10 Ways Writing Short Stories Can Help You Write Great Novels

You’ve read wonderful novels and want to write one too.

But the sheer length of a novel intimidates you, and you wonder, Should I start with a novel first? That’s a lot of writing. And what if it’s not good enough?

Or maybe you’ve even started the first draft of a novel—but after a few weeks, you’ve lost momentum, inspiration, and the excited rush of creativity that you had when you started. And now you’re stuck with a half-finished novel and afraid to start another one.

But you love writing stories and don’t want to give up on your dream of writing books.

These are struggles many aspiring novelists face. But don’t be discouraged! Although writing a novel might not be the thing for you now, you can still pen that story aching to get out.

Scroll down to find out why writing short stories are achievable beginner projects for writers to tackle while also improving their writing skills and equipping them to better write novels down the road.

Short Stories: Under 10,000 Words

On the short side, novels are 50,000 words long.

That’s a lot of words, but since the writer has so much space, they can really flesh out their characters and worlds. And in stories like Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, you may meet nine major characters with a twenty-something on the side!

Not so much with short stories. These consist of around 1,000-10,000 words. Shorter works would be called flash fiction and longer tales would be called novellas.

In addition to the difference in word count, short stories often have different depths and aims than a novel would. But don’t get me wrong.

Short stories have the potential of profound power.

But because of the length restrictions, these tales more frequently aim to give the reader a tasty appetizer of the world and its characters—while a novel seeks to spread out a feast.

Short stories are, well—short! And as you’ve seen, this makes for some differences between short stories and longer works like novels.

So … How Is Writing Short Stories Relevant?

Ah, yes. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?

Writing short stories can help you when you finally start a novel. Have I mentioned that yet?

Below we’ll explore ten benefits of writing short stories like how short stories are faster to write and to read, how writing one can fill you with more freedom and confidence, and how they’re valuable in themselves.

C’mon!

1. You’ll Write Better Character & Story Arcs

Perhaps you have started a number of novels, which gives you a feel for the beginning of a story. But if you’ve never finished the tale, do you know how to write the end of a story?

As a reader, you know how important endings are. They make you want to hug a book or throw it across the room, and they are the part of the story which gives you that final bite of goodness. Yum. Or ew, possibly.

Short stories are almost a bite in themselves. Yet many display attributes similar to those in novels: conflict, character journey, and resolution to name a few.

So when you write a short story, you will still experience a story arc and perhaps some delicious character development too—but briefer versions. And they’re quicker to write, so you’ll be able to complete more arcs in less time.

Now, here’s a warning: writing a short story is not the same adventure as writing a novel.

Because of the length constrictions, short stories often won’t display character or story arcs fully—rather, they’ll hop around and zoom up on particularly fascinating incidents.

In addition, you won’t develop as much skill in making minor characters unique or weaving backstories and subplots together. But, when you do start writing novels, you will know the essentials for character and story arcs.

2. Your Story Concepts Will Improve

As Brett Harris, bestselling author of Do Hard Things, says, “Your writing is queen, but your story is king.” 

In other words, prose is important. But it’s not as critical as the story concept itself.

Jesus said that a wise man would construct his house on a firm foundation.

Imagine you’re building a palace. If it falls down during the first storm, no number of archways or turrets will do it any good.

Same with a story. A strong structure is crucial. Short stories give you the opportunity to create relatively small storylines with less width and more depth.

And no one is perfect at the first try—so try again! These are only 2,000, 5,000, maybe 9,000 words and are great for practice on creating secure storylines.

3. Your Writing Will Become More Concise

A couple of months ago, I entered into a short story contest. The word limit: 2,000.

Nice and short, right?

Right. My first draft of The Princess and the Maid was 3,000. Accustomed to reading and writing (or at least trying to write) novels and novellas, I had fumbled my way through the tale with a traitorous subplot that, later on, didn’t make the cut.

No, literally. The subplot was about a treacherous sister.

Writing concisely is similar to strengthening the core of your narrative. You have to know the essentials.

Writing short stories forces you to write concisely. 

You can’t waste precious words on a lengthy introduction or irrelevant character. You can’t afford twenty words of dialogue when ten would fit just as well.

