Filling in the gaps

SuziWuzi

Any advice on how to fill in the gaps for a short story?

I have an idea and sit and the computer with great flow only to find Im still 500 - 700 words off the word count. How do I go about stretching the story or filling in the gaps without loosing the great flow of the plot?

Thanks up front for any help...

Carol

Hello Suzi welcome to Talkback.
Sometimes you may just have created a story to the length it should be. Padding doesn't help a story, it often shows.
What is your intended word count for the story. Is it a standard short story or a long short story?

dorothyd

welcome to TB. You can fill in with descriptive words here and there without stretching the story too much.

SuziWuzi

The story is to average about 1500 - 1700 words. I generaly write the short short stories, but trying my hand at the longer ones.

Carol

I found that was a skill that you eventually learn to do naturally.
But as Dorothy says, look through and see what you can make more of.

TaffetaPunk

Welcome to TalkBack :D

Celtic C

Welcome to Talkback SuziWuzi! :)

Liz

Welcome SW. Have fun. Sorry I can't help, being a poet, my fort

Jay Mandal

Hi, Suzi. Welcome to Talkback. Why not enter September's One Word Challenge?

Jan

Morning SuziWuzi,

Should time allow, put that work aside for a week.
Read it after your mind has been diverted and look for detail in characters and locations. Do the words give a clear mental image, can you see, smell the characters and environmental action? Perhaps their is an item merely alluded to that could contribute to atmosphere of the writing, a "car" might become"the loved racing wheels" of hero/heroine with an outline of its history leading to its relevance in this story.

Lateral thinking is a useful aide in these situations.

Good Luck.

jojotoes

Like LizB I find it much easier to shorten stuff.

But when I've written something for a competition needing a certain number of words there are a few things I try.
1. See if there are any areas of narrative which can be fleshed out with a complete scene.
2. Use something descriptive from the setting to illustrate the theme throughout the story so the story can work on two levels.
3. Add an extra plot twist, or complication.

Mad Doctor Dribble

Hello SuziWuzi! Welcome to Talkback :-)

SuziWuzi

Thanks for all your advice.

Have hidden work for over a week and gonna go back tonight and have another go.

Cheers

SuziWuzi

Hi Mad Doctor Dribble and thanks for the welcome. Do mad doctors actually dribble then?

TaffetaPunk

The babies dribble, Suzi, though I'm sure our friend here does it, too, secretly ;)