What Kind of Story Is It?

"How do I know if my story is just a short story, or if it might be a novel?" I get that question every now and then at my writing workshop, and it's valid to a point. Sometimes, we all get ideas about some project we want to take on, but a part of us wonders just what the final product will be like. Will a drawing be just a sketch, or a full painting? Will a poem just be a limerick or ten pages of beautiful prose? All creatives might go through a stage where they prepare to create something, but are not sure what the finished product will ultimately be. This uncertainty is common, and often can get in our way of actually taking on the task. Therefore, there is only one way to find out.

Start writing.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am, amongst other things, an avid bicyclist. I cycle mostly for distance and pleasure, rarely for speed. When I head out on a ride, I usually have a destination picked out, I know how much time it will take for a round trip, and how much water and rest I might need along the way. However, sometimes I just feel like getting outside. I don't necessarily know where I want to go or what I want to see, I just need to ride. This is similar to the hang-up of the writer wondering about the size of their story. The more they wonder, they less they actually create. So when I feel the urge to get out and ride, I don't concern myself with the destination. I just grab a water bottle and go.

Along that same vein, if my creative nerve gets tickled, I don't always know what that is going to become. Will it be a poem, a painting, a story, a song? What I do know, however, is that some idea has gotten under my skin and planted itself firmly in my awareness, and I need to act upon it to feel like I am doing it justice. It doesn't have to be a full concept or an outlined frame for a story. It can be boiled down to something very simple: "A monkey's favorite color," "happy lampposts," or "full-contact checkers." Do any of those have potential to be a full-fledged novel? Who knows? I don't know, but if I start writing about one of those, I might just discover some creative thread that turns the idea into something big.

Now, it's always worth noting that creations that emerge from wild ideas such as those can often grow into big piles of nothing. We write about a monkey and its favorite color, and nothing really catches fire in our minds. This is fine. This answers the question of, "What is this?" It's nothing - move on. Keep the writing in a file to perhaps revisit later, and go back to being a creative type. There's nothing wrong with this. The big mistake is not doing anything with it. Letting an idea wither on the vine does not do justice to the idea, and definitely does not do justice to the creative process.

And, as a side note, you should also know when to stop. If some little idea triggers you to write 300-400,000 words, you might actually have a few books on your hands. Or, perhaps, you have a real good idea to work with. In either case, keep on writing.