How do you control yourself...

[newinmke]

When the story you write keeping growing and growing, and you are closer to writing a novella?!

Not that there is anything wrong with it. But if you planned on writing something small, how do you limit yourself so that you don't go wild imagining plots/sub-plots?

Most stories I have written have been for private audience. So, the limiting myself isn't really necessary.

 

[_Lynn_]

When the story you write keeping growing and growing, and you are closer to writing a novella?!

Not that there is anything wrong with it. But if you planned on writing something small, how do you limit yourself so that you don't go wild imagining plots/sub-plots?

Most stories I have written have been for private audience. So, the limiting myself isn't really necessary.

I don't plan the number of words my stories will be. If the length is too much for a single chapter, then I split it.

But why limit, or control, yourself?

 

[OnlyByMoonlight]

I don't plan the number of words my stories will be. If the length is too much for a single chapter, then I split it.

But why limit, or control, yourself?

I don't like to limit myself either. Sometimes though when I'm writing I do that then suddenly realize 10,000 words later that I've dug myself into a very large hole with too much plot and characters to keep track of myself.

To remedy this, whevever I start I try to at least know where my story is going and what my climax will be, before I start. If it still starts growing like a cancerous growth, I try to go back to the point in the story where it went off the tracks and start over. This is assuming the growing out of control is bad. If its just the natural evolution of my story and it's getting longer without losing anything, then I just run with it.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I tend to do a broad mapping-out of my main plot events as well, particularly focusing on the path to the conclusion so that my characters are pointed toward it and the themes and events can converge organically. But that's not to say that your text can't grow. Have you considered pausing to revise your planning and bring all of the sub-plots into a structured whole? Length isn't inherently good or bad; so long as your structure and pacing are good, you can expand without too much trouble. If you're concerned that your audience might like something shorter (often the case here, but not always), you can always work on breaking your long piece into chapters or making a series of it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I wrote a 5000 word horror story. My GF didnt like the ending, so I changed the ending and its now 15000 words. Its unpublishable at 15K but I had fun writing it.

The story conforms to the original plot but inflated when I adjusted scenes to make the new ending plausible and surprising. Shit happens.

 

[3113]

When the story you write keeping growing and growing, and you are closer to writing a novella?!

I write a novella.

The story is what the story is, dude.

 

[jomar]

I write a novella.

The story is what the story is, dude.

Words.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I have a remote like the one by my TV When the story gets out of hand, I click the remote and the story is deleted from my hard drive. Works for me

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Shang, great to see you here again and as pertinent and pithy as ever.

In my view, length matters. Your story must have a structure that keeps the reader 'turning pages' and if you spoil the flow by adding stuff that is not part of the taut plot you will lose readers. A novella works well if it is constructed to concentrate on the story dynamic and eliminate superflous sidelines.

 

[sr71plt]

The story takes the length that the story needs. It's true that print publication has forced authors to think about length. The world of e-booking has freed anyone from that who is willing let the story take its natural length and still be published, even if the publishing mode has limitations.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I write a story. Once it's written, I go back and keep asking "does this forward the plot, develop a character or build a universe?" If the answer is 'no', out that scene goes. But only after the whole thing is coded into the 'puter.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I don't control myself. I just ramble on and on, and I have a few unfinished stories that really suck because of it

 

[Loring2]

OK Tiger lily

I have a remote like the one by my TV When the story gets out of hand, I click the remote and the story is deleted from my hard drive. Works for me

I've noticed lately that you've become brutal but three cheers so Rah! Rah!
Rah! ... when something is out of control ... it really is just that ... so Zap

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

It takes 2 hands to hold a whopper! Was that the question?

 

[oggbashan]

I plan the story, usually in my head, to be a certain length.

If the story and characters decide that the story should be longer, I revise the plan to make a story that is appropriate to the new length.

Sometimes it doesn't work like that. Once I've completed the first draft, I save it, work on a copy, cut sections out, save it as a second shorter draft and leave both for at least a week.

I re-read both versions. I edit the one that works best.

My stories range from 50 words to 50,000. I think I'm better with a length between 3,000 and 6,000. That's long enough for some development without short-changing the story.

However some of the responses suggest that my longer stories can be worth reading; that some of my shorter stories could have been longer; and that some of my 50-word stories are the ideal length.

You can't win. You can't force a story to be a particular length. You can edit out less important parts to make it better, but if a story needs 15,000 words then you have to accept that.

Og

 

[Katyusha]

I don't. I have a full novel (about 134,000 words) that was originally supposed to be a short story. But it kept going and going and things kept happening that I hadn't planned on and before I knew it I had a novel. Just let it go where it will...this is a first draft, right? You can think about what's relevant to the plot and characters when you go back to revise.

 

[newinmke]

I don't. I have a full novel (about 134,000 words) that was originally supposed to be a short story. But it kept going and going and things kept happening that I hadn't planned on and before I knew it I had a novel. Just let it go where it will...this is a first draft, right? You can think about what's relevant to the plot and characters when you go back to revise.

So, how do you know when it has ended?

