Tips on expansion and length?

[Androxine Vortex]

I think my biggest problem with writting is that I jump too quickly from point A to point B. I want my story to have length but whenever I write and look back at it, I realize that it's almost as if I am "rushing" through the story. Sometimes I try to come up with ways to expand sections a little here and there but I don't want to add useless info. It would just be filler, and I don't want that. I know that this is a very broad question and yeah it really does depend on your story and plot and stuff, but if you have any tips in general that would be great!

 

[TWErvin2]

Read novels similar to those (content-wise) you hope to write. See/study how the author tells the story, inclucing pacing and subplots that intertwine with the main plotline.

Another item may be too much telling in the story and not enough showing. Allow the reader to experience the plot development through actions and dialogue more than description and stating what happened. This may not be the case with your situation, Androxine Vortex. There's a balance between showing and telling, and one should not be done completely to the exclusion of the other.

Another consideration may be that what you're writing (the idea/plot/conflict) may be appropriate for a short story or novella instead of a novel-length work.

 

[Xanados]

On the surface level, if you're having trouble with how linear your story feels, add in a try-fail cycle.

 

[Queshire]

explain more about this try-fail cycle, I've heard it around but I don't know what it is. Unlike some, I've never had any in depth classess about writing.

 

[gerald.parson]

Kinda like the Super Mario Brothers game. Mario beats a level and at the end of the level that one guy struts off with the Princess anyway. ( thats just paraphrasing)

Your MC ( main character) has a problem or goal. Sets out to fix or achieve said goal. Now with the try-fail cycle, MC either fixes problem or achieves goal and something else pops up ( another problem) or fails at achieving and fixing and now the problem is worst so the cycle repeats itself. IE Mario attempts to save princess, gets caught, thrown in prison, must now break out of prison and find princess which has now been relocated.


If this is wrong Xanados, please feel free to correct me, but that is my understanding of the try-fail cycle.

 

[Helen]

The try-fail cycle is a good idea.

You can also add in more about other characters, so expand on the subplot.

You can also add in a revelation cycle/world. That is where something has to be acquired or revealed and you go into a world to get it. A bit like Neo in THE MATRIX going to see the Oracle to discover that he's got to make a choice.

 

[Elder the Dwarf]

The try-fail cycle is a good idea, don't make your hero succeed at every turn but instead force him/her/them to go through trials and losses. However, it really is impossible to tell you without seeing the work. Make sure you have fully characterized the people/creatures in your story. Make sure you have an appropriate amount of dialogue and exposition. I have the same problem as you a lot of the time. My chapters usually end up on the short side.

 

[Saigonnus]

I would say perhaps add mid-adventure adventures... For example, say your MC is on his way to a certain place, instead of going straight there, something comes up (attacked by renegade orcs or whatever) that way it isn't really filler, it's just more action; more experience for the character. Who's to say that those little things won't lead to other stuff in the story later (the orc leader escaped in the throes of battle and wants revenge).

You can always find ways to stretch things out without seeming to.