Short story vs. novel--which is more fun to write?

1. 0

   YellowBrickRoseposted 14 years ago

   Since November and NaNoWriMo is fast approaching, I thought I would bring this up now.
   
   I doubt I'll be attempting an entire novel in a month myself, because I still have projects that need to be completed, but I have become much better at writing short stories over the past few years than I ever expected. I used to think I could only write long stories, because "short" seemed to imply that the entire story had to be crammed into a mere five pages!
   
   Needless to say, "short" is a pretty relative terms these days. Shorter-than-a-novel/novella would be more appropriate a term.
   
   But what makes one more fun to write than the other? Novels let you have plenty of space and decision-making power. Short stories let you get creative with symbolism and dialogue if you want to save on exposition time. Novels let you really show the journey and changes a character goes through. Short stories can be funny, poignant, sad, etc, by turn, but don't allow you to really get to know a character.
   
   So...in your opinion, which is easier/more rewarding to write?

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2. 72

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   I don't think one is more fun than the other. It all depends on how involved you are in your writing and in the lives of your characters, that is if you give your characters life.
   
   Doing the NaNoWriMo doesn't really give you much time to build that relationship with your characters so I imagine it will be more work than fun. Writing with a deadline can be very frustrating and there is nothing fun about that unless you can divert that frustration to one or more of your characters.

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3. 63

   prettydarkhorseposted 14 years ago

   It really depends on you, although i prefer short stories because they take lil time to read and you can finish it in one or two reading,
   
   well in writing, it depends on you if you can sustain a long novel..

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4. 45

   LRobbinsposted 14 years ago

   I'm starting with shorter articles where you can get feedback sooner than later (i.e. like writing on HubPages), I'm slowly working my way up to a novel but want to apply what I've learned from writing shorter articles first.

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5. 69

   TINA Vposted 14 years ago

   Short story writing is fun, easier and takes a little of your time.  While novel writing is also fun but more challenging and needs more of your time to finish it.  Whatever you choose, both need focus and interest to do the work.  Goodluck!

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6. 83

   camloposted 14 years ago

   Don't you think it depends on the story? Those I have published here, for example, could never possibly be written at novel length -- they would be incredibly uninteresting if they were. On the other hand, the novel I intend writing has so many twists and turns, I couldn't possibly keep it within the realms of 'short story'.
   
   But whatever I write, it should be fun to do. I mean, if it's not fun to write, will it be fun to read?

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