Increasing the length

I've been in a similar position lately. My draft turned out very short and when I did my first read-through after setting it aside a few days, I expected I'd see clearly where I needed to add – but I still haven't completely figured it out. One of the interesting bits of advice I've seen (and agree with) is to make sure you're not forcing the story to be longer just for the sake of extra words. If the story is on the shorter side, it's on the shorter side, and you definitely don't want to be padding with scenes that are unnecessary and feel that way. I don't really like the idea that there's a magic word count cutoff.

To some extent I'm in the same situation, though. My plan is to do some serious thinking about my secondary characters and subplots and see where they could use more development, while making sure to tie it back into the main storyline as much as possible. At some point I think you have to do whatever fits the story best.

(and nice avatar, btw! )

I thought 67k was fine for YA. I know YA fantasy can run long-ish, but I didn't think such a length would be an auto-reject. I could be wrong though, as I do not write YA.
Assuming I'm not completely off base here, I'd just keep querying.

You could try adding a subplot or two. Also, what kind of fantasy is this? Is it contemporary or secondary world? If it's a secondary world fantasy, you might be able to add in a few more details about your world (just as long as you don't do it in info dumps). Also, if there are parts you're summarizing, you might consider fleshing them out with interesting character interactions.

Unfortunately, I don't have much advice. I generally have the opposite problem. Everything I write is too long.

EndlessDestiny said:

My novel is a ya fantasy that is 67k. I've wanted it to be longer, but I haven't been able to come up with anything to increase the length.

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Write more.

Be prolix. It's a hell of a lot easier to shorten, via editing, than it is to lengthen. Abandon your damn outline, if that's what's limiting you, and allow your writing to drift off into digressions. Those often are useful and productive, like seeds in a garden.

caw

Every story is about someone striving for something. Striving means actions to overcome or avoid obstacles.

Add some obstacles for your MC to overcome to your story. They can be physical, emotional, mental, social, or some combination.

I'm surprised at the response to 67K too, but what do I know?

Find a place where your MC succeeds and make them fail.

Find something that supports your MC and take it away.

Add a second POV.

blacbird said:

Write more.

Be prolix. It's a hell of a lot easier to shorten, via editing, than it is to lengthen. Abandon your damn outline, if that's what's limiting you, and allow your writing to drift off into digressions. Those often are useful and productive, like seeds in a garden.

caw

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What the bird said...

Plus add a character, someone annoying and inconsequential. (Think Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars.) Mention or place him in every scene. (Think one Jar Jar per every five pages.)

Or seriously, query other agents. Yes, having one agent interested is great, but I've read a lot of books (MG and YA) which are shorter than this. If you try putting 'extra stuff' into your ms. you risk puffing it up until it's unrecognizable.

And, if one agent was interested, others will be, too. I wrote a 40K and had 12 agents interested, though alas, no offers. I received comments and critiques from most of these agents but not one said to lengthen it.

Andignorethisadviceifitseemsinappropriatetoyoursituation.

LJD said:

I thought 67k was fine for YA. I know YA fantasy can run long-ish, but I didn't think such a length would be an auto-reject. I could be wrong though, as I do not write YA.

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It depends on the type of fantasy, but they're probably worried the world-building isn't very robust.

What type of fantasy are we talking about? Epic/high/medieval/etc. fantasy that takes place in a new world/universe requires a lot of background info to be woven into the story.

If we're talking something more like urban fantasy, then world-building is probably not the problem, and maybe you just need to add another subplot.

I tend to write short too, so these are some of the questions I have to ask myself when I'm revising:

Is the setting clear enough? Will the reader be able to envision the place from my description?

In every scene, is it clear who is where and what they are doing as well as what they are saying and how they are reacting?

I know my characters' motivations, but have I provided enough information for the reader to understand them?

Would it help if some of the scenes were seen from more than one point of view?

The idea isn't to simply pad the story out to make it longer but to make it richer, more textured.

EndlessDestiny said:

My novel is a ya fantasy that is 67k. ... I recently received a query response back saying that while she really liked the query, the story was too short

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Do not rewrite anything on the strength of one query response.

Write the next story. Continue querying. If you get the 'this is too short' response again, then pay some attention.

I agree with the idea of not rushing to add words just 'cause one person suggested it. Some stories are perfect and complete at 67k.

If you do end up wanting to lengthen it, make sure you don't just tack something on. That never seems to go well. Take a look at the whole thing, see if there is more depth you can explore. If you just delve further into back story, follow side characters, or add a subplot that doesn't connect to the main one at all, it will take away from your story. You can do those things, but make sure they connect and fit with the idea you already have.

I said earlier Add one or more obstacles.

Another solution is to look at the obstacles you do have. Did you let your MC succeed with any of them too easily?

It sometimes take more than one try to overcome an obstacle. Have your MC try several more times.

And you also have the choice of them deciding to try another path to their goal, bypassing this obstacle altogether. It will take more time, perhaps, and run food and ammo low, but it may be better than continuing to fail with this obstacle.

I agree that any additions shouldn't just be tacked for padding. They should serve a purpose. But a lot of the ideas here are great.

