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helenelizabethclarke
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 Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:47 am Post subject: making a book longer |
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i always tend to rush a book i'm writing and i'll be halfway through the plot and it will be far too short
any tips on dragging it out a bit?
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Kitty15
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Add more description, that always helps a bit and try not to rush it. Take another look at your more important scenes and spend more time on them, add a little more action, some description, characterization. If you do that throughout your novel it will soon begin to grow longer. Also, a side plot or two could help. Some other action or story that travels alongside your main plot. Perhaps add some conflict between the characters so that they go their seperate way for a bit and then you can spend some time adding the details of their seperate paths. |
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Sureal
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| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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| You want more plot. Be sure not to just throw in filler (stuff that's only there to increase the word count). |
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Snoink
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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Have your main character count to infinity? 
No, seriously, develop another character's story. For instance, for my very first, completely laughable version of FREAK, I only developed two characters: Sadie and the freak. It was about 42,000 words. When I rewrote it, I developed Sadie's parents, added a couple of new characters and developed their stories. Final word count of that draft? 134,000. Now I'm working on editing that version for the final (and hopefully shorter!) version.
So yeah. Character development = awesome. |
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| Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Add more conflict and subplots? Which then allows for characterization, which is an awesome thing, as snoink pointed out. ^_^ |
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Pushca
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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| "Drag it out" doesn't sound like something you should do - more like something that's a bit painful. |
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OnCeUpOnAtIm3Xo
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| Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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Descriptions DEFINITELY help!  Try to describe things more (but not too much!) not only does it make your story longer, but better. |
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starrynight89
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| Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 5:09 am Post subject: |
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| LIke suzy said, subplots are your best friends. Make sure not to get too wordy, when you re-read the whole thing, look for any unnecessary dialogue or actions. They are annoying to read. |
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Kraemer
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:34 am Post subject: |
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Simply, Don't force it right now. If your writing isn't as long as you like, rethink the idea a bit, as they said, see if you could add some subplots. And description does help. But if you add too much in the wrong areas, it will seem like filler, and won't turn out well.
First thing I would say to do is work on your prose in general. Leave the story for a bit, and do freewriting everyday. Do it on the weather outside, your best friend, anything you could think of. (Free writing is where you set a time, like 5 min, and just write, no reading over, no editing for that 5 min)
If you do this, then your prose, description and overall quality will improve.
Soon you will be able to describe better, show characters better, and learn what is important to the story, and what isn't.
Have you considered, it wasn't meant to be a long story? it could just be a novella or short story |
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Aedomir
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:41 am Post subject: |
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Lets' face it, we all dream of having some long epic, loved by all, but let's face it, we don't need it.
Look at the Harry Potter series; they started out as your typical novel length, around 80k I believe. Then, they began to increase in size dramatically. But do you know why that is? Because the plots were getting stronger, and more structured. That is what you should do, but don't flesh it out too much.
Another way is description. For me, I had at the start of Chapter Six with the MC and his companions taking refuge in a waterfall. I ended up putting pages of flowing descriptions on this, to bring out the emotions of my chatacters and emphasise the idea of 'lost beauty'. Then I had dialogue, and although this isn't really word count, it lengthens it out ad exposes your characters. Use this spcae to develop your characters, and don't jsut put words to drag it on, i.e.
"Adam leapt across the banks, and smashed into a rock."
To:
"The boy, Adam he was called, pressed his feet together aginst the crowd and tensed his muscles. Then, he pushed and threw himself across the riverbank. Then, all of a sudden, his face - not his body - hit a rock and red blood streamed quickly down the dirty stone."
See what I mean?
Please remember though, novels are not just about word count. If you have a story to tell, then tell it.
-Mark |
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flytodreams
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with all the above advice. Subplots, more description, and character development.
But don't try to make it so long that it becomes ridiculous. A story should only be as long as it needs to be.  |
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vet4life13
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| Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Try to introduce some more characters and describe them. Maybe you could add some things that your character is struggling with. For example, in The Lord of the Rings books, Frodo is trying to take the ring to Mount Doom. But, while he is doing that, he struggles with homesickness and trust issues. (Like Smeagol). Good luck with your story! |
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Kang227
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| Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm...I personally have planned my first series to be told from several perspectives, and not all of the perspectives are essential.
First Book: I think eleven viewpoint characters.
Second: Eight-ish.
Third: Seven-to-nine-or-more, I haven't plotted the characters on this one.
Fourth: Five, six, something around that.
Fifth: Five to seven.
Sixth: Five to seven.
Essentially, I have three MAIN CHARCTERS: my BROO-HAS. I have a couple SUB-MAIN CHARACTERS, who are essential to the plot, but they're not the big kahunas that the story is supposed to center around. Then I have EVERYBODY ELSE, who help to advance the plot from a fresh perspective but can be removed from the story without drastically upsetting the flow.
It's nice to start a series with plenty of characters, especially since many of them (hopefully) will end up dead. Of the eleven viewpoint characters in my frist book, about six die in that book. |
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Summerless
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| Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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What a great thread. I always encounter things like these--so often, in fact, that I know how to deal with some of them.
If you think your character(s) are vague... Try having someone read your work and then have that person jot down as much information they know/can infer from your protagonist, antagonist, and side characters. Compare the information from that person to what you were trying to portray about those characters. If they match, that's good. If the information you get is very vague, you need to expand and write more so the reader fully knows your character. Or can pretend that he/she knows that character like a friend.
As for the plot, put aside your story for two weeks. Don't even think about it. Then, after two weeks is up, go back to your story and read it. If you find that your plot or any event is rushed, mark that place with a red pen or something. Later, when you're done reading the rest of your story, go back and work on evenly distributing the events so they aren't rushed.
Hope this helps!
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deafwriter_19
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| Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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Subplots are your friend here! I know I sound like a broken record, but I have to say it for EMPHASIS!!!!!
If you're writing something and you find that it's only good for a short story: add some more complications. Flesh out the premise. Etc. Etc. |
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