I am a writer who developed an interest in writing late in life. I’ve written many short stories and a few very long short stories, but never a novel.
Putting together an entertaining story for the reader is my main goal. Having read many novels and books shorter in length, there is one thing I discovered. The length is unimportant to me, the story has the center of my attention. I know publishers will argue that both are important, but they seem to put a great emphasis on word count.
A goal of many writers is to write a novel. Maybe it checks off a box that validates your writing chops, but should stringing together 70,000 words be the goal. What happens if you’ve written a great story but it’s less than novel length, should you add more words? You could end up making a great story a good story. For me that’s not the goal. I am satisfied with writing the best story I can in as many words as it takes, no matter the word count.
I know there are many types of readers with a vast array of interest, which gives credence to the many genres. There is something out there for everyone and I believe in every case the story should be the star not the number of words.
So, I will continue to write stories to the best of my abilities, but there may never be a novel. There is a good chance I can create a book of short stories and I’m just fine with that.
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