Step Between Short Stories and Novel?

[delilah]

I've written many successful short stories. One of them won a local contest (FenCon III) last year. I decided to move on to my first novel, and I feel like I've hit a brick wall, hard! It's taking alot of effort to move forward on the project. So my question is, am I missing something? Is there another step between these two forms that writers need to master? I like writing short stories, but I know I'll never make a living at it. What am I missing here?

Delilah

[marylahree]

Delilah,
Way to go, with winning the local contest. That's great!!! Have you considered publishing a book of your short stories? I've seen that done by more than a few authors.

I just pulled out my creative writing handbook in an attempt to be of help to you. The structure of a story: Plot - a series of actions containing key elements. Exposition - the important introductory information. Protagonist - the central character (hero). Conflict - our hero has a problem of some sort. Antagonist - often the conflict involves an immoral or disagreeable character, a thorn in the protagonist's side. Complication - the problem grows worse, (as the story action rises), and this can result in a number of crisis that can make the story shorter or longer. Climax - the part of the novel where the conflict is settled. Denouement - tie up the loose ends for our hero, author.

If you've got all of the above, maybe it's that you need to work on expanding details? It's really difficult to try to be of help without some idea of how you are currently writing the novel, but I don't believe the net is a place to ask for peer review of anything you hope to financially gain from. And you're probably better than I am at writing anyway. I've written a chapter or two of a couple of novels I hope to finish one (healthier) day, but they aren't finished.

Hope this has been of some help,
Mary

[temporus]

Delilah,

There are no necessary steps. There's no one set way to write a novel. Nor one path to getting there.

There are novellas and novellettes which are forms that sit between the short story and the novel. But no one has to master those forms first before working on a novel.

Writing novels, in my experience (all two unpublished ones I have completed) are like running a marathon. They take persistence and pacing. Short stories aren't necessarily sprints, but they tend toward more immediate rewards. Which is why I prefer them at the moment. I can get feedback far quicker with short stories....what works, what fails, etc. Novels, take that much longer.

If things look daunting, don't try to look at the whole picture. If you look at the entirety of a mountain, it might seem impossible to climb. It might be so discouraging that you choose to walk away rather than go through the effort. If instead, you concentrate on what's in front of you, and just keep that focus, you'll find rather quickly you are much further up that mountain than you anticipated.

Keep your goals small and reasonable and finite. Once you've met those goals, you can step them up, until you reach optimum performance. I did it by setting a daily goal of 1000 words. However, you can't be inflexible. Some days, you'll exceed goals. Some days, you'll fall short. That doesn't matter. What matters is today's goal.

[Steven Barnes]

Great posts. When setting out to write your first novel, if it seems daunting, then:
1) if you're a left-brained person, then outline like crazy. The Hero's Journey will cycle repeatedly, with smaller cycles within the larger.
2) If you're a right-brained type, just know what your last scene is, and then write up to it.

And don't try to "write a novel" if that idea is intimidating. Just write 1000 words a day, until you are done.

[marylahree]

Interesting answer to all of us, Steven. How does one know whether they are left or right brained? I'm left handed, is that a factor? My first born has disabilities and I remember reading something about right brain and left brain differences, but that has been years ago. Incidentally, I outline, sometimes mentally, more often on page.