For example, this paragraph appeared in my first draft:

In the evening, Anyle and I climbed into the carriage, trailed by Ryn, to watch theater with Mother. Paige was ill with a cold, so she stayed at the palace. Suddenly, our horses reared. We heard the coachman shouting outside the carriage. Anyle looked at me, her face pale. “Laerin—“ the carriage we were in rocked and skittered sideways.

I later pared it down to just the essentials, cutting right to the action:

I tumbled off my seat as our coach jerked and stopped suddenly. We heard the coachmen shouting outside in the night. Mother looked at me, her face pale. “Laerin—“

Wait. But how does this help with writing novels? They’re supposed to be expansive, elaborate, and extravagant, right? I mean, words in the hundreds of thousands!

No one wants to read irrelevant information or clumsily written sentences. Sure, in first drafts, those are all over the place. But when you get to the “I’m just ten words over the limit” stage: Every. Word. Counts.

Remember: short and powerful is better than dragged out.

As you become more seasoned in the writing of novels, you’ll get more ideas for plot, characters, and prose. And the skill you gain for knowing how to express them in a pithy way will greatly improve your prose.

4. You Have Freedom To Experiment

When you write a novel, you want it to be good.

Of course, you still feel that urge when writing short stories. However, since they don’t take as long to write, there’s more room to experiment.

Josiah DeGraaf, program director of The Young Writer’s Workshop, said that he was able to discover his writing voice through short story writing, even though he considered himself a novelist.

The pressure is off.

You can goof around—maybe try a different genre or point of view.

The possibilities for stories you could write are endless, but perhaps you’re shy about getting outside your comfort zone, especially when you start to write novels.

But if you don’t get out there and see what it’s like, you may never know what you’re missing. 

Possibly, like Josiah DeGraaf, you’ll find your unique writing voice. Or perhaps you’ll discover a new favorite genre or a handy dialogue trick.

So write short stories! Get comfortable writing them. Then write a dystopian with a silly tone or a sci-fi revolving around a riddle.

Challenge yourself. It’s just a short story, right?

5. You Don’t Need A Lot Of Motivation To Write

The muse was supposed to be a goddess that whispers inspiration in the ear of artists. Yeah. Pretty cool.

Except …

Maybe she’s not your pal anymore, because the rush of genius you seemed to have at the beginning of your story petered out by the fifteen thousand mark. Or the five thousand.

Muse, why must you be so fickle?

Many writers will say that you just need to push through, write consistently, and finish that draft. And they’re right.

But novels are big.

The longest short story would be about 10,000 words, while the shortest novel would be about 50,000 words. So at the least, a short story is a fifth of the length of a novel. That first rush of inspiration and enthusiasm could very well carry you through more than half of that rough draft.

In addition, motivation tends to wane when you don’t know what to write next. But if you have a solid outline for your short story, you’ll always know what to write next.

Technically, this might be true also in novel-writing, but especially if you like a lot of structure, you might need over fifty points to help you. In a short story, five to ten will often suffice.

The muse isn’t particularly persistent, but when writing short stories, she doesn’t have to be.

6. Your Writing Confidence Will Grow

Every writer has fears and doubts. I’m not so sure I’m good enough. What if no one likes my writing? How can I ever live up to that?

Maybe you have another. How can I become a successful writer if I can’t even finish the first draft?

It’s rather disheartening, and you wonder if it is even worth it.

Fear not!

(To quote the Author Himself.)

Set yourself small goals and gradually work up to writing inch-thick books. So you haven’t finished the first draft of a novel? Perhaps you haven’t even started?

Write a short story. Like I mentioned in the first reason, completing a story’s journey is crucial.

And it’s so good to finally finish it!

Imagine you’re learning to play an instrument. Your instructor assigns you a song to learn that’s a step beyond what you already know.

You begin to practice it regularly, but pretty soon, you’re sick of the very sight of the notes in front of you. But you press on, and in a couple of weeks or so, your teacher congratulates you and says you can move on to the next one.

And it’s so good to finally finish it!

