When your story grows larger than expected

[Jabrosky]

Newbie writers sometimes receive the advice that they should work on short stories first before graduating to novels. I understand the logic behind this and agree with it to an extent, but has anyone here experienced a situation when your story expands into a vaster scope than you initially anticipated?

This has happened to the project I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. It sparked from a simple premise (namely, a woman saves her boyfriend from a monster), but as I mulled over its plot and started writing, it swelled into a much larger project that would incorporate themes of tyranny, nationalism, and imperialism in addition to the intended monster-fighting action. Right now I don't expect it to be novel-length, but it may cover more than the short story I originally had in mind.

Not that I'm complaining. It's more work than I expected, but then I need to develop a work ethic anyway.

 

[Guy]

has anyone here experienced a situation when your story expands into a vaster scope than you initially anticipated?

Virtually everything I write.

 

[ThinkerX]

but has anyone here experienced a situation when your story expands into a vaster scope than you initially anticipated?

Oh yes. 'Labyrinth' was originally intended to be 10,000-15,000 words. First draft topped 40,000. Looked it over, decided I could chop a lot and add a little with the rewrite and knock it back down to 15,000 - 20,000 words. Second draft topped 70,000 words. Rewriting and editing (taking an 'Iron Pen' break from that now), should drop it to about 65,000 words. Plus, I'm now contemplating at least one sequel.

On the other hand, in days gone by I've set out to write 100,000 word novels which somehow turned into 30,000 - 40,000 word novellas.

 

[Penpilot]

Stories grow and get larger, but a part of learning to write is knowing how to tame the wild growth. When things start to grow you have two choices. One, refocus and find what the core of your story is and cut out everything that doesn't belong. OR Two, figure out how to incorporate everything into a larger tale and plan accordingly.

I find there's a constant flow of ideas demanding to get into a story. Basically, everything including the kitchen sink bangs at the door trying to get in, but you have to develop the control to turn some of the ideas away. Otherwise you'll end up trying to cram every idea that crosses your mind into the story, which can become a disjointed mess.

 

[Jabrosky]

Stories grow and get larger, but a part of learning to write is knowing how to tame the wild growth. When things start to grow you have two choices. One, refocus and find what the core of your story is and cut out everything that doesn't belong. OR Two, figure out how to incorporate everything into a larger tale and plan accordingly.

I find there's a constant flow of ideas demanding to get into a story. Basically, everything including the kitchen sink bangs at the door trying to get in, but you have to develop the control to turn some of the ideas away. Otherwise you'll end up trying to cram every idea that crosses your mind into the story, which can become a disjointed mess.

In my case, I simply wanted the story to have more depth than a simple "hero vs monster" fight. It seems that whenever I set out to write a short story, the ideas that come quickest to me are fight scenes. I guess those are the manifestations of conflict that excite me the most.

 

[CupofJoe]

...but has anyone here experienced a situation when your story expands into a vaster scope than you initially anticipated?

I have 60K+ of a shelved story [I hesitate to call it a novel - it was more like 4-5 linked stories that might have become a novel] that started off as a 1500 word character study of a street urchin.
And then it grow'd like Topsy. I finally shelved it when Extraterrestrials [or where they...] arrived on the scene.