Most writers complain that their initial draft was too large and that they have had to edit it down, chop out scenes, refine dialogue, and erase lesser prose to fit their masterpiece into a size fit for a novel.
But I went backwards. I had to expand my scenes, give more detail to the world, and further develop characters to reach my novel goal.
My first draft was short. I joined in on NaNoWriMo with a goal of hitting 50,000 words, but I fell short of that when my story ended at 48,000 words. I kept up pace to reach the goal, but I had nothing more to say. I struggled to expand the ending and talk about future events just to hit 50,000.
And then it sat for a year, collecting e-dust. When I picked it up and read it I decided to make another draft. With a better understanding of the story I was able to elaborate on it more. By the time I finished my second draft the story had expanded to 80,000 words.
And now, after another year or so and many many edits it is sitting pretty at about 90,000 words.
I don’t think this backward method is any worse for the story. Instead of cutting it down, I’ve let it grow. Instead of pruning its uglier bits, I’ve let it blossom.
Don’t be worried if your writing starts out small. The seeds are just being planted at the beginning stages of your work. Give yourself time to think about it, and feed your creative mind with other stories to give yours a chance to grow.
