Why You Should Try Writing a Novel-in-Stories
Writers often feel like they have to make a choice — short stories or novels — and stick to it. Granted, short story authors often feel the need to write a novel in order to generate sales, which can be a real struggle if you’re use to writing short-form fiction.
But you don’t always have to choose. You can always try your hand at a novel-in-stories, or a book of interconnected short stories. When you write a novel-in-stories, you can reap the benefits of writing both long-form fiction and short-form fiction.
The Benefits of Novels-in-Stories
Short stories and novels come with their own benefits and drawbacks. It’s harder for short story collections to find commercial success — but individual short stories are much easier to publish than novels. Novels-in-Stories help you bypass the difficulties of both literary forms and reach the benefits of both.
Easier to Build a Publication Record
As a beginner writer, it helps to have a publication record when you’re pitching your first novel. But if you’re solely focused on writing a novel then you’ll have a harder time wracking up publications. While some literary journals and magazines accept sections of novels, it’s not that common of a practice.
When you work on a novel-in-stories, the pieces should be able to standalone like any typical short story. This means that you can more easily send them out and get them published on their own — which can help make pitching and promoting your book easier.
Easy to Plot and Structure
When you first start writing, plotting out the entire thing can be hard. When you write a novel in stories, it lets you chunk up the narrative. This can help make plotting things out and doing the writing itself easier. Chunking is a great way to tackle major projects — especially if you happen to be neurodivergent.
Story cycles and novels-in-stories allow you to work in a tidier, more controlled form as you write, which is beneficial no matter where you are in your career as a writer.
Spark Reader Interest
People love patterns and they love making connections. One of the reasons novels-in stories are so easy to love is that they give you the opportunity to create puzzles for the readers. They’ll want to seek out how each standalone story interconnects with the other stories in the novel. They’ll start searching for patterns actively, and feel satisfied when they discover them.
Experiment With Literary Forms
While writing a novel-in-stories isn’t exactly what you’d call a new experimental form, and there are plenty of mainstream examples of the genre out there, it’s still a fun and satisfying challenge to produce one. You can exercise both your short form and long form fiction muscles while working on interconnected stories and play with plot in a whole new way.
Have a novel in story in the works? We’d love to see it. Check our submission page to see when we’re open for queries. Or, if you’re looking to build some fiction writing muscles — be on the look out for one of our workshops.
Maybe you’re looking to read a novel-in-stories? Check out The Girl Who by our head editor to get a sense of what the form might look like.