 

[Katyusha]

So, how do you know when it has ended?

When the words "The End" appear on the computer screen.

Okay, stupid joke. Basically what happens with me is: I know how I want the story to begin (the setting, which characters get introduced and how they're introduced, etc.). I have a general idea of the plot, but no real specifics (ie: romance between military officers from different countries during wartime, but things like how many countries are involved in the war, who is on which side, what these officers' occupations are, what their specific missions are and how that interferes with their relationship, whether or not their relationship forms during the war or is already established, things like that aren't established). And I have a general idea of how I want it to end (ie one of the officers must die, but when, where, how, who all is there, why they die, etc. has not been established).

For me, my characters and plot go where they want, it's like they fill in the blanks of the storyline and I'm just the medium for getting it onto the screen. With the above example, the character that dies might die in a prison camp, or be shot to death in battle, or get tortured to death by the enemy. Maybe they're a pilot and they're shot down over the open ocean where rescuers can't get to them soon enough. Maybe they're highly placed by this point in the story and get assassinated by the enemy. Maybe I'm babbling now. But regardless, when the story reaches the point where said character dies, that is when I know it's time to wrap it up. Obviously I don't leave the readers hanging with, "And then he was dead, the end." I write in the aftermath, others' reactions to the death, etc., but after the above character has died there isn't much more writing to do, because the story has concluded where it needed to.

No idea if that makes any sense...there's another thread floating around here somewhere that discusses whether or not it's actually possible for characters to direct the story and surprise their authors and not everyone understands how this works. But I tend to write freeform; I can't write from an outline, either written or mental. So...as the emperor in Amadeus so loved to say, "There it is."

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I plan the story, usually in my head, to be a certain length.

If the story and characters decide that the story should be longer, I revise the plan to make a story that is appropriate to the new length.

Sometimes it doesn't work like that. Once I've completed the first draft, I save it, work on a copy, cut sections out, save it as a second shorter draft and leave both for at least a week.

I re-read both versions. I edit the one that works best.

My stories range from 50 words to 50,000. I think I'm better with a length between 3,000 and 6,000. That's long enough for some development without short-changing the story.

However some of the responses suggest that my longer stories can be worth reading; that some of my shorter stories could have been longer; and that some of my 50-word stories are the ideal length.

You can't win. You can't force a story to be a particular length. You can edit out less important parts to make it better, but if a story needs 15,000 words then you have to accept that.

Og

I cant disagree more.

When I went to work for the state government in 1986 our computer software allowed about 12 lines of text for 'the story'. Not 13, twelve. So I learned how to compress. Then in 1992 we got new software that allowed 85 lines of text, and I learned to pack my story into 85 lines. In 2002, when the state went to unlimited text, I stuck with the 85 lines because the judges and attorneys loved it and complimented me for my clarity and brevity.

 

[oggbashan]

I cant disagree more.

When I went to work for the state government in 1986 our computer software allowed about 12 lines of text for 'the story'. Not 13, twelve. So I learned how to compress. Then in 1992 we got new software that allowed 85 lines of text, and I learned to pack my story into 85 lines. In 2002, when the state went to unlimited text, I stuck with the 85 lines because the judges and attorneys loved it and complimented me for my clarity and brevity.

I don't think that's a disagreement. I used to write reports for many years of my career. The norm was one side of one page - as was required by Winston Churchill - and that is now called an Executive Summary. The background papers might be dozens or hundreds of pages but the recommendations and main reasons had to be on one side of paper.

I was taught précis at school and tested on précis in examinations. I had to reduce for example 1500 words to 100. Perhaps that's why I can write 50-word stories?

I think that creative writing is different. If you have a story to tell, that story might be short or long. If the story develops to be longer than you originally intended, does that matter? I think the quality of the completed story is more important than the length. For Literotica, shorter is usually better. The Novels and Novellas category isn't a popular read.

If I'm writing a story for a competition and the competition rules require a specified number of words, I would plan and write to that word number.

If you are writing for publication then story length can be important. The market requires novels that are much longer than was the norm in the 1950s and 1960s. Outside Europe, short stories or novellas don't sell. In the UK there is a market for short romantic stories for women's magazines and comparatively short romantic novels for the Mills and Boon imprint but mainstream fiction expects blockbuster length.

But here? Whatever works for you.

Og

 

[Katyusha]

.......

 

[VeritasMaximus]

It ends when I lose interest in the characters. I find all people boring after a time, so it's natural that when I find characters boring, I end their stories. I have only written one story in which I loved the characters enough to prolong their time span beyond short-story length.

 

[TxRad]

How do you control yourself...
When the story you write keeping growing and growing, and you are closer to writing a novella?!

I tried a chair and a whip but my characters seem to like that sort of thing.

Controlling length is a part of the editing process. Write until you are done and then worry about it.

 

[lisa123414]

Who in the world wants to read an executive summary for pleasure? It can go on forever, for all I care, if I enjoy reading it. It is the quality of your yarning, the richness of what you need to tell, that limits the demand for what you have to give.

If you can remain interesting than you can go on for as long as you like.


Lisa