories and a handful of poems before it seemed time to try my hand at a novel. And it turned out to be so terribly hard that I wrote another 25 stories while I dithered about just how to do it. How do you write an novel? I read books, articles, blogs, listened to podcasts, trying to find my way inside this world.

I listened to people in my writing groups and in classes when they told me how this or that story was ripe for development into a novel.

Yes, I said, but truthfully I never really saw the potential novel in most of those stories. They seemed complete, finished. I had said all I wanted to say in about 5000 words. By then, I’d exhausted the subject and was bored with the characters. Ready to move on. Those characters just had this one thing to do and they did it with only a few other people looking on. Those stories all took place over a short period of time–or at least the best ones did.

Look, I told my writing group, Alice Munro and Ray Carver only write short stories. Lots of writers do their best work in their shorts: Charles Baxter, William Trevor,  John Cheever, Mary Lavin, and on and on.

But secretly, I wanted to try a novel. I was tired of coming up with a new idea every month. Tired of the restrictions a short story imposes.  Ready for a challenge even if it went bust.  I wanted to stretch both my brain and the length and cast I had to work with.

So I wrote a novel that I thought was pretty good and sent it along to an editor who specializes in crime novels. He very kindly wrote back and said he’d read fifty pages and no one had died. People die in crime novels. Had I thought of writing another kind of novel? I decided to try again. This time I would begin with a murder. I’m no fool, right? CONCRETE ANGEL begins with a murder. If I’d sent it to him though, it would still have let that editor down because the novel is more about the people who commit crimes than the crimes themselves. It may be categorized as crime fiction but more of the domestic suspense variety.

If getting the rules of the genre in place was one problem, making the canvas larger was very difficult too.  And there is the crux of novel v. short stories. I needed more characters, more scenes, more locales, more conversations, more description. In writing shorts I’d learned to be succinct, to tell the story as tightly as possible. A novel has more breathing room–but filling it with words worth reading was a challenge.

Since the story is about a mother and daughter though,  I could certainly add a husband, or perhaps two. I could have grandparents in the story. How about a doctor and a lawyer? Although most of these people are largely peripheral to the action, they do bring depth and their presence can add to our understanding of the protagonist. They function as people to talk to, to have lunch with, to argue with.  They can cause trouble. Each character allowed me to add nuance, to add intensity.

I think I still have a lot to learn about writing a novel and probably about writing stories too. I hope I have the time to improve.

Thanks so much for listening to me babble on here. I am still working this out myself.Patricia Abbott

Patricia Abbott is the author of CONCRETE ANGEL (Polis Books) and the forthcoming SHOT IN DETROIT. She is also the author of more than 150 short stories, two ebooks (MONKEY JUSTICE and HOME INVASION (Snubnose Press) and won a Derringer for her flash story, “My Hero.”

Short story writer @Pattinaseabbott 's challenges when writing a novel: Click To Tweet

Elizabeth Spann Craig

View posts by Elizabeth Spann Craig
Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series (as Riley Adams) and the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin and writes the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She also has a blog, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. There she posts on the writing craft, finding inspiration in everyday life, and fitting writing into a busy schedule.

12 Comments

  1. Alex J. CavanaughJune 15, 2015

    Going in reverse is also difficult. Last year I had to write a short story for an anthology, and even though I’m a bare bones writer and man of few words, it was tough to shave it down to the accepted word count.
    Keep writing the novels. They’ll get easier!

  2. Patti AbbottJune 15, 2015

    Yes, going in reverse is difficult. I am trying to write a short story now and forget how to write succinctly. Argh! Thanks, Elizabeth for hosting me.

  3. Teresa C.June 15, 2015

    I also write shorts. I struggle with writing anything longer, but Elizabeth said one day to treat a novel’s chapters like a short story. That really helped me. Although, I haven’t completed a novel, I am pretty close. Great post Patricia.

    Hello, Elizabeth.

  4. Margot KinbergJune 15, 2015

    Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Patti.
    Patti – What a delight to see you here! And thanks for sharing your journey from short stories to a novel. It’s interesting too because it’s the exact opposite of the journey a lot of people make from the novel to the short story. You highlight the differences beautifully – thanks.

  5. Elizabeth Spann CraigJune 15, 2015

    Patti—Thanks so much for blogging today! I think your experience going from short to long form will resonate with many writers. For me, writing short is the challenge. :) Thanks again and best wishes for the new release!

  6. L. Diane WolfeJune 15, 2015

    Sometimes we have to push ourselves to make it happen.

  7. Meg WolfeJune 15, 2015

    Hello Patti–during my first bout as a fiction writer, around 35 years ago, I wrote short stories and plays, which were published and produced, but wanted ever so much to write novels. Tried repeatedly, but failed. Years go by, fragments of short stories were written, but not developed–no time (read: didn’t see the point). Then I wrote flash fiction, which whet my fiction-writing appetite again, only this time I set about learning to write a mystery novel in a very systematic way. That was two years ago, and the third novel is nearly done. It gets clearer how to do it with each one. First book was okay, the second a bit rocky, but the third has serious possibilities. Hoping by the fifth I know what the h**l I’m doing. In the meantime, not a single regret about having tried. Best of luck as you work out how you write a novel. :)

  8. Patti AbbottJune 15, 2015

    Yes, Meg, even now as I am going through the next book I feel much more confident and I also feel free to change things that seemed written in stone a year ago. Yes, push is the operative word. I had found my comfort zone with shorts and was far too satisfied to keep doing them. Thanks so much, Elizavbeth, so kins of you to host me.

  9. Jemi FraserJune 15, 2015

    I feel writing those shorts is the more challenging task for my brain! All my ideas are automatically novel length :)

  10. Prashant C. TrikannadJune 17, 2015

    Elizabeth, it was interesting to read Patti’s views on the differences in writing short stories and a full-length novel. To me both look formidable! Thanks for hosting Patti and I will be reading “Concrete Angel” soon.

  11. Shah WhartonJune 18, 2015

    I started with poetry and shorts, but too quickly dived into a series. The ideas are not a problem, it’s the execution of long projects I find difficult. Running out of steam and enthusiasm is my main issue. I prefer reading shorts too. Perhaps I have a short attention span?

    Great post. Sounds like whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it exceptionally well. X

    http://shahwharton.com

  12. […] Working My Way Toward the Novel […]

Comments are closed.

Scroll to top