Another possibility is to look at the supporting characters. For example, if your book has any minor and underdeveloped characters that are still necessary to the story, you could use a scene or two to give them a little character development of their own.

This may have been said before, but add more conflict. Not meaningless conflict though. Character development scenes are always great too.

I just reread your original post, and I realized that the objection to the length came from someone who hadn't actually read your manuscript, just your query.

Someone who hasn't read your manuscript doesn't know whether or not it's too short. It may be just perfect as is. Ignore that comment. It's based on nothing.

If someone who HAS read your manuscript tells you it's too short, they will probably be able to tell you what needs to be expanded/further developed/whatever. You don't have to blindly follow this recommendation, but it may deserve attention.

Not all comments/critiques/etc. deserve attention.

I'm in a similar position. I have a sci fi story that I want to submit to the Harper Collins open call in October. However, I need to add about 10,000 words to it. This is a tall order and I'm hoping to over shoot and get an extra 3-5k for padding.

So, I'm re-writing the entire story. I've done 2 or 3 edits on it, but I've never been able to add any real length to it. This time around, I'm retyping every single word, but by retyping it I'm actually expanding on it. There are quite a few instances where I summarized something. 'Ryan landed the ship' or 'They drove into town.' Stuff like that. This time, I'm going into much greater detail. Ryan landing the ship took the better part of a page rather than a sentence because of a cloud of particulate matter that was whipping around in the thermosphere. Flying through the debris cloud was out of the question so they had to change course.

I'm doing stuff like that all over. I'm hoping that if I can get 100 to 150 words here or there then I'll be able to add the length that I need.

Also, some of my chapters are pretty long, so I'm cutting them a little shorter. That's kind of a cheat, but by increasing the number of chapters, I'm also increasing the length of the story by a an inch or two of a page each time. That said, I promise that I'm only adding chapters in places where it makes sense. Originally, Chapter one of around 50 pages long and the rest were substantially shorter. Now, chapter one and two are 50 pages long together.

Expanding summaries of scenes or chunks of them is fine. IF the expansion improves the feel of the story. But if the expansion is of a boring or inessential event, you've increased quantity but decreased quality.

Maybe try adding a few scenes of foreshadowing? That was some advice I was given to try to add a little bit of length to my story, definitely not 13k words but it would give it a little bit more.

Be very careful with this. I tried to do this with one of my novels and as hard as I tried, anything I tried to add did not fit. DO NOT FORCE YOUR STORY. I tried and tried then came to the conclusion that the reason why I could not add anything is because the story was already complete. If this is just from ONE query, note it but do not make it a solid rule. As others have said, if you get this as a common complaint, then it may be valid.

This is very tricky. If your story works as is, simply expanding scenes will probably ed up in, well, expanded scenes. That'll drag down your pacing.

Most of my novels have grew by about 20k from their first draft. It was never my intention to lengthen the books, it just happened naturally when I edited. The kind of edits I made:

* In one book, a character who's a werewolf comes to the MC's rescue around the midway point. That's his first appearance in werewolf form. Since his character was rather underdeveloped, and it seemed convenient that there are only upsides to having a werewolf buddy hanging around, I added a scene earlier in the novel where he loses control and chases my character around the house. This added action, gave me opportunities to characterize both those characters, and I found a way to tie it into the overall plot.

* In a different novel, I needed to make my MC more proactive about achieving a certain goal. In the first version, she ends up at a location by coincidence, and while there, something bad happens by coincidence. In the second version, I had her contact someone (proactive!), set up a meeting at that location (no more coincidence!), and the bad thing that happens now happens as a direct result of that meeting (no more coincidence!). In addition, through her meeting with that person, I could weave in worldbuilding details that were missing from the early version.

* There was a lot of tension between my MC and her mother, but it never came to a head. In the most recent version, I added a fight between the two of them.

* My MC's father being in the hospital was a big plot point, but I realized later that that's all it is--a plot point. I made it more emotional and more personal by adding a hospital visit, showing their connection, strengthening the MC's motivations, and sprinkling in some world-building. It was a short scene, maybe two pages, but I think it helped.

So what I would recommend is taking a look at your novel and looking for opportunities to deepen your plot and characters. Is one character underdeveloped? Can you flesh out the relationship between your MC and their best friend? Does a plot event later on seem a little coincidental, or out of the blue? Does your MC have enough of a reaction to an important development? Is a plot point acutely dropped, or not established enough ahead of time?

There's nothing wrong with adding words, just as long as those words are CONTENT, and not PADDING. If they don't enrich your novel, you're better off not doing it.

In addition, 67k may be on the short side for YA, but it shouldn't be an auto-reject. Lisa McMann's WAKE is somewhere between 30k and 45k. Basically, I wouldn't worry about getting it up to 80k if you can't. Getting it up to 70k would probably be good if you could manage it, but again, only do that if it makes your book better. Don't add for the sake of adding.

Hope that helps!

Each story will have its own length, so do not add material to the story, add story (get the distinction?). The former is the easy path, the latter takes more work--but you will get out what you put into it. The former could ruin a damn good story. The latter should enhance that story.

Or you can roll up your manuscript and put it in one of those weenie pumps (the ads say they work for a man's understory...)