Turning a Short Story into a Novel

I have quite the corral of short stories with word counts ranging from 1,500 to 10,000. Some of my friends have suggested I expand a few of my stories to 70,000 or even 90,000 words. In other words, turn the stories into novels.

At first this sounds like a great prospect because a novel has the potential to earn much more than a story, but at closer examination, the prospect has proven all but impossible. Impossible for me, that is, because I’ve never actually finished a novel. I’ve completed nonfiction books and user manuals that long and longer, but fiction? So far that task has been out of my reach.

I wrote a YA novel once, but it was more like a collection of short stories built around a central theme (like Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles). Since I never liked the end of that book no one has seen it. Whenever I tell someone I’m a writer, immediately they ask, “Oh, what have you written? I’d like to get it.” They’re referring to novels, and I have to admit that I don’t have one of those.

Some stories are meant to be short stories, I understand that. But I want to believe some of them can successfully be stretched and expanded to a full-length novel (e.g. Ender’s Game started as a short story). Over the last two years I’ve selected three spec fiction stories I’d like to turn into novels. I’ve fussed with them and added a couple thousand words to each, but I can’t seem to go any further. I probably need A Plot!  Oh no. I have written all my stories without one.

To my dismay, since I started writing mostly fiction, I’ve become a solid pantser, and pantsing a story only takes me so far. I can pen good stories, with tension, emotion, believable characters, surprises and fun hooks—stories that win contests and get published, but a whole novel? Not yet. Not even close. I marvel at members of my writing group who pen novel after novel.

How do I go about this transformation? Do I turn a story of 10,000 words into a novel by padding every page, every section, every chapter until I get to the desired word count?  Thank heavens for the Internet. In an article written by Stephanie Orges, she explains: Should you go back and expand on the parts that lead up to the climax? No. “If you are writing just to drag out the beginning, that’s all it will be—a drag. Instead, try picking up where you left off at the end of the short story. Ask yourself what happens next.”

Okay, so I kept looking. In another articles about this process a commenter wrote: “Contrary to what others will tell you, I think ideas for short stories and ideas for novels are fundamentally different and one cannot be turned into the other.”  Hmmm.  Makes sense I guess, but that doesn’t help me make the change I want to see.

At last I found: “Five Techniques to Develop Your Short Story into a Novel” on Writer’s Relief.  The author gives great advice including a section on common pitfalls in this process. I agreed with everything the author wrote, including the line: “Not all short stories are meant to become novels.”  I see that, but I think the three stories I’ve selected are good candidates for this transition.

For instance: The sci-fi story is about two guys and their experiences with space travel and aliens. To make the story longer, I can add more characters, including a female. That would ratchet up the intrigue and should be good for another 20,000 words. I can expand existing settings and add more, which could add another 6,000 words. I can write a scary near accident to add another 5,000 words. I still don’t see how I’ll get to 90,000 words, but one step at a time.

Now that I’ve found some ways to accomplish this feat of expansion, my next step involves plotting the new parts.

Groan.