How To Turn Your Short Story Into A Novella
Have a short story you want to make longer? Discover how to turn your existing story into a novella without simply padding the word count.
Why a novella? Well, they are actually quite popular. Please read this post if you want to know more about the popularity of shorter books.
What Is A Novella?
A novella is a work of fiction that falls between a short story and a novel in length. It gives writers more room to develop characters, conflict, and plot than a short story, while remaining more focused and compact than a novel.
It is important to remember that it is more than just adding words. You need to add story. If you have not plotted the short story before, it may be a good time to sit down and plot a bit, or if plotting freaks you out, brainstorm more ideas.
How To Turn Your Short Story Into A Novella
Many writers have a short story they’ve always wanted to expand into a novella. How should they go about it?
Start here:
1. How Many Words Do You Have?
What is the current word count? A short story can be up to 7 500 words long. A novelette (or short novella) can be anything up to 17 000 words. Anything from 17 500 to 40 000 will be considered a novella. You’ll agree that there is a lot of room. How many words do you have?
2. What Structure Have You Used For The Short Story?
Single scene: Have you written a single scene? If so, where does it fit in with your novella idea? Is it the inciting moment, the ending, or a scene from the middle?
Summary: Have you written the whole story? Your story could serve as the synopsis or summary of the novella.
3. What Is Your Target Word Count?
It helps to know what you are aiming for: 17 000 or 40 000 words? This number does not have to be cast in stone, but it will help you to figure out how much story you will need to add.
Next Step:
Spend some time working on the plot.
- Work out how many scenes you will need to reach the desired word count. Read more about scene structure here.
- What happened ‘before’ and ‘after’ in the short story.
- The protagonist in your short story should have a concrete story goal. This goal can change or become more challenging in a longer story. Brainstorm.
- Short stories have a smaller cast. When you expand a story, you can consider adding characters, but only if they add to the plot.
- The other characters are usually involved in the sub-plot. Can you add a sub-plot that adds to the story?
- Setting and character description: Adding characters and scenes will take your characters to new places. Describe the characters and the settings well.
- Make the characters talk. Dialogue is a wonderful tool for bringing characters to life.
- Find events that were only mentioned in a line or two and dramatise them as full scenes.
- Add to the layers of the story by using tools like repetition, foreshadowing, and symbolism.
- You can slow down certain scenes and write them as slow-motion moments to increase the word count.
Examples Of Famous Novellas
- Breakfast At Tiffany’s by Truman Capote – The additional length gives Capote room to develop Holly’s character and the narrator’s relationship with her.
- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – The novella length allows Conrad to develop Marlow’s journey and gradually build the story’s atmosphere, ideas, and moral questions.
- Animal Farm by George Orwell – Its length gives Orwell enough room to show the animals’ revolution, its development, and its consequences while keeping the allegory focused.
- Death in Venice by Thomas Mann – The extra space allows Mann to trace Aschenbach’s growing obsession and its consequences.
- Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King – The longer form gives King room to develop the friendship between Red and Andy and the passage of time in prison.
- The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka — The novella length allows Kafka to explore the effects of Gregor’s transformation on both Gregor and his family over time.
- Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck — The additional space allows Steinbeck to develop George and Lennie’s relationship, their dream, and the wider world around them.
The Last Word
Turning a short story into a novella is about adding story, not simply adding words. Expand the plot, deepen the characters, develop the setting, and look for opportunities to create new scenes and sub-plots. With some brainstorming and careful planning, your short story could become a much longer read.
Take a look at this list for more examples of books that started as short stories.
by Mia Botha
More posts from Mia:
- How To Use Genre As A Source Of Conflict
- 7 Things Dialogue Can Do In Your Story
- 4 Super Easy Ways To Create Characters For Short Stories
- How To Show Character Change Without Telling (With Examples)
- 7 Supporting Character Types Every Writer Should Know
- The 3 Surprises Every Story Needs
- A Quick Start Guide To Writing For Children
- 15 Inspiring Reasons To Start Writing Poetry
- Worldbuilding: The Ultimate Setting Checklist For Writers
- Show Don’t Tell: 5 Simple Techniques Every Writer Should Know
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2 thoughts on “How To Turn Your Short Story Into A Novella”
Serendipity strikes again! As so often happens, an item turns up in my inbox which covers a writing issue that I am currently tackling.
I had a short story published in an anthology, which has now been removed from circulation. As my I now have my copyright back, I decided to expand it into a novella. Luckily it is almost novelette length, so contains all the elements of a longer work, and I need only to add a little extra detail. The original story contains a single mention of a dog, so this is the extra character I’m going develop: give it a name, decide on the breed, and allow it to appear in a couple of other scenes to add verisimilitude.
Thanks for a great article.
That sounds exciting, Anne. Best of luck.