Fiction Writing: Short Story or Full Length Novel?

Ideas for stories flitter in and out of a writer's mind all day long. We are inspired by people, sounds, scents and an array of other things that may cross our path as we muddle through our daily routine. When a great flash of inspiration hits, you may find yourself quickly trying to build a story around it. The question then comes - short story or full length novel? Both have their own advantages, but they also have their own disadvantages.

Advantages and disadvantages of writing a full length novel

A full length novel sounds like it should be harder to write than a short story. It is certainly more time consuming. The advantages of writing a full length novel are simple. It gives you a lot more scope to have complex plot lines, more time to explore the characters and there is a far greater sense of achievement when you finally finish your masterpiece. Saying you have written a novel sounds a lot better than saying you have written a short story! Another advantage of writing a full length novel is the opportunities for publishing. Very few publishers will publish short stories, but with a full length novel there are a lot more options.

The disadvantages of writing a full length novel are also fairly obvious. First of all, the effort required can be immense. In many cases the time to complete a full length novel will be much longer because you may need to do added research and a lot of planning, especially if you have a lot of characters and many plot lines throughout. Then there is the constant worry that you will have poured your heart and soul into a project which may never be seen by anyone but you. All of these things can contribute to making you feel that writing a full length novel is not worth the effort.

Advantages and disadvantages of writing short stories

Writing a short story is a much quicker way of getting an idea down on paper. Although it will still need to be well crafted if you want people to read and enjoy it, it takes a lot less time than a full length novel. Short stories also need less planning and very rarely will they need to be researched. Even if they do, it's unlikely to take up too much time. If you aren't interested in publishing a full book of short stories, you can publish your stories online or even submit them to magazines as a way of reaching more readers.

As mentioned earlier, a huge disadvantage of writing short stories is that there are less publishing opportunities. However, you can self-publish but you may not reach as wide an audience as you might through an established publishing company. Another disadvantage of writing short stories is the lack of very detailed story lines. If you are someone who enjoys writing complicated plots, short stories may not be right for you. It would be unfair to say that there aren't short stories with complex plots, but it takes a lot of time to learn the skill of putting a lot in a small amount of words while still keeping it readable.

Just like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to both full length novel writing and short story writing. Only you know which is best for you - and there is absolutely no harm in doing both as and when the mood strikes! Remember to make your choice carefully though, or you may find you have given yourself far more work to do than was necessary.

Please take a look at some of my other fiction writing guides:
Fiction Writing: What to do When You Lose Motivation
Fiction Writing: Creating a Character Backstory
How To Know When To Stop Editing Your Work and Move On

Sources:

http://www.business.com/directory/media_and_entertainment/publishing/books/publishers/fiction/short_stories/