Issue: "How do I turn my short story into a novel?"

Solution: This depends on the short story, the novel, and how you write. If you tend to plot things out, you're going to spend a lot of time plotting. If you tend to pants (wing it), you could just start writing, but you may want- just this once- to think about it a bit first. If you're determined to pants it 100%, start writing; there's no help here or elsewhere. I say this as someone who pantses my way through 99% of the time. But for that 1%, read on.

First off, it's quite unlikely that you'll use the short story as-is, and write around it. In almost every case, what you keep is the idea, and perhaps a brilliant description or bits of dialogue. Keep the short story handy for inspiration! But don't assume either way; sometimes a writer gets lucky and the short story drops right in.

If the short story is a single scene, you probably have one scene from the novel. Depending on the short story, you might stretch that scene into several scenes. If that's what you want to do, that's a good place to start writing.

Even if you pants, you'll want to have some idea of where the novel starts and ends. If it needs back story, do you want to start the novel with it, explain it in a flashback or discussion, or leak bits and pieces throughout the novel?

Once you know that, where does the short story fit into the novel's arc- beginning, end, or middle? Recognize there's a good chance that even if you see the short story as the end, you'll need to write beyond it for the novel.

When I began what became The Dragon Lord Chronicles (four books!), I thought I was writing a short story based on a vivid dream. I knew the beginning and ending; I planned to gloss over the middle. That middle turned into the bulk of those four books. I pantsed most of it, but I knew the ending from day one. When I started to write the end, it looked a bit different in the details, but the guts of it were still there. I wrote it more or less as I had initially dreamed it.

I knew as soon as I finished that I was not finished. Everyone who read it said (in their own words), "What? You can't end there! What about ...?" So I wrote two more chapters, as I'd already known I would need to. Since this still satisfied no one (including me), I moved things around in the next two chapters and expanded them, and wrote another chapter. Half the people were happy. I expanded on the initial ending (which turned out to be the climax). Finally, my early readers were happy!

At least the beginning had remained the beginning. That was almost verbatim what I had dreamed.

There's more, but this will get you started. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and what you're writing about.

Photo credit: Desiree Rose, Elkk Photography Copyright 2019 Miles O'Neal, Round Rock, TX.