But what if, before you’d even played the instrument for a week, you decided to learn a long, complicated song that only the advanced students played? You might try a page or two—and then you’d likely give up with the words, “It’s not worth it; this is too hard.”

Writing is like playing an instrument. Start small, challenge yourself, and work steadily towards that long, complicated story you want to write.

7. You’ll Be Able to Edit Easier

There’s always the risk that you’ll eventually cut the part of the story you’re writing now. Yikes.

Editing full length work will often require cutting several pages, as well as adding other scenes to knit a plot hole or two.

And if you go the whole way, you’ll have hundreds of pages to proofread. This is hard to manage, especially if you haven’t had much experience editing your own work.

It’s difficult just writing the first draft of a story, let alone editing it.

Because of their length, shorter pieces will typically require less editing. There’s just not that much content actually there in the first place, so you’ll have less to revise.

To be fair, after the second draft, you may realize you’ve written over the limits of a short story and be forced to cut extra parts or turn your narrative into a novella. But editing a short story is still less work than editing a novel.

And when you finally write that novel, you’ll be better equipped to edit it.

8. It Will Help You Build Your Author Platform

You’ve read delightful books. They’re deep, or funny, or suspenseful, or intriguing. Or maybe all of the above.

Perhaps you want to write because you want to create stories that other people will think are delightful. And perhaps you are aware that getting others to read your writing is an important step to becoming a successful writer.

But you’re still beginning, and doubt that they’ll be willing to read a whole novel by you.

Those doubts are valid, because folks value their time.

What’s a serious writer to do?

Perhaps you know the answer?

Many people won’t take the risk of investing hours of their time to read a story written by a beginning writer, even if they like spending hours of their time with you. But many would be willing to invest half an hour.

Aha! Why not a short story?

It’s a great opportunity to display your abilities as well as gain a reader audience.

And just think: If they don’t like it, they only spent half an hour on it. And if they do—maybe they’ll be willing to read a novella or even a novel when you write one.

9. Short Stories Still Bring Value

Novels aren’t the only stories that get published! Ernest Hemingway, a Nobel Prize winner in literature, wrote quite a few.

I know. You’re not Ernest Hemingway. And perhaps you want to be known as a novelist, not a short-story-ist.

But, to contradict what I said earlier about its being “just a short story,” those tiny tales already have a place for themselves. And you might even discover, Wow, I actually enjoy writing these things!

In addition, there are also short story contests. These are fantastic ways to test your skills against judges, as well as meet a deadline. Short story contests abound—but you probably won’t find very many novel contests. (See the section above.)

And keep it in mind: a well-written short story has the potential to be just as deep, or funny, or suspenseful, or intriguing as a novel.

10. You Can Adapt Your Short Stories Into Novels Later

Aspiring to write novels is great. Some novels are utterly scrumptious.

But…

Don’t save your wonderful story ideas for later! Write them now. 

Learn how it feels to write a story you love.

Perhaps you’re protesting, But I want to make a novel out of this one!

Whoa, whoa. Who said you couldn’t? Why not write your novel as a short story first? Then you can take a break, write something else, and when you’re ready, revisit the humble (but sturdy) hut and build a mansion from it.

Frances Hodgson Burnett did that. After she had gotten experience writing other novels, she rewrote her short story Sara Crewe as the now classic A Little Princess.

And you can do the same.

Your Next Step

So there you have it.

Writing a full-length book is a daunting project for a novice writer.

But short stories are much more doable and offer great practice for writing quality tales. They are an adequate and preparatory step towards writing novels with value of their own.

After writing short stories, you’ll be better equipped to:

• Complete character and plot arcs
• Create a sturdy core
• Write concisely
• Explore your freedom
• Finish a draft
• Maintain your confidence
• Edit your work
• Develop your audience
• Test your work, and
• Capture the gist of the story

…when you write that long-awaited novel.

But where should you start writing?

Below, you’ll find a worksheet to help you brainstorm your new short story. This worksheet includes handy prompts to help you flesh out your protagonist, expand your conflict, form your ending, and develop your world. 

So what are you waiting for? Click the image below to grab a free worksheet to get you started on writing short stories that will later help you write great novels.