I spend most of my time as an author plotting and writing novels. But I originally cut my writer teeth crafting short stories. Along the way, I’ve learned a few tricks about the differences between the long haul of writing a novel and the sprint of writing a short story. Below are some tricks of the trade.
1) Character
Both a novel and short story require well-drawn, compelling characters. But in a novel, the main character, despite his or her imperfections, tends to be likeable in some way. Or if they’re not particularly likeable at the start, they have transformed themselves by the end so that the reader is rooting for them. Even the villain will have some likeable qualities. Because a novel is so long, if a reader doesn’t care about the main characters, they’ll probably stop caring about the story as well.
~ read more ~
